60 kids died from abuse or neglect last year

The number of suspected child abuse cases increased slightly last year in Pennsylvania according to the Child Protective Services Report from the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services.

There were 39,093 suspected child abuses reported. Sixty children died as the result of child abuse.

Joining us on The Spark Monday to provide some insight is Angela Liddle, President and CEO of the Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance, who was asked what leads to abuse and neglect, “Stress impacts families, lack of resources, impacts families, lack of knowledge around child development impacts, parenting, an absence of knowing good, solid, positive parenting skills impacts how children are raised. I think you put all of that together.”

The report indicated most of the child deaths were due to neglect. Liddle said not being able to find affordable child care is a factor in neglect.

Mandated reporters were the source of 82% of all suspected child abuse reports in 2022.

Liddle encouraged members of the community to report child abuse or help de-escalate a potentially dangerous situation. PFSA has instituted the Front Porch Project, “It’s trying to increase awareness so those folks learn very safe ways that can help support a family when they see a family in crisis or when they think a child is not safe in public or in your neighborhood. How you go to the grocery store over the weekend, you’re at the local Walmart on a Friday night, and sometimes you just know the stuff you see is not okay. So what can you do in that moment to safely help de-escalate a situation and maybe prop up mom or dad and kind of get through that really tough moment? It can range the training ranges from situations like that to those situations we know we sometimes have in our communities, in our neighborhoods where kids really are not supervised, they’re too young or too immature to be left home unattended or whatever the situation may be. And so there needs to be intervention.”

From WITF, August 21, 2023