Updated: 6:23 PM Feb 24, 2011
More than 11,000 cases of child abuse and neglect are reported every year in Colorado.
Posted: 6:12 PM Feb 24, 2011
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.(KKCO)_ More than 11,000 cases of child abuse and neglect are reported every year in Colorado.
Recently that number has spiked while the rest of the country is going in the opposite direction.
Some attribute it to the growing jobless numbers while others argue too much money has been cut from prevention programs.
Whatever the reason our state has seen a jump of 1,200 abuse cases over the last two years, prompting experts to call it a 'silent' epidemic.
"Only one in 10 children comes forward to disclose abuse,"* says the Western Slope Center for Children.
Mesa County cases have remained consistent while the nation's stats fall.
Mesa County recieves between 2,500 and 3,000 referals for suspected child abuse and neglect through our child protection hotline each year
Anyone can report child abuse or neglect through the county's hotline, the number is 242–1211.
* Sounds like a rather incredible claim. Let's check it out- Colorado Quick Facts from the Census Bureau says the 2009 population is 5,024,748 and the under-18 population is 24.4% of that number, which equals 1,226,038 kids under 18. So if there were 11,000 reports and if that's only one tenth being reported, then there's 110,000 allegedly abused kids in Colorado. One kid in eleven. Yeah. Somebody is full of caca de toro.
No comments:
Post a Comment