Below you will find excerpts from three reports that were written by members of the Center for Youth Leadership: “I Thought Emily was Safe,” “I Love You, Baby” and “Through Your Eyes I See My Family.” The excerpts summarize the social issues addressed by the Center for Youth Leadership. Please contact us at info@gocyl.org for copies of the reports and/or the sources for the stats and definitions noted below.
Issue 1: Child abuse and neglect
Child abuse and neglect are defined by Federal and State laws. The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) is the Federal legislation that provides minimum standards that States must incorporate in their statutory definitions of abuse and neglect.
The CAPTA definition of child abuse and neglect refers to “…any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent of caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm sexual abuse or exploitation, or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm.
The Department of Children and Families, which is the State agency that cares for Connecticut’s abused and neglected children, defines abuse as “…a non-accidental injury to a child which, regardless of motive, is inflicted or allowed to be inflicted by the person responsible for the child's care, including maltreatment such as, but not limited to, malnutrition, sexual molestation, deprivation of necessities, emotional maltreatment or cruel punishment.”
The Department of Children and Families recognizes three types of abuse (physical abuse, sexual abuse and exploitation, and emotional abuse or maltreatment) and four types of neglect (physical, medical, educational and emotional/moral).
National Stats: (please email info@gocyl.org for sources)
• 905,000 children in
• Of the children abused in
• Of the people in
• Four children in American die every single day from child abuse.
Connecticut Stats: (please email info@gocyl.org for sources)
• 8,544 children in our home state were abused, neglected or uncared for between July 2007 and June 2008.
• Somewhere in
• From July 2007 thru June 2008, DCF accepted 24,611 reports of suspected abuse/neglect and found that 5,888 – or 24 percent – were true.
• The top three forms of abuse in
• Between July 2007 and June 2008, 1,531 children were abused, neglected or uncared for in
• Between July 2007 and June 2008, 192 children were abused, neglected or uncared for in
• Somewhere in
Issue 2: Shaken baby syndrome
According to the
• Every year approximately between 1,500 and 3,000 children in the
• Of the children shaken, 25 percent die and 60 percent sustain permanent lifelong disabilities; e.g., severe brain damage, blindness, hearing loss, learning problems, seizure disorders, and paralysis and.
• Between 25 and 50 percent of the American public does not know that shaking a child for as little as three seconds is dangerous and potentially fatal.
• The number one reason a baby is shaken is to stop him/her from crying.
• Of the people who shake babies, 62 percent are parents and 70 percent are male, with an average age of 24. Between 15 - 20 percent are baby-sitters.
• 57 percent of the victims of SBS are male, with an average age of 8.9 months
Issue 3: Safe havens for newborns
This program became possible when the “Promoting Safe and Stable Families Amendment” was signed into law on
• A safe haven law provides parents with a safe and legal option for the care of their infant. The law allows a parent to drop off a baby at a designated location (e.g., hospital emergency room, police station, fire station, etc), with no questions asked.
• The law does not protect the parent from being arrested and criminally prosecuted if abuse or neglect has occurred.
• The age of the infant eligible for such care depends on the state. For example, many states allow the infant to be no more than three days old.
• All 50 states have enacted safe haven legislation. For details about each state, go to www.babysafehavenlaw.com/lmap.html#.
• Although every state has a safe haven law for newborns, the effectiveness of the laws is diminished by insufficient funding for public awareness campaigns. Outreach is essentially limited to the distribution of pamphlets and brochures to hospitals, high schools and public events like state fairs.
• According to Project Cuddle, 57 babies are abandoned daily across the
Safe havens in Connecticut
• When was
• What are the details of
• What happens when a parent brings an infant to a hospital emergency room? A nurse meets with the parent in a private area and asks him/her to provide information about the child’s medical history. The nurse will also ask the parent questions about him/herself; e.g., name and address. The parent does not have to answer any questions. The parent is given a packet containing information on his/her rights and how to contact the Department of Children and Families.
• How many children have been brought to hospitals since the safe haven law took effect in 2000? According to the Department of Children & Families, eleven babies have been brought to hospital emergency rooms. “All…have either been adopted, are in the process of getting adopted, or are living permanently with family members.”
• How many babies have been abandoned since the law too effect in 2000? Unfortunately, four infants have been abandoned, left unattended on doorsteps or street corners in
• Have there been cases when a parent did not take advantage of the safe haven law? There have been two cases. The first took place in December 2006. Panna Kram, a senior at
The second case took place in
• What does
In an appearance before a legislative task force in
• A new study sheds light on the underlying assumption that animal cruelty and family violence commonly co-occur.
“Sarah DeGue, a behavioral scientist in the Division of Violence Prevention for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and David DiLillo, of the
About 62 percent of the participants who witnessed or perpetrated animal cruelty as a child had also experienced child maltreatment or domestic violence. Individuals who had abused animals were more likely to report a history of sexual abuse and neglect.
The results suggested that animal abuse may prove a more reliable marker for other forms of family violence than vice versa, and lend support to cross-reporting strategies and the need for school, medical and mental health professionals to assess for exposure to family violence when presented with a child reporting a history of witnessing or perpetrating animal cruelty.”
• National studies show that animal abuse occurred in 88 percent of families under investigation for suspected child abuse and that abused children often come from homes where pets were either abused or killed.
• Pets are part of the family in the majority of American households, but if the family is experiencing violence they can become targets as well. “A survey of 50 of the largest shelters for battered women in the
• One study noted that 32 percent of the pet-owning victims of domestic abuse reported that one or more of their children had hurt or killed a pet.
• According to the Human Society of the
• In terms of treatment, the AniCare Model of Treatment for Animal Abuse, which was created by the Society & Animals Forum, is the first professionally developed psychological intervention program for animal abusers. Its Assessment and Treatment Approach for Childhood Animal Abuse is designed for child mental health professionals who work in domestic violence organizations, hospitals, and schools; veterinarians; and animal control officers; and others.
Animal cruelty in Connecticut
This issue gained traction in Connecticut in March 2008, which is when Jim Amann, the former Speaker of the House, created the Task Force on Animal Cruelty and the Circle of Violence (State Representative Diane Urban is the chairperson of the task force).
Preliminary findings of the task force, and reports from other sources, revealed the following:
• According to a report issued by the state legislature’s Office of Legislative Research, 1,369 cases of animal cruelty were brought before the courts from 2004 though 2007. Of those, only 182 were found guilty and one was found not guilty. The vast majority of the cases – 1,186 – were dismissed.
• According to animal rights activists, one clue to the system's lack of interest in such cases is the typically low bond put on those charged with animal cruelty. Diane Settani of Pet Protectors points to the case a
• Animal rights advocates believe that so few cases reach the courts not because they lacked merit, but that judicial officials lacked interest. “They don’t take it seriously,” said Diane Settani of Pet Protectors, an animal rescue group. “They are far, far too lenient.”
• Raymond Norko, a Superior Court judge, offered Connecticut’s legislative task force a simple, easy and free way to improve how Connecticut's courts deal with animal abusers: move a key component of the animal cruelty law from one section of the statutes to another. "A lot of judges don't know this [law] exists. You wouldn't find it unless you really hunted it down," Judge Norko said after addressing the task force. "But this [law] will help. It gives another option to judges." Norko spoke of a measure that empowers judges to order those convicted of animal abuse to attend and pay for counseling.”
•
• Members of the Task Force on Task Force on Animal Cruelty and the Circle of Violence are scheduled to study how animal abuse is treated in juvenile courts.
• According to State Representative Diane Urban, "If the pet is being neglected, there's an 80 percent chance the child is, too."
• Testimony at a legislative task force hearing on animal abuse backed up that claim. Kate Nicoll, a social worker who is also director of an organization that provides animal-assisted therapy, told the task force of some particularly horrific stories of children who tortured animals. Each of those children had also suffered abuse themselves, she said.
• According to Kate Nicoll, Soul Friends Inc. is the only organization in
• A relatively new service in this field is known as pet foster care, pet sanctuary, or pet haven. The Connecticut Safe Pet Project, which was founded by Annie Chittenden, is associated with Our Companions Domestic Animal Sanctuary in