Child Protection Funds Running Out as Abuse of Youngsters Grows

If the directors and staff of the county’s Child Abuse Prevention Program are feeling a little neglected and abused themselves these days, you can’t blame them.

The money for the 4 1/2-year-old program runs out at the end of this month, and Gov. George Deukmejian has stricken any future funding from his 1990-91 budget.

So, barring a miracle--either from heaven or the Legislature--that means CAPP’s valuable services to Orange County schoolchildren have come to an end.

Ironic indeed, considering the rising incidence of abuse in the county.

During its brief run, CAPP has reached a lot of people--at least 120,000 preschool through high school youngsters, in addition to any number of adults and community groups.

It was, incidentally, after sitting through CAPP presentations that more than 400 children sought relief from abuse.

“I wonder how long it would have been--if ever--before those 400 cases would have been reported,” asks CAPP official Nancy Dickerson, “if it hadn’t been for the knowledge and assistance they received from us?”

Ironically, it was Deukmejian who signed the legislation in 1984 that gave birth to CAPP and its counterparts statewide.

Since then, CAPP--working under the aegis of Community Services Programs in Orange County, has initiated and conducted educational programs in 26 of the county’s 27 school districts (only Huntington Beach does not participate).

Its work with children has been particularly effective, teaching them what child abuse is and showing them that in any form it is wrong and also teaching them how to report it.

Workshops are also conducted for teachers to show them how to spot abuse. Parenting classes and community organization workshops have been conducted by CAPP too.

The workshops, incidentally, have been available in English, Vietnamese and Spanish.

And, overall, through CAPP and other efforts, reportings of child abuse in the county have risen by more than 50% in the past several years.

CAPP’s Orange County budget of $750,000 is small potatoes compared to many other state programs, but 99% of it comes from the statewide annual allocation of $10 million.

According to Dickerson, members of the governor’s staff have insisted that the monies can come from other sources, particularly from the proceeds of Proposition 98, the school-funding measure passed by voters last November.

The problem is, she says, none of the school districts in the county have shown an inclination to share any of those funds with CAPP.

“We conducted an informal survey (of the school districts), and they all say whatever extra money they get from Proposition 98 must go for what they call ‘educational needs,’ although for the life of me I can’t think of a better definition of a child abuse prevention program.”

CSP’s executive director, Margot Carolson, worries that if the governor does not restore the funds, “it will send a mixed message to students, parents, staff and offenders--that child abuse is not a major problem and therefore a low priority.”

So, where does CAPP go from here?

“We’re really in a strange place,” says Dickerson, “with everyone from the governor on down praising our work and apparently assuming we’ll get the money somewhere to continue it.

“We know the Legislature favors the program, but it can’t put funding back into the budget without the governor’s approval. And, he tells us to get the money from the schools, who tell us they don’t have any money.”

Meanwhile, she says CAPP is contacting private foundations and corporations, but such grants usually take time and that’s something CAPP doesn’t have.

“In the end, you know,” she points out, “we all will pay for such shortsightedness. “We either pay for education and prevention now or we pay a lot more--at least double--down the line for prisons and social services.”

Dickerson says the group is soliciting both money and support from the community. Its phone number is (714) 634-3848.