Public Aid to Protect Children Is Sought : Safety: Deaths and instances of abuse and neglect have risen sharply. Officials say people should report any suspicions to authorities.

In an effort to reduce a surge in child abuse, Los Angeles County health and law enforcement officials called on people to be alert for abused and neglected children and report suspicions to authorities.

In the last year, the number of reports of abuse and neglect filed with the Department of Children’s Services rose 11% to more than 120,000 cases, and the number of children killed by their parents or caretakers jumped 33% to 61, the highest level ever reported, county officials said at a news conference.

The Department of Children’s Services only found enough evidence to intervene in about 40% of the reported cases. Last year, only about half of the homicide cases were successfully prosecuted because of ambiguous medical evidence and other problems with the cases. Experts contend that there are many more cases of abuse and neglect than are being reported to authorities.

“There are lots of problems in the system,” said Dr. Michael Durfee, coordinator of the Child Abuse Prevention Program for the Department of Health Services. “It’s easy to ask who is to blame . . . (the) health (department), social services, the police. . . . But I think that misses the point,” he said.

“Clearly one of the major deficits in the system today is friends and family and neighbors, ordinary people who fail to act, who don’t do anything or say anything when they see a child in trouble.”

If someone sees a child being hit or verbally abused and humiliated by an adult, it is important to do something to help, agreed Los Angeles County Sheriff Sherman Block, chairman of the county’s Inter-Agency Council on Child Abuse and Neglect.

Too often abuse is equated with poverty, but that is clearly not the case, Block said. Children are abused when the adults who are supposed to take care of them come under stress. “Someone who loses a $100,000 or a $200,000 job is just as likely to be under stress as someone who loses a $5-an-hour job. . . . It can--and does--happen anywhere.”

Anyone who suspects a child is being abused or neglected can make an anonymous report to the child abuse units of the Police or Sheriff’s departments, the Department of Health Services or the Department of Children’s Services.

The county operates a toll-free Child Abuse Hotline, (800) 540-4000, for people who want to ask questions or report problems. Also, the Inter-Agency Council on Child Abuse and Neglect, (818) 575-4362, provides a list of organizations for people who want to volunteer their services.