Valley Perspective : Help and Hope for the Children : County Answers a Plea in the High Desert After Abuse Cases Soar

In the fall of 1992, a story by Times reporter John Chandler revealed a staggering toll of child abuse deaths in the Antelope Valley. Six children had died from physical injury in slightly more than one year’s time. The story also noted that the high desert area had one of Los Angeles County’s highest rates of reported abuse against children.

Unfortunately, the county government’s awareness of the problem, and its response, left much to be desired. For example, the closest county dependency court to the Antelope Valley was shifted last year from Van Nuys to Monterey Park, leaving high desert families with a 70-mile trip to court. The dependency court handles cases of child abuse and neglect. Moreover, the county skipped over the Antelope Valley as a possible test site for a family preservation program.

Now, county officials have responded to their most vulnerable residents in the manner that they deserve. They have finally fulfilled promises made last year for improved services to the high desert.

Most important, perhaps, was the long-anticipated opening of a satellite juvenile court in Lancaster for child abuse and neglect cases. That alleviated the need for exhausting, 140-mile round trips every time a child or a family had to make a court appearance.

But the most interesting and welcome development for a county that is hard-pressed to assign people to such far-flung regions involves the medical examinations that are used to determine whether physical abuse has taken place.

Until this past week, such examinations had to be done at County-USC Medical Center--some 75 miles away--because each exam had to be witnessed by Dr. Astrid Heger, director of the county’s Center for the Vulnerable Child. Now, using video equipment, a magnification device and a special telephone link, those examinations can occur at an Antelope Valley hospital. Heger can direct a nurse through the examination or can review the results later. Moreover, the video images can be stored on film or printed for later use as evidence during court hearings.

Better yet, this new program also creates a system in which the abused child need only take part in one or two interviews by law enforcement or medical officials, down from the grueling eight interviews that had usually been necessary to mount criminal prosecutions.

With round-trip distances to court and medical facilities of 140 to 150 miles, the county had been engaged in its own peculiar form of mistreatment of Antelope Valley children. County officials have finally taken the steps necessary to speed up investigations and lessen the burden on youths who have already suffered the traumas of physical abuse and neglect. It’s about time.