Child Abuse Reports Down 19% From ’97

Reports of child abuse in Orange County dropped 19% last year and deaths from child abuse fell from eight to five, a nonprofit group told supervisors Tuesday as the board proclaimed April “Blue Ribbon Child Abuse Prevention Month.”

The declines in the county reflect drops regionally and nationally. But while the number of reports has been on the decline elsewhere since the early 1990s, the county’s statistics have been erratic over the last five years.

“We had some high years and a consecutive downturn and then up for a year,” said Barbara Oliver, executive director of Prevent Child Abuse--Orange County, a nonprofit agency that started as a commission created by the county.

There were 29,685 child abuse reports and five deaths in 1998 in Orange County, compared to 36,808 reports and eight deaths the previous year. The 1997 figure, however, represents an 8% increase in reports from the previous year.

There are several factors, including the low unemployment rate, that explain last year’s decline, Oliver said.

“One of the things we’re looking at is when there is a downturn in the economy, the reports go up, and when there is an upturn in the economy, reports go down,” she said.

Whether a family is rich or poor, substantial changes in its financial situation can cause stress, she said. If parents lack coping skills and have a history of abuse, “there’s a chance someone could act out against a child,” she said.

More information about parenting and discipline is available today, she said, which may have led to less abuse.

“A lot more parents are enrolling in parenting classes today than five years ago,” she said. In October 1996, classes were about half-full and now they’re standing room only, she said.

April also is national Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Last week, a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report showed that reports of child abuse and neglect have steadily declined since 1993 from more than 1 million incidents to 963,870 in 1997, the last year for which statistics are available.

The encouraging news, though, could cause the issue to fall out of the spotlight and lead to fewer people filing reports, said Deanne Tilton Durfee, executive director of the Los Angeles County’s Interagency Council on Child Abuse and Neglect.

“I worry a little about the public concern and I’m hoping that it doesn’t take high-profile tragedies to inspire people to report child abuse,” she said.

Los Angeles County recorded 157,062 abuse and neglect reports last year, compared with 197,784 the previous year, Tilton Durfee said.

Prevent Child Abuse--Orange County is encouraging citizens this month to wear blue ribbons to support victims of child abuse and neglect.

On April 16, the group will sponsor its “Shine the Light on Child Abuse Day” and encourage residents to keep headlights and porch lights on during the day.