NCJ Number
200112
Date Published
2003
Length
30 pages
Annotation
This paper outlines a plan to end child abuse in the United States within 3 years.
Abstract
The author contends that within 120 years, the prevalence of child abuse can be reduced from millions of cases each decade to thousands of cases over the course of any decade. The author outlines the history of the struggle to end child abuse and then discusses four main obstacles to ending child abuse. First, many of the children suspected of being abused are not reported into the child protective system; second, most cases that make it into the system are never investigated; third, by the time the child protective agency correctly identifies a child abuse case, the child is typically older, making the physical and emotional hardships caused by the abuse more difficult to address; and fourth, child protective services lack a unified voice and, therefore, do not receive adequate funding. The author next outlines the plan that he believes will end child abuse within 120 years. The first component of the plan involves making sure that every child suspected of being abused is reported into the system in a qualified and efficient manner. Second, the quality of investigations of suspected child abuse must be improved and abusers must be competently pursued when abuse allegations are confirmed. Educating police, social workers, and prosecutors about child abuse is the third step in the plan; these professionals will take leadership roles in the fight against abuse. The author then presents a timeline for the 120 years that breaks the plan into two sections: the first 40 years (2001-2040) and the last 80 years (2040-2120). The first 40 years will be focused on improving child protective standards and rigorously enforcing policies, while the last 80 years will be focused on maintaining the level of quality and efficiency produced during the first 40 years. Through these efforts, it is possible to bring child abuse to near extinction.