County Reports Nearly 600 Cases of Child Abuse and Neglect in 2014

The shining silver and blue petals of 583 pinwheels flashed as they turned in a brisk Tuesday breeze before the courthouse yesterday noon, where some 400 children from public and privates schools citywide had gathered for the kickoff of Child Abuse Prevention Month with the annual pinwheel ceremony.

Remarking on the rows of children in blue shirts seated on the courthouse steps, County Judge Steve Floyd addressed the respectfully attentive students before reading aloud the proclamation.

“It’s fitting that we are on the most public square in the county,” he said. “Daily it seems like things are going on here, because people pay attention to what is happening on these steps and in that building. So with that said, a lot of time these acts (abuse) are done in the dark and in the secrecy behind closed doors. It’s fitting that we’re here.”

After Floyd officially declared April a community-wide month of awareness and attention to child abuse prevention, 400 students of all ages rose to their feet and scrambled to the lawn where they planted their pinwheels in a symbolic garden, one apiece for each of the victims Tom Green County documented over 2014.

“This year there were 583 confirmed cases [of abuse and neglect],” said Children’s Advocacy Center Executive Director Heather Ward. “It’s a hundred more than [the year before], which seems like a big increase but we’ve had more intakes (reports). So there’s more reporting, more population.”

Between September and March, over 750 cases have been assigned for investigation by Child Protective Services (CPS), with 178 families confirmed to have a situation of abuse or neglect, CPS Program Director Angie Voss said. Within those 178 families, over 270 children have been confirmed as victims.

Although the spike in reports and confirmed cases seems alarming, those who work with children agree that there has been no dramatically perceived increase.

“I don’t that it’s getting worse, I think the awareness is just becoming much more prevalent,” Voss said, noting awareness events such as the pinwheel ceremony and a growing emphasis on highlighting abuse cases in the media. “People are becoming more aware,” she said.

The sentiment was one recently mirrored by CPS administrators, who gave the same grounds when discussing 2013’s total of 483 cases, which equates to 17.9 cases per 1,000 kids as opposed to the state average of 9.3 cases per 1,000.

Also high in 2013 was the rate of Tom Green County children in foster care, which came in at 13.2 per 1,000 children aged 0-17 as opposed to the state average of 4.3.

“The last thing that you want to do—you don’t always want to remove the child,” Ward said. “You want to do whatever you can to make sure that kid’s safe and if they can remain in their home, we want them to remain. That’s really something that CPS is working on and we’re helping, keeping kids safe in their homes and in their community.”

Tom Green County has over 170 children in the state’s custody and over 85 percent of those are placed out-of-county. Some 67 percent of those are not only placed out-of-county, but out of our 30-county region, well beyond the massive reach of west Texas, Voss said.

“What’s really traumatic is not only has this child suffered an abuse or neglect that’s led the state to take custody of them, then they’re moved from their caregivers, their parent, and no matter what, parents love their children, but children love their parents.”

While it has been reported that there are roughly 30 foster families in San Angelo, Voss said the number actually reflects bed spaces. The shortage is something social workers are trying to correct, but San Angelo has not traditionally been too receptive to foster care.

“We don’t know why that is,” Voss said. “We’re trying really hard to educate people on what it is and what it means if you take a kid into your home.”

If you’re interested in learning more about becoming a foster parent, read this article with insight on a local family. To find out how you can become a foster parent, call the CPS office at 657-8833.