After KY schools closed and kids stayed home, far fewer people reported child abuse

Jul. 24--After Kentucky schools abruptly closed in March to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the number of child abuse and neglect reports received by state social workers plunged by 43 percent compared to the previous spring.

Nobody believes this was because Kentucky -- which had the highest child abuse rates in America for the past two years -- suddenly became a much safer place for children during the stress of a pandemic, mass unemployment and social distancing.

Instead, the dread suspicion by caseworkers is that abused children faded into the background once they no longer had real-life contact with teachers and other school employees. Education professionals are the people most likely to detect and report child abuse, more than doctors, law enforcement and social workers, according to a federal study of 2018 child protection data.

What happens this fall when tens of thousands of students in Fayette, Jefferson and other Kentucky school districts resume their educations online at home instead of returning to classrooms?

"That's the $1 million question. And the short answer, I'm afraid, is that we don't know yet, other than I think everyone knows it's a serious problem," said Jill Seyfred, executive director of Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky.

On Wednesday, a state legislative committee in Frankfort was told that child abuse reports started falling as soon as children left schools. Suddenly, there were no concerned adults physically present in some abused children's lives to see fresh bruising or ask about changes in behavior, experts testified.

"You can see the significant difference beginning in March and certainly in April and May. We did have a reduced number of reports," Christa Bell, a director at the Kentucky Department for Community Based Services, told the Child Welfare and Oversight Advisory Committee.

Child abuse reports received by the state, which topped 10,900 per month around the same time in 2019, fell to 8,815 in March of this year, and then to 5,868 in April before rising slightly to 6,562 in May.

Reports rose to 7,180 in June, which is not too far below their June 2019 total of 7,721, Bell said. But that's to be expected because schools are closed for most of June even in ordinary years, she said.

The decline in abuse reporting was similar in Fayette County, said Melynda Jamison, executive director of Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children of Lexington.

"Without that extra set of eyes at school, I really worry about what we're missing with these children," Jamison said.

"I can tell you this, when the daycares opened up again in June, our numbers (of abuse reports) here in Fayette County picked up a bit more. So that reinforces my point that the more eyes you have on a child, the more we catch," she said.

"It's bigger than just the schools being open or closed," she added. "How many doctors appointments are being missed, how many counseling sessions aren't happening, how many clubs and activities are canceled right now? These are all opportunities to catch the problem because they involve other people outside of the home."

Meanwhile, to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, caseworker visits with children who are being monitored by the state are now conducted by video technology instead of face-to-face, Bell told lawmakers. But exceptions can be made if there are particular safety concerns for a child or if a family is considered to be in crisis, she said.

Lawmakers told Bell they fear what will happen when school districts resume online instruction, leaving children inside their homes every day indefinitely.

"We may have some children falling through the cracks where the abuse and neglect is just not being reported because of COVID-19," said state Sen. Tom Buford, R-Nicholasville.

State Sen. Whitney Westerfield, R-Crofton, said his sister-in-law is a social worker in the Christian County Public Schools. If schools aren't going to bring children back into classrooms this fall, then school leaders need to make plans to help protect students who might be suffering at home, Westerfield said.

"We all know that abuse and neglect hasn't just stopped," Westerfield told Bell.

"I think you should get this to every superintendent and every school board chair and every counselor in every school system in the state. They should all be aware of this," Westerfield said. "And they should all be put on notice that this is an issue that needs to be given particular attention as they think about reopening and consider how best to do it. Not just educate students, but make sure they have access to resources to address their health."

The Fayette County Public Schools did not respond Friday to a request for comment on this story.

Children's advocates say they are trying to spread the word among Kentucky school districts about how to keep a closer eye on students even during an extended period of online education.

For one thing, they said, families can't be allowed to disappear, which proved to be a significant problem in the spring as the weeks wore on. Fayette County's student participation rate fell to 58 percent after two months.

Teachers should use digital tools that allow them to make visual contact with individual students and to make themselves available for conversation, advocates said. Teachers also should check in with parents and ask if they need help dealing with problems, they said.

Admittedly, a computer screen is no substitute for daily real-life interaction, said Jamison of CASA of Lexington.

"It seems like right now, there is no good decision," she said. "I'm not taking a stand against any superintendent who doesn't want to reopen their schools because I understand the safety concerns. But this should not relieve us of the responsibility to protect the children."

Child abuse in Kentucky can be reported online at https://prdweb.chfs.ky.gov/ReportAbuse/ or by calling Kentucky's statewide child abuse hotline at 1-877-597-2331.

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