Safety Alert: Child Abuse and Neglect

The Associated Press released a report analyzing how the Coronavirus pandemic impacted child abuse cases. According to the report, there were more than 400,000 fewer child welfare concerns reported and 200,000 fewer child abuse and neglect investigations and assessments compared with the same time period of 2019. This shows a national decrease of 18% of both reports and investigations - but that doesn’t mean child abuse has actually decreased. 

Experts worry that many cases of neglect are flying under the radar. When children are in school, teachers and school staff are mandatory reporters for suspected child abuse. The remote learning environment that many schools implemented due to COVID-19 has caused many cases of abuse to be noticed much later than in normal school conditions. AP’s analysis found that when schools switched to distance learning there was a 59% decrease in reports of abuse and neglect from K-12 personnel. The sad reality is that fewer reports means there is a greater chance for harm.