Prevent Child Abuse New York's Blog

PCANY Supports the Trafficking Victims Protection and Justice Act

Children who are abused at home or in foster care, who run away from home, or are kidnapped deserve the utmost in compassionate treatment. Instead, they often find themselves forced into the commercial sex trade. At the hands of both skilled traffickers and “customers”, these children find themselves subjected to further violence, manipulation and harm.

The average age for a child to enter into prostitution in the United States is 13. By definition, every sexual act a child engages in with an adult is rape. Children who are used for prostitution are usually under the control of an adult who uses whatever physical and psychological force is necessary to keep under their control, as virtual or actual slaves, and who is in charge of the commercial part of the transactions. Children commercially exploited for sex suffer enormous physical, mental and emotional harm. The criminal justice and social service systems often struggle to meet the needs of these children, and they are frequently so stigmatized by their exploitation that they struggle to re-integrate into society when they have the chance.

Toughening the penalties for purchasing sexual services from a child will decrease the demand for these services. This, in turn, will decrease the demand for traffickers to trawl for vulnerable children or to bring them in from foreign countries. It also sends a message that raping a child is never acceptable, even if that child is being prostituted. It emphasizes that children are children, and it is the responsibility of adults to protect them.

Prevent Child Abuse New York supports A.9804/S.7212, which toughens the penalties on adults who purchase sexual “services” from a child. While only one step in a long journey, we believe this bill will help move New York in the right directions when it comes to safeguarding children, the direction that we must, absolutely, head in.

Price Chopper Raises $37,000 to Prevent Child Abuse

This April and unusual item popped up on shoppers' grocery lists: Pinwheels for Prevention pin-ups. Price Chopper stores sold 37,005 of them, resulting in a $37,005 donation to Prevent Child Abuse New York (PCANY) and its sister chapters in surrounding states.

Fox 23 News WXXA also joined in the fight against child abuse, sponsoring the Pinwheels for Prevention pin-up campaign and running television PSAs to promote it.

Money raised in the campaign will support PCANY’s Parent Helpline, public education, and legislative advocacy programs.

Throughout the month of April, which is Child Abuse Prevention Month, Price Chopper’s customers were asked if they would like to purchase a Pinwheel for Prevention pin-up. Every dollar raised goes directly to the Prevent Child Abuse state chapter where it is donated.

Pinwheels for Prevention is the signature campaign for Prevent Child Abuse America and its state chapters. The pinwheel symbolizes a person’s commitment to truly preventative measures, such as home visitation services, parent education and the overall re-prioritization of our policies, programs and resources to ensure that every child is provided with a healthy, safe and nurturing home and an involved, supportive and caring community.

One-Year Civil Suit Window for Past Child Sexual Abuse

Topic of Tuesday May 22 program at the Legislative Office Building in Albany.

As common as headlines are about adults being arrested child sexual abuse, the cases that make the paper are the tip of the iceberg. Most children who are sexually abused don’t disclose the abuse before adulthood. Why? Often the abuser manipulates or threatens the child into silence. Very young children sometimes lack the vocabulary to describe their ordeal. Some children don’t realize that what they’re experiencing is considered wrong, abnormal, or noteworthy to the outside world. Almost 40% of sexually abused children are abused by someone in their family, and family members are often reluctant to believe a child’s revelation of abuse, or are willing to dismiss it in order to prevent family upheaval.

Children generally survive acts of sexual abuse by forcing themselves to not experience it, through disassociation or other means. Victimized children get very good at blocking out and not thinking about their abuse. Before they can disclose, they must be able to survive without those coping mechanisms. They also must be able to verbalize what happened, and have someone in life to disclose to. They must be able to survive rounds of questioning by police, social workers, etc. They may need to brace themselves for living without their family of origin, a decision a child rarely can make. Thus, many children simply can’t disclose the abuse while they are children.

Changing the statute of limitations. All of that means that we often have to wait until their victims are adults if we want to arrest child sex abusers. How long do we need to wait? At the least, we should allow grown children enough time to gain complete independence from their family, and allow for them to “outgrow” those survival mechanisms that served them so well. How long does that take? Statistically, most survivors who disclose their abuse do so in their late 30’s to early 40’s. I have had the privilege of meeting one survivor who didn’t disclose until her 60’s. Currently in NY, the statue expires on a victim’s 23^rd birthday. Ideally, we should eliminate the statute of limitations or extend it for decades after the survivor reaches the age of majority.

But changing the statute of limitations will only catch tomorrow’s offenders. Crimes committed before the law was changed will not be prosecutable.

Creating a window for civil suits. An interesting solution that some states have found is to include a “civil window” in statute of limitations reform.  The “window” is a limited period of time following the law’s passage, most often one year, when survivors may file suit against their abuser, for abuse that happened at any time in the past.

Civil suit windows have seen survivors awarded money for damages. (A recent study estimated that surviving childhood abuses costs the average survivor $400,000 in increased medical expenses and decreased productivity.) They have seen court documents naming specific abusers committed to the state’s record; those documents can limit offenders’ access to additional victims. And they have given many survivors the chance to tell their story, under oath, to a judge and have the judge say “I believe you”, a phrase most survivors rarely hear.

Learn More: A panel discussion about the civil window and statute of limitations reform in New York will be held in Tuesday May 22, 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Legislative Office Building, Room 104A, in Albany. Experts in the fields of law, and advocates who have brought similar legislation to other states will be in attendance.  Everyone who is interested in making New York safer for children is welcome to attend and show their support for this important legislation.  For more information about the event, contact Bob Kristan, (212) 989-1285 or Assemblywoman Margaret Markey’s office, (518) 455-4755.  

Psychological Maltreatment Conference for Child Welfare Professionals

Our colleagues at the New York Foundling Vincent J. Fontana Center for Child Protection are presenting a one-day conference on June 5, Psychological Maltreatment from Research to Practice: Bringing It Home. Conference participants will learn about the components of psychological maltreatment and its impact on children, identify examples of psychological maltreatment from their own practice, learn positive parenting techniques that develop children's self-esteem and improve their behavior, discuss effective intervention strategies, and learn how positive discipline can reduce problematic behaviors in children.

The conference is Monday, June 5, 2012, at the New York Foundling Vincent J. Fontana Center for Child Protection, 27 Christopher Street (corner of Christopher Street and Waverly Place), New York, NY 10014. Registration is limited to 60 people, so register early to guarantee your spot. Details and registration information are here. 

 

 

 

Childhood Poverty Focus of NYSPEP Semi-Annual Meeting

We know that poverty is bad for children and families. But, why? The New York State Parenting Education Partnership (NYSPEP) will tackle that question at its semi-annual membership meeting on May 23. Cornell professor Gary Evans' presentation, The Environment of Childhood Poverty, outlines the cumulative effects of poverty and other risk factors on families. The session includes data on risk exposure, its consequences, and strategies to support families.

The afternoon workshop, Addressing the Environment of Poverty through the Lens of Protective Factors, includes information in Strengthening Families, a universal approach to building social connections and interpersonal skills. The presentation includes an overview of the protective factors upon which this approach is built, strategies for implementing in family support programs, and an introduction to the Protective Factors Survey.

The meeting is open to the public and will be held on Wednesday, May 23, 2012, 9 am - 4 pm, at the Carondelet Hospitality Center in Latham, New York. The registration fee is $25 and includes lunch. More details and registration information is here. 

 

 

New Report Estimates the Cost of Child Abuse at $80 Billion a Year

Child abuse and neglect will cost our nation over $80 billion in 2012, according to an economic impact analysis released today by Prevent Child Abuse America. The report, Estimated Annual Cost of Child Abuse and Neglect, assesses a number of factors. Direct costs, which include hospitalization, mental health costs, costs incurred by the child welfare system, and law enforcement, total $33 billion. Indirect costs, including special education, early intervention, adult homelessness, mental health and health care, juvenile and adult criminal justice costs, and lost work productivity, total nearly $47 billion.  

Based on this analysis, New York will spend an estimated $5,264,534,000 to address the consequences of child abuse and neglect. This confirms what professionals in the field have long known: There's a tremendous imbalance between what we spend on preventing child abuse from happening and intervening in and treating child abuse after it already occurs. New York State, for example, spends $23.3 million on Healthy Families New York and $2.5 million on Nurse Family Partnership, two early childhood home visiting programs proven to reduce abuse and improve outcomes for at-risk kids.

We should not diminish the importance of intervening in abusive situations and treating victims, but we must also recognize the trauma of abuse can not be erased. Abuse and neglect account for many grievous social ills. Victims are more likely to experience chronic health problems, mental health issues, developmental delays, poor educational outcomes, and involvement with the juvenile and criminal justice systems.

We need to prioritize children not only in our policies and budgets, but in our everyday actions," said James M. Hmurovich, President & CEO, Prevent Child Abuse America. "Wouldn’t it make sense to develop a strategy that focuses on a national commitment to actually prevent child abuse and neglect before it ever occurred? If we could decrease these annual costs by 10% in the next 5 years, think of the great things we could do for children and their families. For example, $7.7 million provides 78,000 home visits to 2000-3000 expectant and new parents at risk of abusing or neglecting their child. Ultimately, this benefits not just families, but society as a whole.”

Tell Your Rep. to Vote Against Cuts Targeting Millions of Low-income People

On Monday, May 7th the House is starting to debate legislation that would eliminate the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG), and make cuts to programs such as Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). These cuts would single out millions of low-income children, seniors, and other vulnerable people to shoulder the burden of reducing the deficit, with a floor vote expected on Thursday, May 10. Passing this legislation would be a step towards carrying out plans outlined in the House-passed budget: Extreme cuts to nutrition, health care and other needed assistance. These cuts are proposed in a budget procedure called "reconciliation."

The Coalition on Human Needs is leading efforts to call members of Congress in opposition to the proposed budget cuts. Send an email asking your Representative to vote against these harmful cuts. We need to make a choice about what America's priorities look like. Tell Congress to vote against this harmful reconciliation bill. Take action today!

Sexual Assault Prevention and Intervention Conference

We're exhibiting this week at New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault's (NYSCASA) annual conference, Weaving a World Without Violence (pdf). The conference program looks terrific, and we're looking forward to networking and sharing information with professionals and advocates committed to ending sexual violence and exploitation. The conference is May 9-10, 2012, at the Holiday Inn at 205 Wolf Road in Albany. You'll find details and registration information here.

Awareness Provides Real Important Lessons = APRIL

A poem by Tahitia Foggie, a child abuse survivor and single mom to five children, in honor of child abuse prevention month.

April, fourth month of the calendar year
Known to some as child abuse awareness month
Child abuse is everywhere
It needs to be acknowledged every day of the year
Child abuse, a plight
That needs to be brought more into the spotlight
With a light that can never be extinguished
Children may be small and young but they also have rights
And deserve to live a safe and protected life

Remembering the innocent children who live with this abuse everyday
Who don't know how it feels to feel safe, laugh and play
To the ones who show obvious and visible signs but get overlooked anyway
To the ones who were beaten so badly that little bodies gave way
To the hands of death that took their precious life away

We need to realize
Child abuse is that important that it has to always recognized
Taken seriously and the abuser penalized
Or it will continue to be on the rise
No more covering up truth with lies
Acting as if child abuse is not the main cause of a innocent child’s demise

This is the year 2012
Child abuse must no longer be shelved
Children do not know how to protect themselves
Against a sadistic and determined adult

The affects of child abuse on a survivor
Can and will eventually
Affect that human being emotionally and mentally
That if they don't get help can cause them to do things unintentionally
Allowing this cycle to continue from generation to generation
It is time to take a stand as a nation
And stop the abuse that is harming, endangering and killing God's most precious creation

 

Child Abuse Prevention Fundraiser - Happy Hour at Tonic East in NYC

Please plan to join the Lion Fund for Children, Inc. (LFFC) for a Happy Hour fundraiser to benefit Prevent Child Abuse New York and LFFC, this Thursday, April 19 at Tonic East (Third Avenue at 29th Street), 6:30 to 8:30.

The Lion Fund for Children, Inc. is a grassroots non-profit coalition of Penn State Alumni and Supporters devoted to preventing child abuse and supporting local community efforts to provide child abuse prevention, counseling, treatment and support services. There is no cover charge for the Tonic East fundraiser, but donations will be accepted.