Child Maltreatment

Ruby Bacon

Child maltreatment is a growing problem within our society today, but not only is it a
national problem but a state problem as well. Every day there is a story in the news about how a
child passed away, was removed from the home or was in danger because it was in harms way of
sexual or physical abuse, there was violence in the home or the parents had a substance abuse
problem and the child was found with drugs in the system or they were living in unsanitary
settings.
The CDC states that child maltreatment includes all types of abuse and neglect of a child
under the age of 18 by a parent, caregiver, or another person in a custodial role (e.g., clergy,
coach, teacher). There are four types of abuse, which are physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional
abuse and neglect (Center for Disease Control , 2014). All four of these types of abuse are
detrimental to a childs development as they grow into an adult and even though one may show
physical signs of abuse they all have underlying affects on a childs mental and emotional health
if they are able to make it their teenage years.
If a child is able to survive an act of abuse or if DCFS removes them from the home, they
may have a chance at having a somewhat normal life, if they do not know what normal is. A
child can go two ways after an act of abuse, they can become people pleasers, making sure to not
cause trouble and always be known as the good kid or they can become the statistic, they turn to
criminal behaviors, act out, turn to substance abuse to numb the pain and sometimes act out the
sexual acts that were done to them on to other victims. The victim now becomes the perpetrator
because they do not know any different.
A child has the ability to cope, and even thrive following a negative experience is often
referred to as resilience, (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2013). Resilience is not a childs

2
inherited trait but a result from a mixture of risk and protective factors that cause a childs
positive and negative reaction to adverse experiences (Child Welfare Information Gateway,
2013). A child has to learn to be resilient in order to cope with the abuse that is being acted upon
them when they are supposed to be protected from these types of actions by their parents and
caregivers.
Some physical consequences of maltreatment are obesity, diabetes, traumatic brain injury
and impaired brain development. The psychological effects are fear, isolation and the inability to
trust people. The long term effects of abuse and neglect are even worse, depression, low selfesteem, drug use, relationship issues, lower IQ scores, language delays and even a risk for
personality disorders (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2013). These children now become a
part of the cycle of abuse that they should not have been a part of. Because they have been
affected by neglect or some form of abuse because their parents are addicted to drugs, or there is
abuse in the home, the child now has learned what is healthy behavior to them because it is all
that they know.
In Utah alone, 2,051 children entered foster care between the year 2014-2015, 66% of
those children removed, their parents had substance abuse problems. Neglect was found in 43%
of the homes they were removed from. At the end of the fiscal year, 2,768 children were in states
custody (Child and Family Services, 2014). I work in substance abuse with Utah County and we
get a lot of DCFS Drug Court clients that come through the residential program. Some clients
make it and graduate from Family Drug Court and get reunified with their children. Then there
are the other clients who are not ready to change or leave the drug culture and they end up losing
their parental rights to the foster parents or family members taking care of their children.

3
I used to think that because the children were still young, they were not affected by the
choices that their parents made but reading these articles and statistics made me realize that the
children are not as resistant as I thought they were and that it costs the nation a lot of money, 124
billion dollars to be exact. The children need just as much help as the parents do, counseling,
positive influences and guidance to help build trust with adults again. They need to learn coping
skills when the stresses and flashbacks come back to them so they can learn to turn the negative
into a positive situation. I do know that there are many programs to help these children especially
through DCFS and Department of Justice Childrens division.
As I go forward with my career, I hope to help the children in need that are affected by
their parents poor choices of substance abuse problems, relationship problems and any other
problems they may have with life. I hope to one day make a difference by looking for the
warning signs and speaking up to the authorities when I see a child hurting because that is my
civil duty, to help protect the future of tomorrow, which are the children of today.

References
Center for Disease Control . (2014, NA NA). Understanding Child Maltreatment . Retrieved 06
10, 2016, from Understanding CM Factssheet :
http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/pdf/CM-FactSheet-a.pdf
Child and Family Services. (2014, NA NA). DCFS of Utah. Retrieved 06 10, 2016, from Child
and Family Services factsheet 2014: http://dcfs.utah.gov/wpcontent/uploads/2013/08/Fact-Sheet-FY14.pdf
Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2013, July NA). Long-Term Consequences of Child Abuse
and Neglect. Retrieved June 10, 2016, from Long Term Consequences :
https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets