Tift ranks 3rd in Georgia in child abuse

TIFTON — Tift County ranks third in the state in the number of child abuse and neglect cases reported in 2009. A new community approach is being taken to spread the word in the community’s “hot spots” about what services are available to families.

According to Joyce W. Johnson, Community Partnerships for Protecting Children’s area coordinator, Tift County has been ranked third by the Georgia Department of Human Resources for two consecutive years.

There were 728 cases of child maltreatment reported in the county last year. These reports included 591 cases of neglect; 89 cases of physical abuse; 77 cases of emotional abuse; 36 cases of sexual abuse; and 25 reported cases of no maltreatment but a reported risks present and cases opened, Johnson said.

In response to these statistics, the community has adopted a new approach to child abuse prevention. The Community Partnership for Protecting Children initiative is different than most, Johnson said, because it is not a program but a strategy. CPPC is a national initiative which recognizes that keeping children safe is everybody’s business and that communities must be offered opportunities to help vulnerable families and to help shape the services and supports provided.

“Research has shown that government alone through child protective services cannot keep children safe from abuse and neglect. Children can be kept safe when families, friends, residents and organizations work together as partners,” Johnson said.

The top three types of child maltreatment reported in Tift County include inadequacies in supervision, in food, clothing, shelter, health and medical care. The top three underlying problems leading to child maltreatment are substance abuse, domestic violence and mental health issues of the parent or child.

“Although substance abuse by the parent is not a category, if a parent is using substances there’s often a problem with inadequate supervision,” Johnson said.

She said most of the reported emotional-abuse cases fall under the domestic violence category.

“The way the law reads, if a child is in the room when there is domestic violence, the parents can be charged with cruelty to a child,” Johnson said. “If a child is in another room and hears it and doesn’t see it, it’s still domestic violence.”

Even when the economy is good, there are reports of child abuse. But unemployment does cause additional risk of child abuse, Johnson said.

“It does cause a lot of stress and risk for child abuse and neglect,” Johnson said. “Not being able to pay electric bills or housing bills or to provide food, clothing and shelter plays a big part in it. Tift and other counties have seen more referrals because families are struggling.”

Being part of a rural community also increases the child abuse and neglect cases, Johnson said. Of the 15 counties with the highest reports, eight are within the local Department of Family and Children Services’ 11-county region. In Johnson’s opinion, rural counties have higher unemployment and illiteracy rates, which negatively affects parents’ ability to provide for their children.

“Most parents love their children dearly and don’t want to abuse or neglect them,” Johnson said. “Single-parent homes are at a higher risk. It means that that parent has more stress on them and more of a financial burden on them.”

At times, parents must decide whether to go to work to feed their children or let an older but still too young sibling care for a younger child while the parent works. For 81 percent of the child-abuse reports last year, inadequate supervision was the cause.

“If a woman doesn’t have a support system, she has to ask herself these questions,” Johnson said. “Often parents make the best decision they think they can make because they don’t know about resources and what their options are. It is not that they are bad people, they just might be completely unaware of all the resources available in the community.”

The Tift County Department of Family and Children Services and the Tift County Commission on Children and Youth have partnered to bring the CPPC initiative here and have formed a strategy team of community leaders, volunteers and partners from several local organizations and agencies.

They are setting priorities and seeking creative ways to engage the community to address child abuse and neglect prevention and intervention.

“We are trying to lower the rate of child abuse and neglect cases,” said Sandra Wright, the Commission on Children and Youth director. “We don’t want to have that status and we want to make people aware so that we can lower that rate.”

Wright said CPPC works to reach families before a situation of child neglect or abuse is reportable. Inadequate supervision, she said, is a big local problem and building families’ support systems will, hopefully, provide what families need.

Johnson said CPPC looked into the origins of child abuse and neglect reports and discovered there were two “hot spots” in Tift County: One in the south Tifton area, more specifically a 44-street area, and the other in an area off Ferrylake Road.

The strategy team decided to first focus on the south Tifton area to “make a bigger impact” and will then focus on Ferrylake Road.

“We have provided information to everyone and will do what we need to do to get the word out,” Johnson said.

Activities and events are planned to educate the community. Johnson said Pastor Chris Solomon and members of Beulah Hill Baptist Church “have stepped up and said they want to make a difference.” Saving Adolescent Ladies Today, a program that offers young women leadership skills, self-esteem, social skills and an education on the importance of taking care of themselves, is offered through the program.

People working with the Adopt a Street program are going door-to-door distributing information about community resources and encouraging people to talk about their needs. “They are giving them information on who to talk to so they won’t feel so isolated and they are learning what is out there to help them,” Johnson said.

Tift County residents can become involved with the CPPC strategy team by contacting Johnson at 229-391-2581 or at jajohnson@dhr.state.ga.us. Wright may be reached at 229-3889-1000 or at tc3y@friendlycity.net.

To contact senior reporter Angie Thompson, call 382-4321.

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