Protecting your community’s children through practice expansion

The Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Administration for Children and Families (Children’s Bureau) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a new report, Child Maltreatment 2019. According to the report, 68.6 percent of reports alleging child abuse and neglect were from professionals in 2019. “Child Abuse and neglect [is defined] at a minimum [of being] any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation; or an act or failure to act, which presents at imminent risk of serious harm.”

Child abuse and mistreatment is not an easy topic to discuss and can be stressful to diagnose and advocate for the child. Knowing the most common cases can help professionals protect current and future children presenting similar signs. The most common types of maltreatment are neglect, physical and sexual abuse. It is more common for the victim to be female; “the victimization rate for females is 9.4 per 1,000 girls and 8.4 per 1,000 boys for males.

Regardless of what these children have endured, they are going to need some professional help besides protection and advocacy. Do you have pediatric services that encompass a child’s overall health and wellness, including their behavioral health?