BURLINGTON, Vt., Oct. 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities (CECANF) began deliberations today in Burlington, Vermont
in advance of issuing a report to President Obama and Congress on a
national strategy to eliminate child abuse and neglect fatalities. The
meeting took place one day after the Commission heard from local, state
and tribal stakeholders from the Burlington, Vermont region.
The
Commissioners met as a body for the first time to begin deliberating on
key questions related to how federal, state, and local governments
define and count child abuse fatalities. Some of the key questions they
reviewed include:
- What are the purposes of counting child abuse and neglect fatalities?
- What data on child abuse and neglect fatalities are currently collected?
- What are the limitations and economic impact of our current data collection efforts?
- What strategies could be implemented to improve the counting of child abuse and neglect fatalities?
- Does defining child abuse and neglect fatalities need to be standardized?
According to Dr. David Sanders,
Chairman of the Commission, "We are beginning our deliberation process
with a focus on counting, because we all agree that we cannot solve a
problem this complex until we agree it exists. And that begins by
defining exactly what constitutes a child abuse or neglect fatality.
When we understand how these deaths occur, we can develop more effective
strategies to prevent them. It is not enough to agree that a death
occurred. Information about the circumstances around that death shows us
which risk factors were present. These risk factors can then be used,
in conjunction with real-time data, to identify other children who are
at increased risk of harm -- and to prevent future deaths by offering
timely services to their families or moving the children to a safe
environment.
Commissioner Teri Covington
summarized the data that the Commission has received to date on how to
quantify child abuse and neglect fatalities. "It is estimated that the
National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), which defines
cases of child abuse and neglect based on state-specific statutes,
currently undercounts the number of fatalities by as much as fifty
percent, according to numerous studies," she noted. "There is little
consistency in which fatalities are being counted, which affects both
the validity and reliability of the current system. Our challenge is to
identify ways not just to more accurately count fatalities, but to
verify data through multiple sources and a multi-disciplinary approach
that is standardized across states and localities."
The
Commission discussed the contention that while most instances of
"physical abuse" were readily identifiable, it was the category of
"neglect" deaths that was more difficult to define and classify. They
also discussed the recommendation suggested by many experts and
stakeholders who presented to the Commission that the development of
uniform, operational definitions for child maltreatment fatalities based
on a public health model would be an important step to more accurately
counting those deaths. They concluded their initial day of deliberations
with a focus on the issue of confidentiality and the challenges it
presents to a more cohesive system of data sharing.
CECANF
was established by Public Law 112-275 (112th Congress), the Protect Our
Kids Act of 2012, and has spent the past six months gathering detailed
information and insight related to federal policy, research, and
practice associated with child abuse and neglect fatalities. To date,
the Commission has hosted public meetings in San Antonio, TX; Tampa, FL; Detroit, MI; and Denver, CO. One more public meeting is planned for 2014, to take place in Burlington, VT on October 23-24, 2014.
The commission is charged with the study of:
- The use and effectiveness of federally funded child protective and child welfare services
- Best practices for and barriers to preventing child abuse and neglect fatalities
- The effectiveness of federal, state, and local data collection systems, and how to improve them
- Risk factors for child maltreatment
- How to prioritize prevention services for families with the greatest needs
The
legislation mandates that the commission submit a report to the
president and Congress on these issues within two years (with the
potential to extend the deadline by an additional year). The report will
detail specific recommendations for strategies to better track and
eliminate child abuse and neglect fatalities.
About The CommissionThe
Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities is a federal
agency established by legislation to study and make recommendations on
eliminating child abuse and neglect fatalities. The Commission was
formed as a result of the "Protect Our Kids Act" and is made up of six
Presidential appointees and six Congressional appointees. For more
information, please go to http://eliminatechildabusefatalities.sites.usa.gov.
SOURCE Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect FatalitiesRELATED LINKS
http://eliminatechildabusefatalities.sites.usa.gov
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