By Taylor Boyd
The number of child abuse cases investigated by the Patrick County Department of Social Services (DSS) has increased since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March.
“In the beginning – in March, April, and May – we received very few intake calls concerning child abuse and neglect. Then this summer, it really kicked up,” Joan Rogers, director, said.
The number of calls increased again when schools started reopening, she said, noting that teachers and school personnel are mandated reporters and legally required to report any suspicion of child abuse or neglect to the authorities.
“We’re always fairly busy when school is in session because teachers, school personnel, children are present, and they discover they have a concern here. We have been fairly busy since summer,” Rogers said.
While she does not know if the increase is associated with COVID-19, Rogers said she also seen a rise in domestic violence in the county since the pandemic began.
“Because if people are doing what they are supposed to be doing, they are staying at home. I know it’s very stressful because children are at home and only at school maybe two days a week. The other days, they’re in virtual classrooms. Family members are probably not used to being with each other 24 hours a day, and then you have parents that are maybe working from home. It’s just a very stressful time for people,” Rogers said.
But she said she does not correlate everything the department is currently doing to COVID-19.
“Child abuse and neglect are always related to what is going on in the home environment. In Patrick County, a lot of our concerns of abuse and neglect are due to domestic violence and substance abuse. This county has a fairly high percentage of poverty for children, a higher percentage than the state average. People in poverty have a lot of stress, and that goes hand in hand with child abuse and neglect,” she said.
Rogers said the department has always received a lot of referrals, even before COVID-19, which she attributes to poverty and social issues in the county.
“We have very little daycare services for families, so even if our families want to go to work, there’s no daycare, and if you’re in poverty, it’s hard to get out of poverty. Employment, we have very little employment here, which means families have to travel outside of Patrick County for employment.
“If you don’t have a good, dependable car, it’s going to be hard to get to your job, and people in poverty can’t afford cars that are dependable. We don’t have a hospital and only one doctor’s office for all of the county. So, people are limited to medical care and dental care,” she said, adding these are challenges faced throughout rural America.
“I will relate child abuse and neglect to poverty and mental health issues. So, if you want to look at the broad picture, child abuse and neglect are correlated with poverty, mental health issues, substance issues, domestic violence,” she said, “and we’re dealing with all of these issues.”
In fiscal year 2019, 23 percent of children living in Patrick were living in poverty, according to Rogers.
“The statewide percentage for children living in poverty was 13.8 percent. For all ages, the poverty rate for all ages in 2019 was 10.7 percent, and in Patrick is it 15 percent. Twenty percent of Patrick County is also on Medicaid and SNAP Benefits,” Rogers said.
“What bothers me the most about child abuse and neglect is we can trace it generation by generation. We’re not breaking the cycle,” she said.
She said if the parents don’t know how to properly nurture their baby, then that child grows up with all sorts of attachment disorders.
“It becomes a snowball effect, that’s why we really need to zero in on prevention and provide services very early, and not when the child is nine or ten. We have to get to it earlier,” Rogers said.
Physical signs of child abuse and neglect are the easiest to identify because they can be medically determined.
“Emotional abuse and child sexual abuse are hard to determine as there are often no physical signs of harm,” she said.
To report concerns about potential child abuse and neglect, call the local department at (276) 694-3328, or the Child Protective Services hotline at 1-800-552-7096.
