Upswing in child abuse investigations
WAYNESBURG – Greene County Children and Youth Service has been “extremely busy” as the agency continues to address changes in the state’s child protective services laws, a CYS administrator told Greene County commissioners Wednesday.
CYS saw a 48 percent increase in investigations and assessments during the first three months of the year compared to the same time last year, CYS administrator Stacey Courtwright said.
This resulted in a 37 percent increase in the number of families and a 47 percent increase in the number of children compared to a year ago, she said.
The number of cases the agency investigated or assessed during the first three months of the year was 287, involving 236 families and 458 children. The total number of cases CYS investigated or assessed during all of 2015 was 1,066.
CYS investigates allegations of child abuse or neglect. Assessments consider a child’s general living conditions and the possible need for family services, such as housekeeping or heating assistance.
During her brief presentation, which came in recognition of Child Abuse Prevention Month, Courtwright also said the agency has seen an increase in the number of cases related to drug use.
From January through March, the agency handled 11 cases of neonatal abstinence syndrome, problems that occur to a newborn exposed to addictive illegal or prescription drugs while in the mother’s womb.
In the past, the number of neonatal abstinence cases the agency has seen ranged from 13 to 15 for an entire year, she said.
Courtwright attributed the agency’s increased activity during the past year to amendments to the child protection services law. These included “changes in mandatory reporting, changes in the definition of a perpetrator and changes in the definition of child abuse,” she said.
Among other things, the amendments changed the definition of what constitutes child abuse and expanded the list of people defined as mandatory reporters.
The amendments, implemented in December 2014, came in the wake of the conviction of former Penn State coach and Washington native Jerry Sandusky for sexually abusing several boys.
The increased workload required the county to create a second child abuse intake unit. It currently has one unit with a supervisor and four caseworkers and a second unit with one supervisor and three caseworkers.
“No one knows how tough this job is,” Commissioner Blair Zimmerman said, in approving a proclamation recognizing Child Abuse Prevention Month.
The agency’s efforts have the full support of the commissioners, he said. “We appreciate the work you do.”
The commissioners also approved proclamations for Grange Month, National Autism Awareness Month, Pennsylvania Safe Digging Month and National Library Week, April 10-16.