Child Abuse and Neglect Cost the United States $124 Billion

Click on the title of this post to read the press release put out by CDC on how much child abuse and neglect costs our nation. If the effect child abuse has on children isn't reason enough to step in and change things, the cost to our health care, legal, and social services systems should make every taxpayer want to act.

Our systems are so reactive and do little to prevent it from happening in the first place. Social services is hesitant to remove a child because they are so focused on keeping the family together and so further abuse happens. Family courts need hard proof of serious abuse happening before they even considered supervised placement or hold opens on placement for the abusive parents. As unfair as this may sound, we need to stop giving second (and third and fourth and fifth, etc.) chances when the safety of children are involved. And we need to look at the statistics that say a parent who is abusive towards the other parent is far more likely to be abusive towards the children. Our children deserve better. And parents' rights should not be put above children's needs and rights.