We are nearing the end of National Child Abuse Prevention Month – a time of year when agencies like Sunrise who witness the devastating effects of child abuse shine a light on the problem and tell you what we’re doing about it.
The Need
Child abuse in Kentucky is on the rise, partly because families are under increasing pressure. In 2008, the number of children reported as abused or neglected was 88,292. That’s up from 84,451 in 2007 and 66,572 in 2006. Of last year’s reports, 72 percent were for neglect, 21 percent were for physical abuse and 6 percent were for sexual abuse. Click here to view graphs done by Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky that illustrate these numbers very clearly.
The result of these reports is that about 7,000 Kentucky children are staying in out-of-home care today – foster homes or residential facilities. Sunrise Children’s Services takes care of as many as 400 of these kids at a time.
I wrote extensively over the winter about Kentucky’s budget problems and the decision by the state to reduce the reimbursement rates paid to Sunrise and similar agencies that care for these kids. Thank you to everyone who wrote or called our elected officials on behalf of our kids. Unfortunately, the legislature failed to take action to restore our rates before ending the session in March. Sunrise and other children’s advocates are continuing to make every effort to push for the restoration of our funding with the governor and other state officials. In the meantime, please remember that any gift you can make to Sunrise will help us weather this financial strain. We will keeping caring for the kids no matter what. Click here to donate now.
The Results
How does Sunrise prevent child abuse? First, we place victimized children in safe environments where they can heal physically and emotionally. We teach them how to respect themselves, never allowing someone to victimize them again. Second, we provide counseling and other services to struggling families and children in an effort to keep the kids in their homes and communities. Third, we recognize that we can break the cycle of child abuse by bringing healing to child abuse victims and setting them on the path to a healthy adult life. Otherwise, they will be more likely to hurt someone in the future. Sunrise accomplished much toward these ends in 2008.
Our 2008 annual report, which you can view online in our spring newsletter, shows that 1,735 lives were touched by our services. In addition to clients who benefited from our counseling and adoption services, that number includes more than 1,000 children in our 10 residential treatment centers and foster homes across the state. These kids received more than just the basics of food, clothing and shelter – many of them received more adult supervision and support in one year than previous years combined. They received attention to their medical, educational and spiritual needs. Sunrise is changing lives.
Think about one action you can take to prevent child abuse – then tell us about it here!
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