HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pa. Department of Human Services this week released its 2020 Annual Child Protective Services Report. The report paints a complicated picture, as most of its data was recorded amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Total reports of suspected child abuse fell 22 percent, from 32,919 reports in 2019 to 42,252 reports in 2020. The actual number of abused children, however, most likely did not fall, according to officials. The closure of schools meant children had little or no in-person contact with their teachers, who as mandated reporters file by far the most reports of any group.
Another indicator of abuse, deaths and near-deaths of children as a result of abuse, increased sharply. In 2019, 51 children died and 93 children nearly died as the result of child abuse. In 2020, 73 children died and 115 children nearly died as a result of child abuse. Together the two indicators rose 31 percent.
“Just as we keep seeing in the media about greater acts of violence, of domestic violence, of gun violence, of community violence, all of that is playing itself out equally and harshly on our children, and I think the numbers today confirm that unfortunately,” said Cathleen Palm, founder of the Center for Children’s Justice.
The rise in deaths follows a rise in opioid abuse across the state.
“Drug use in the home has been the highest reason for the significant injuries to children,” said Jon Rubin, DHS deputy secretary.
Officials said they expected lower reporting from teachers amid the pandemic, though they pointed out reports from permissive reporters—people whose job does not require them to report suspected abuse—remained steady from 2019 to 2020.
Child advocates said the past year’s challenges may have highlighted an issue with the reporting system that predated the pandemic.
The system relies heavily on mandated reporters such as teachers and family doctors. Mandated reporters did have less access to children during the pandemic. But American schools have always had a summer break, when mandated reporters always had less time to look for signs of abuse.
“We probably need to think about, how do we speak more to children, how do we more empower youth to say, here’s what’s appropriate, here’s what’s not appropriate, here’s what to do when you’re in harm’s way,” Palm said.
DHS has made progress toward keeping families together, officials said, in line with the goals of the Family First Prevention Services Act passed in 2018.
As a result of efforts to offer struggling parents and guardians resources to improve their home situation, fewer children are entering foster care. There are currently about 14,000 kids in foster care now, as opposed to nearly 17,000 in 2019.
When the home situation cannot be improved and children need to be removed, the agency is prioritizing placing them with relatives instead of strangers or congregate settings. As of April 2021, 44 percent of children in foster care were placed with relatives, compared to 32 percent in 2015. In 2015, 17 percent of Pennsylvania children in foster care were in congregate settings. By 2019, that dropped to 13 percent.
