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Views From the Frontline
Working at a Child Abuse Advocacy and Intervention Center is a difficult and rewarding career. From time to time we will be posting exclusive articles, essays and blog posts, written by KIDS Center staff and volunteers, that reflect the questions we live with as well as what we are learning in the field. Looking for more? Please see KIDS Center News to read articles and opinion pieces written about KIDS Center or by KIDS Center staff members that have been published around the state! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Financial Costs of Child Abuse In these difficult economic times, our community is being
put to the test each and every day as we all work together to do our absolute
best. We know that the financial health of our community is at stake. April is
Child Abuse Prevention Month and we would like to take this opportunity to
highlight how important children’s health and safety is to not only the moral
health of our community, but also to our community’s financial health.
Nobel Prize winning economist, James Heckman, said “(our)
economic development starts at birth- and our economy is only as healthy as our
investment in the healthy development of children . . . “ Last year there were over 2300 reports of
child abuse in Central Oregon. Almost
700 local children walked through the Kids Intervention & Service Center’s
(KIDS Center) doors for medical evaluation of suspected child abuse and child
trauma treatment. The costs of
responding to the impact of child abuse and neglect are borne not only by the
victims and their families but also by our community.
Prevent Child Abuse America has calculated the overall cost
of child abuse and neglect nationally to be $103.8 billion, a conservative
estimate. The total cost of child abuse
and neglect in Oregon
is estimated at $822,329,500 as calculated by a recent study released by the
Children's Safety Network. This is
seven times the amount it takes to fund the entire Bend-LaPine School District. As fathers ourselves of school-aged children
in our community, this number is shocking.
Imagine all the ways that money could be utilized if not for the
staggering financial price tag of child abuse on our state. This amount takes into consideration the cost
of medical care, mental health care, future earnings, public programs (including
social services and victim assistance costs), property damage and loss, and
quality of life. The impacts on the children include ramifications to their physical,
emotional, social and cognitive health. For
many, these effects extend far beyond childhood into adolescence and adulthood,
potentially compromising the lifetime productivity of child abuse victims. Abused
children are at greater risk of engaging in substance abuse and require alcohol
and drug treatment services and youth with histories of child abuse and neglect
may be at greater risk of engaging in risky behaviors such as unprotected
sexual activities as well as greater risk of teen pregnancy.
Although the
economic costs associated with child abuse and neglect are substantial, it is important
to recognize that it is impossible to calculate the impact of the pain,
suffering, and reduced quality of life that victims of child abuse
experience. KIDS Center works to
not only respond and start the healing process for children who have been abused,
but also prevent child abuse from ever happening. The costs to our pocketbooks and most
importantly, to the children in our community, are too great to stand by and do
nothing.
As board members actively involved in the finances of KIDS Center,
we can attest to the cost of combating child abuse and the ways in which KIDS Center
and other agencies make their response as comprehensive and cost effective as
possible. As fathers, we are sensitive
and empathetic to the victims of child abuse.
As taxpayers, we are concerned about the financial burden child abuse
places on our national, state, and local governments.
Giving back to our community is a privilege which extends to
each of us. It may mean different things
to different people. For KIDS Center and
the supporters of KIDS Center it means doing whatever we can to help the lives
of the children in our community who so desperately need our help. The financial impact on our community is
enormous….but the value of a smile of just one child whose heart is able to
heal because someone decided to help is worth so much more than any amount
imaginable.
Jeff Klein, financial
advisor and President of KIDS Center Board of Directors and Derek Holdredge,
CPA and Treasurer of KIDS Center Board of Directors. | 
