|
|
|
Board Membership and Committees Programs and Services for
Court Involved Youth
|
Child Abuse
Child abuse is any behavior directed toward a child by a parent, guardian, caregiver, family member or other adult that endangers or impairs a child’s physical or emotional health and development. Child abuse affects all segments of society and has no socioeconomic, cultural, ethnic or religious boundaries. Factors that may contribute to child abuse are alcohol and substance abuse, lack of parenting skills, economic difficulties or poverty, domestic violence and previous victimization. Child Abuse can happen anywhere. Often, the abuser is someone the child knows, such as a parent, caregiver, relative, neighbor or family friend. An abuser can be anyone who has contact with children. Child abuse includes physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse and neglect. These forms of abuse may occur separately or together. The definitions and common signs are as follows: Physical Abuse – A non-accidental injury to a child that may include beating, burning, biting or shaking a child. Signs may include unexplained bruises, burns, black eyes, welts or other injuries; apparent fear of a parent or caregiver; and school absences. Emotional Abuse - May
involve verbally insulting, yelling, threatening or swearing; controlling,
isolating, rejecting or withholding love; or a child witnessing violence in the
home. Signs may include extreme changes in behavior, acting overly mature or
immature for the child’s age, attempted suicide or lack of emotional attachment
to the parent. Sexual Abuse – Any touching or non-touching sexual contact with a child or sexual exploitation of a child including rape, fondling, incest, pornography, exhibitionism or Internet crimes. Signs may include pain, difficulty walking or sitting, redness or injury in the genital or anal area; bedwetting or nightmares; a sexual knowledge or play with toys, self or others that is beyond what is normal for the child’s age. Neglect – Failure to provide for a child’s safety or basic physical, emotional, medical or educational needs. Neglect also includes willingly putting a child in harm’s way. Signs may be poor hygiene, lack of needed medical or dental care, missing school frequently, malnutrition or a child saying there is no one at home to care for him/her. For additional information please contact:
What are the signs of Child Abuse?
Signs of child abuse may not always be
observed in children. Sometimes, adults or caretakers display behaviors that
could put a child at risk. The warning signs listed here might suggest an adult
or caretaker needs help if they:
For additional information please contact:
How should you respond to Child Abuse in Public? The mistreatment of a child by an adult in a public place can be very uncomfortable. There are a few things you can do.
If you don’t feel safe responding to the mistreatment of a child in public, contact your local police department. For additional information please contact:
Everyone can make a difference in the lives of children, Actions you can take to help prevent child abuse include:
For additional information please contact: Court Appointed Special Advocates
(CASA)
If you have contact with a child you suspect is being or may have been abused or neglected, you should call the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) hotline and/or inform your local law enforcement agency.
The DCFS hotline phone number is 1-800-25ABUSE (1-800-252-2873)
Have the following information, if possible:
For additional information please contact:
| |||||||||
|
