Child abuse on upswing in county

The statistics paint an alarming picture:

• Six children in El Paso County died as a result of child abuse or neglect in 2008 - double the number in 2007.

• In the past three weeks alone, three babies in Colorado Springs have been the victims of violent assaults, allegedly at the hands of their fathers. One of the children died Wednesday.

• The number of reports to DHS' child abuse hot line in El Paso County topped a record 11,000 last year - the most in the state.

• KPC Kids' Place, where stressed-out Colorado Springs parents can leave their kids while they cool off, cared for 240 children last year, compared with 168 in 2007.

What's behind the grim trend? Is the bad economy a contributing factor? Perhaps, say some local child-protection officials.

Or maybe, they surmise, it's a culture of violence that manifests itself as entertainment in TV shows, movies and video games and plays out in real life.

No one can say for sure.

"The escalating numbers give us cause to pause," said Trudy Strewler, executive director of CASA of the Pikes Peak Region, a nonprofit agency that supplies volunteers to act as advocates in court for victims of child abuse, domestic violence and certain divorce cases.

She said the economy might be partly to blame, because financial pressures add another stressor to the already tough job of parenting.

At KPC Kids' Place, which offers a 24-hour hot line and crisis-care center for children under 6 years old, the biggest increase in its caseload came during the last half of the year as economic conditions deteriorated, said director Jennifer West.

"The excess pressure - if there's been a job loss, or not enough money for food, clothing and shelter - sometimes is more than what parents can bear," Strewler said. "Their fuses get shorter and they may lash out at their children because they don't have the necessary coping skills."

But when children are severely battered, as the three babies were recently, it's not normally related to the economy, said Shirley Rhodus, administrator of protective services for DHS.

"It's often related to parents being frustrated, feeling alone, isolated and sleep-deprived," she said.

Alpha Gunn, children's program manager for the TESSA domestic violence prevention and programs center, believes some of the problem is cultural.

"We have to stop valuing violence and having it be entertainment in our culture," she said. "Violence is not an answer to anything - it just leads to more problems."

It's unknown whether the three fathers accused of abusing their babies in the recent high-profile cases were stressed by the economy or influenced by a violent culture.

But one thing they have in common: They're all in their mid-20s, which falls within the average age range of typical abusers, Strewler said. The average age of male child abusers in El Paso County is 24, according to a DHS study conducted in 2007.

What is unusual about these cases, though, is how young the children were, Strewler said.

"Every week, we go to area hospitals four to eight times on child abuse cases, but the severity of the injuries and the age of the children in these instances are striking," she said.

Abuse often happens when a parent is trying to make a young child stop crying, West said, and that may have been the situation in the recent cases.

The father of the 1-month-old who died Wednesday said in a police affidavit that he struck the baby in the back of the head three times after he woke up crying.

And the father of the 1-month-old injured two weeks ago told police his daughter had become overly fussy while he was changing her diaper and would not stop crying or accept a bottle. According to the affidavit, he struck the baby twice on her head and twice on her buttocks.

"Hitting or shaking little ones doesn't make them stop crying, though," Rhodus said.

Parents who are abusive to their children have common traits, including neglecting their own needs, TESSA's Gunn said. They also tend to lack empathy, value the use of corporal punishment as discipline and reverse the parental role, thinking the child is supposed to meet their needs instead of vice versa, she said.

And they have unrealistic assumptions, such as believing a child is crying to get on their nerves or behaving in a certain way on purpose.

"We need to stop making family violence a secret, because it's a crime, and hold our families, neighbors and co-workers accountable and encourage people to get help," Gunn said.

RESOURCES

Need a break?

KPC Kids' Place, a program of Pikes Peak Family Connections, provides 24-hour respite care for children under 6 years old for up to 72 hours. Call 634-5439 to make a reservation.

Need to brush up on parenting skills? Call the following agencies:

• The Family Nurturing Center of Colorado: 1-866-635-5905
• Pikes Peak Family Connections: 520-1019
• The Center on Fathering: 634-7977

Need to report suspected child abuse?

Call the DHS hot line at 444-5700.

Want to help?

• CASA of the Pikes Peak Region needs adult volunteers to be a voice for abused or neglected children in court. Call 447-9898, ext. 1008.
• KPC Kids' Place is looking for volunteers to help with its 24-hour respite nursery and donations to its center. Call 634-5439.