Iowa is seeing an increase in both reported cases of child abuse and confirmed cases of abuse. Alli Moerman, spokeswoman for Prevent Child Abuse Iowa, says an increase in the number of reports doesn’t necessarily translate to an increase in cases.
Moerman says the laws defining child abuse vary from state to state, which may account for why Iowa’s numbers are higher than the national average.
In 2015, Iowa had some 47-thousand referrals for child abuse and neglect. Of those, more than 23-thousand reports were referred for investigation. That same year, the Iowa Department of Human Services says there were nearly 83-hundred children found to be abused statewide, while 12 Iowa children died from abuse or neglect.
[The Child Abuse Hotline is 800-362-2178.
http://www.pcaiowa.org]
