DES MOINES, Iowa - There's concern at the state level about a lack of reports of child abuse.
Numbers from the Iowa Department of Human Services show child-abuse reports fell from 5,033 in February to 4,209 in March, a drop of more than 16 percent. Most schools in Iowa closed in mid-March. The March’s numbers were also well below those of March 2019, when 4,813 reports were made.
And more recently, DHS reported a large drop from more than 1,200 child abuse reports the first week of March to 230 the first week of April.
Child interest groups think the drop reflects the fact that children at home during the COVID-19 outbreak are not in contact with mandatory reporters such as teachers, school nurses and daycare workers.
Iowa state Ombudsman Kristie Hirschman is calling for more public attention to child abuse because social distancing could be making detection of it more difficult.
“Please do not let social distancing be an excuse to engage in social isolation,” Hirschman urged. “Each and every one of us needs to be vigilant and supportive of our neighbors, friends and families. We owe that to Iowa’s children.
Hirshman's office has reported on the starvation death of 16-year-old Natalie Finn and has a pending report on the death of 16-year-old Sabrina Ray.
Hirshman has released a statement with nine other state and local ombudsmen that includes instructions for minimizing child abuse.
The statement said children are at risk because of disruption to family routines, food insecurity, unemployment, and other unknown factors in a state of a national emergency during the pandemic.