Child abuse cases are rising dramatically in Colorado courts, according to the agency that provides guardians for the children.
“It’s off the charts. It’s unbelievable,” said Theresa Spahn, executive director of the state Office of the Child’s Representative.
“We’re just concerned about the kids,” she said Thursday. “I think people need to know, in their neighborhood, child abuse is going up.”
Spahn’s office, which assigns attorneys to represent the child’s interest in court, found that guardian appointments for new child abuse cases jumped 54 percent in Jefferson and Boulder counties from the last half of 2002 to the last half of 2003. Adams County appointments were up 42 percent.
Child abuse cases grew by one-third overall in Denver-area courts, and many rural counties also experienced “a serious increase,” Spahn’s office reported.
Spahn attributed the jump to Colorado’s economic problems, state budget cuts for mental health and other social programs, and the abuse of methamphetamine.
“People have lost their jobs, they don’t have insurance and it’s much harder to get treatment for mental illness,” she said. “When families are in crisis and they can’t get services, they do things like abuse their children.”
And the rise in methamphetamine use puts “kids in the most unbelievable environments,” she said. “They’re living in horrible homes.”
The guardian office’s warning emerged as a state legislator held a news conference to announce a new commission to explore why many children die despite prior calls to Colorado child protection agencies.
Rep. Debbie Stafford, vice chairwoman of the House committee overseeing Colorado social services, said the panel would hold open meetings to review how counties respond to child abuse complaints and whether legislation is needed to improve the system.
Many people already have offered to volunteer, the Aurora Republican said.
Stafford created what she called an informal commission in response to a three-part series in The Denver Post this week on child abuse fatalities.
The Post reported that child protection agencies had been called for help before 41 percent of child abuse and neglect deaths in the last decade, and that in many cases, a state review system had not reported and critiqued that prior involvement.
Stafford was accompanied at the news conference by Dr. Andrew Sirotnak, a pediatrician at the Kempe Children’s Center, and Donald Cassata, social services director in Adams County.
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Nobody can prevent every child abuse death, but “we can make a difference. We can prevent child abuse fatalities from happening in a majority of cases,” Sirotnak said. “I’m looking forward to doing whatever I can to help.”
Cassata called removing children from a home for suspected abuse a difficult, complex and emotional decision. But “the counties are very supportive,” he added, of any efforts “for us to continually try to improve what we’re doing.”
He also confirmed the guardian office’s report.
“We’re seeing significant increases in terms of referrals this year and significant numbers of meth children,” Cassata said. “We’re also finding these are more difficult cases to deal with.”
Meanwhile, a Colorado Senate committee approved a bill Thursday that would prohibit taking newborn babies from their parents without a court order unless investigators find an emergency related to mental illness or drug abuse.
