ssharpNASHVILLE, TN (WLAF)- Study after study has shown that abuse during childhood can lead to a range of negative outcomes later in life. Children who suffer abuse are more likely to experience poor physical and mental health, displaying markedly higher rates of alcohol and drug abuse, cognitive impairment, criminal activity, diabetes, and a host of other conditions.
Tennessee’s juvenile court judges know all too well the life-altering effects child abuse can wreak. Now, more than one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, they are deeply concerned about the well-being of the state’s children.
Both Williamson County Juvenile Court Judge Sharon Guffee and Sevier County General Sessions and Juvenile Court Judge Jeff Rader said this past year has presented a number of unprecedented challenges for Tennessee youths and those whose jobs it is to protect them.
“A lot of people are afraid,” Rader said. “They’re sick. They’re drug addicted. They don’t have a lot of money. In some instances, they’re not working; their businesses have been shut down. There is a myriad of complications affecting adults, and when increased stress is placed on adults then the trickle-down effect is going to be a bad situation for children.”
The economic and psychological impacts of the pandemic have been exacerbated by one of the most universally-experienced phenomena of the past year: isolation.
Children who are abused by members of their own household are always in a terrible situation, but that situation is made even more terrible if everyone is stuck in the house together.
The greater isolation over the past year has also meant that there has been less opportunity for those outside the household to potentially recognize maltreatment.
“The dynamic that we most saw in the very beginning was the lack of eyes on children,” Guffee said. “We rely so much on the teachers and the administrators in the schools to protect our children. We really missed that. There were several months where I believe Department of Children’s Services referrals were way down, and we sort of felt that, too. It was really sort of surreal, like time had stopped.”
Statistics back up a decline in the number of reported cases of child abuse. A comprehensive Associated Press review of child welfare agency data across the country “found that child abuse reports, investigations, substantiated allegations and interventions have dropped at a staggering rate, increasing risks for the most vulnerable of families in the U.S.” Overall, they discovered “more than 400,000 fewer child welfare concerns reported during the pandemic and 200,000 fewer child abuse and neglect investigations and assessments compared with the same time period of 2019.” That is the equivalent of an 18 percent drop nationwide.
In Tennessee, a report from relatively early in the pandemic had even more troubling numbers. According the July 2020 report of the state’s Child Wellbeing Task Force, “during peak stay-at-home orders, reports of suspected child abuse dropped by 27 percent, in large part due to mandatory reporters, such as teachers and pediatricians, being disconnected from children and families.”
Neither judge thinks the drop in child abuse reports corresponded to an actual decrease in instances of child abuse.
On the contrary, other trends they have seen led them to believe that abuse cases may have been increasing and intensifying. Chiefly, the pandemic has seen a jump in substance abuse, a behavior that often accompanies situations involving child abuse and neglect.
increased drug use during this pandemic and the safety of our children, no question.”
Guffee has seen evidence of an increase in heroin and meth use. She said that upsurge has led to the presence of child abuse cases that are more severe than usual.
Some of the pandemic’s negative effects on children do not fall under the heading of abuse, but may nevertheless have lasting consequences.
That is Guffee’s fear concerning the steep rise in truancy cases she has seen over the past year.
“Our truancy petitions have increased almost 40 percent since last year,” she said. “Those aren’t just truancies from in-person attendance, but truancies from online learning, where some kids just aren’t logging in. So the mental health piece for our students, for our youth, is enormous. Our school system is already bracing for and preparing for mental health issues when the students return in person next year. We just don’t know what the long-term effects of this disruption will be.”
For all of the challenges that the pandemic has created, Guffee said she is proud of those who have been on the front lines throughout trying to protect children.
With the pandemic weakening in Tennessee, Guffee is hopeful that a sense of normalcy will soon begin to return to the courtroom.
“I’m hopeful that this summer is going to be the turning point,” she said. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED 05/17/2021- 6AM)