Whitley Health Department hosting Stand Up for Children walks to spread awareness of child abuse

Apr. 16—With Kentucky continuing to lead the nation in child abuse rates, the Whitley County Health Department will bring back an annual tradition in combating those numbers when it hosts its Stand Up for Children walks later this month.

Health Educator Kathy Lay says the health department had hosted the walks for four years before having to cancel last year's walk due to the pandemic.

"We use the walks to raise awareness about reporting child abuse," Lay explained. "Getting people to standup for kids and report."

According to data from the Kids Count Data Center compiled from Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Department for Community Based Services (DCBS), in 2018, the Tri-County area had some of the highest rates of of reports to DCBS meeting criteria for child abuse/neglect in Kentucky.

During that year, both Knox and Whitley Counties had 648 DCBS reports meeting the criteria, while Laurel County had 990. When looking at the number of children in reports to DCBS for suspected abuse and neglect, Laurel County had fifth most in the state in 2018 at 10,459 children. Knox County ranked 19th at 1,742, while Whitley County ranked 20th with 1,742.

Many experts worry that the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns could lead to a spike in child abuse numbers for 2020. Norton's Children Hospital says the pandemic left families faced with financial, emotional and other stresses — combined with spending long periods of time isolated at home with a lack of structure and support. These stressors can lead to potentially dangerous situations.

"Research has found that when families are stressed, children are at an increased risk of being abused," said Kelly L. Dauk, M.D., chair, Norton Children's Hospital Child Abuse Task Force and pediatrician with Norton Children's Inpatient Care, affiliated with the UofL School of Medicine.

"Caregivers must take care of themselves physically and emotionally, and ask for help if they are struggling. Maintaining connections with friends, family and others in the community is important," she added. "It takes support from the whole community to stop child abuse. We all have a responsibility help those who are struggling and report concerns for child safety and well-being."

On the other side of the coin, some officials worry that many cases of child abuse went unreported last year, as children were not able to attend in-person classes and other spend time around other adults, who could have potentially reported possible abuse.

According to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services' Child Abuse and Neglect Annual Report of Child Fatalities and Near Fatalities from last year, natural parents have been found to be the perpetrator of maltreatment at a rate of 65 percent.

The report says, parents who experience any or all of the following may be more likely to forcefully shake a baby and cause shaken baby syndrome: unrealistic expectations of babies, young or single parenthood, stress, domestic violence, alcohol or substance abuse, unstable family situations, depression, a history of mistreatment as a child.

While innocent accidents like falls and trips can lead to bruising on mobile toddlers and small children, health officials say they typically form on the front of the body on bony areas like the forehead, elbows, knees, and shins. However, if you suspect a child may be abused or mistreated, experts say a good rule to practice with children under the age of four, is the TEN-4 bruising rule. That is, bruising on a child's torso, ears, or neck are often times signs of abuse.

For infants who are non-mobile under the age of one, experts suggest bruising anywhere could be a sign of abuse. "Those who don't cruise rarely bruise," the say.

"Now we want people to standup and report if they suspect that, or they see something that needs to be reported," said Lay.

The health department's first one-mile walk is scheduled to begin at noon on Saturday, April 17 in Corbin's Nibroc Park. Registration is set to take place at 11:30 a.m. and will be free to everyone who wants to attend. The next walk is set to take place at noon on the following Saturday, April 24, in Williamsburg's Bill Woods Park. Both walks are set to be led by State Representative Regina Huff and feature guest speakers. T-shirts will be provided to participants on a first-come first-serve basis.

"What we're trying to do is to get families out, get them walking, build community awareness around the issue, and get people talking about it," Lay said. "Because of COVID-19, a lot of people haven't been able to get together socially anymore. They can't talk or do any kind of activities or community. We want to jumpstart that and encourage the community to standup for kids."