Reports from the Indiana Department of Child Services for the past three years are showing a slight decrease in the number of child deaths in the state, but an increase in those deaths caused by abuse or neglect.
The DCS’s latest report, which came out Wednesday and analyzed child deaths in the 2014 fiscal year, reviewed 239 child deaths, 66 of which were narrowed down to direct results of child abuse or neglect.
In 2013 that number was 49, and in 2012 it was 34.
The new report showed an increase in fatalities due to lack of parental supervision around bodies of water, unsafe sleeping practices and unsafe home heating methods, a DCS press release said.
“Each one of these deaths could have been prevented,” said Indiana DCS Director Mary Beth Bonaventura. “As summer begins, it is important to re-emphasize water safety and to never leave a child unattended in a hot car, ever.”
Two of the fatalities from 2014 happened in Grant County.
Grant County Prosecutor James Luttrull said the two fatalities were a “horrible coincidence” of two young children drowning in separate incidents on June 29, 2014. Investigators concluded that the drownings were accidents, and Luttrull was not asked to review them for criminal charges.
“These were not criminal neglect cases from everything I have been told and have reviewed,” he said.
Still, child abuse and neglect remain to be a major problem in Grant County, according to Janet Bailey, executive director of the Grant County Child Advocacy Center and First Light Child Advocacy Center.
About 2,076 cases of child abuse and neglect were investigated and reported in Grant County last year. That is slightly down from 2,105 in 2014 and 2,165 in 2013. There were barely 1,000 cases in 2008. Numbers jumped considerably between 2012 and 2013.
“Some of (the instances) that we see are … malnutrition,” Bailey said. “I think the poverty rate goes right along with that, and I think it goes right along with the drug abuse.”
Bailey said there is a lack of supervision in many homes because addicted parents are often sleeping or out buying drugs. Furthermore, addicted mothers put children in dangerous situations, Bailey said, and are bringing numerous men in and out of the home. At that point, the sexual abuse rate goes up.
“A lot of it comes from very poor choices,” she said. “I believe the situation is worse in the summertime a lot of times because maybe the kids are not getting a breakfast and lunch in school.”
The DCS reported that 50 percent of the children who died from abuse – and 46 percent of the children who died from neglect – were one year old or younger.
Bailey said infants and toddlers are the “perfect victims” for sexual abuse because they cannot tell what is happening. She also said they require more care, and toddlers are not old enough to know not to leave the house or wander in the street.
Many Grant County children face unhealthy living conditions, Bailey said. Many homes host three or four families, and an infant may not have a crib.
James Wide, deputy director of communications at the Indiana DCS, said parenting a toddler or infant is already stressful, and so when extra stressors like substance abuse or domestic violence enter the family, the situation gets worse.
“Substance abuse touches all of us,” Wide said. “It’s going to take everybody (to fight this) because it’s not just DCS’s problem. We’re wrapped up in it, but … we really have to work together to tackle this problem.”
Bailey said First Light, which provides resources for children facing neglect and abuse, was founded in 2004, and before 2014, she rarely heard any children come in and talk about heroin.
“A lot of them talked about mommy or daddy’s pills. There was a long time they talked about crack. About 2014 all we started hearing about was either meth or heroin,” Bailey said. “To sit there and listen to a child tell us about having to walk over his deceased mother with the needle still in her arm to get to school … that’s pitiful.”
Wide said the DCS is educating local communities by sending case managers to school systems and Kiwanis clubs to give presentations. An emphasis on prevention is the only way to keep kids out of the DCS system, he said.
Bailey said Grant County has several resources too.
“If (the families reach out to us), they’re going to be provided services,” she said. “The problem is, they’re not reaching out. And a lot of that goes right back to your drug use.”
Wide encouraged people to report any instances of what they think might be child abuse or neglect, even if they are not sure. Anyone can anonymously call the statewide hotline at 1-800-800-5556.