Childhood physical, sexual and emotional abuse is a silent epidemic in our community. CYDC provides the only emergency residential services for these children in the Tri-county area, and our shelters are filled to capacity much of the time, serving nearly two hundred children each year.
According to the local Department of Social Services, there are more than 2,500 reported cases of abuse and neglect in the Tri-county area every year. In these reported cases, the Department of Social Services substantiates abuse involving more than 1,900 children each year. That’s an average of 5 children each day, involved in documented cases of abuse. In addition, a great number of cases remain unreported, and many reported cases lack sufficient evidence to pursue.
Without these services, these children run a very high risk of homelessness, substance abuse, incarceration, unemployment and serious mental health conditions as adults. Indeed, the consequences of broken families are all around us – in too many tragic headlines.
Children suffering from abuse are 25 times more likely to fail a grade than other children; and 75% of all high-school dropouts are victims of abuse. 85% of all long-term prisoners are victims of child abuse and family violence. Among homeless adults, 29% report having one or more abuse experiences before the age of eighteen. 45% of abused children become adult alcoholics.