



A few weeks ago, I blogged about the child abuse epidemic in Texas. Of course, it’s not just a problem in Texas. While Texas may have one of the highest child-fatality rates in America, as a nation, we do a miserable job compared to other developed nations in protecting our kids. According to this report from Every Child Matters, “the U.S. child abuse death rate is 3 times higher than Canada’s and 11 times higher than Italy’s” Here’s a chart from the report:

What accounts for the differences? Among other things, teen pregnancy, violent crime, imprisonment and poverty rates are much lower in these countries. Further, their social policies in support of families are much greater and typically include child care, universal health insurance, paid parental leave, visiting nurses, and more – all things which together can prevent child abuse and neglect in the first place.

More grim statistics from Every Child Matters: 2,500 American children are killed every year as a result of child abuse. 80 percent of those killed are under the age of four. Almost half are under age one.

The Protect Our Kids Act (H.R.3653 in the House and S. 1984 in the Senate) “will create a National Commission on Child Abuse and Neglect Deaths to study and evaluate federal, state, and private child welfare systems and develop a national strategy to prevent and reduce these deaths.” Please click on this link to sign a petition in support of the bill.