Child abuse is a signifcant problem across the Upper Cumberland and the numbers continues to increase.
April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. Upper Cumberland Child Advocacy Center Executive Director Tracy Plant-Bucholz said most of the cases referred to the advocacy center involve sexual abuse by a person the child knows. She said child abuse includes long-term costs.
“People that suffer child abuse as a child are less likely than their peers to own a home, to own a car, to have stocks,” Plant-Bucholz said. “They are more likely to seek psychiatric services and need support from the community.”
Plant-Bucholz said victims, on average, make an average of $8,000 per year less than those who were not abused. Plant-Bucholz said the advocacy center gets referrals from the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, children the department deems severe.
“We see around 900 to 1,200 cases come in a year,” Plant-Bucholz said. “The Department of Children’s Services actually receives quite a few more cases than that, because their cases that they see would include other forms of abuse and neglect that may not be categorized as severe.”
Plant-Bucholz said adults can help curb sexual abuse incidents by discouraging one-on-one interactions that may foster abuse and look for safeguards.
“If you’re a coach and you have a ball team, you know, maybe you don’t drive students home or pick them up and have one-on-one interactions with them just for everyone’s safety,” Plant-Bucholz said. “If you have a private conversation with a child, maybe you don’t take them to a private room, maybe you have a conversation with them on the bleachers, where it’s still out in the public for everyone to see.”
Plant-Bucholz said the center is recognizing Child Abuse Prevention Month with a variety of social media campaigns and outreach programs around the seven county service area.
