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Position Paper
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The Cost of Not Preventing Child Abuse
The cost of not preventing child abuse affects today’s abused children, adult survivors who were abused when they were children, and society as a whole due to the financial impact to the taxpayer--$438,152,000 annually in Kansas alone.
In 2002 the Child Welfare League of America listed the population of children under the age of 18 in Kansas at 714,000. The reported cases of child abuse/neglect in Kansas were 59.8 children/1000, according to Kansas Action for Children in 2003. This translates to 42,697 reported cases involving Kansas children in one year’s time. As high as this figure is it is still extremely conservative because it is estimated that as few as 1 in 5 cases, nation-wide, are reported. The cost of childhood abuse is reflected both in the lives directly damaged and in the resulting economic burden placed on the victims and society. A.R.E.A. believes that through education and legislation we can place the financial responsibility where it belongs, with the perpetrator and, ideally, help to deter the devastating act of child abuse.
Please follow the link on this site and learn more about The Cost of Not Preventing Child Abuse. If you would like to lend your support to this endeavor please contact A.R.E.A. by e-mail at area.ks@cox.net.
Photos by David Weible
