CHENANGO COUNTY – With many schools and other child care facilities closed due to the pandemic, the number of complaints filed by mandated reporters involving child abuse has decreased.

The number of abuse reports made to Chenango County Department of Social Services is down, while the number of people making domestic abuse hotline calls has drastically climbed.

The Chenango County Department of Social Services wants residents to stay vigilant and report acts of abuse against children and adults. The department reported domestic abuse hotline calls are up more than 160 percent since January, despite an overall downward trend in child abuse reports.

According to Chenango County Department of Social Services Director of Services Elizabeth Beers, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a difficult and distressing trend; abuse and maltreatment reports have declined sharply due to the need for the public to isolate from each other and the closing of school districts, which are primary sources for abuse and neglect reports.

“While reports have diminished drastically, we know that difficult and even dangerous situations still persist for children in our county, and further, the added strains and isolation caused by the pandemic, both economic and social, may actually be increasing the risk of neglect,” said Beers

Beers said school personnel have historically been the largest abuse reporting demographic, and in 2019, 58 percent of all reports were made by a mandated reporter. Beers added that of that 58 percent 39 percent were school personnel.

She said in April of 2019 Child Protective Services (CPS) had 113 reports filed and in April of this year there were 66, a drop of 42 percent. She added through May 10, 2019 CPS had 55 reports and this year there were 20, a drop of 64 percent. Beers said schools accounted for seven filed reports between April 1 and May 10 of this year.

“During the same time period last year 44 intakes (filed reports) were made by school personnel,” said Beers. “If I thought this dramatic decrease in CPS reports was at all indicative of an actual decline in child maltreatment, I’d be elated.”

Beers said the concerns over the current situation making services and other professionals “blind” has been mentioned during the weekly COVID updates Dr. Scott Cohen hosts, including the need for community members to be aware and alert.

Beers added that there are some common underlying factors that lead to child maltreatment, including but not limited to substance misuse, poverty, mental health, domestic violence, and stress.

She said when these factors become heightened the occurrence of child maltreatment increases. domestic violence and child maltreatment often occur in families.

“Often people will not report domestic violence while a child is present in the home, because the child was not injured or involved in the act of violence,” she added. “However, we know that a child witnessing domestic violence in the home has a negative long term emotional and psychological impact on them.”

“The hotline calls to our domestic violence provider have increased by 165 percent since January.”

Beers said when there are child welfare issues COS wants to be involved early before the situation becomes so dire that a child is injured or that the problem has become so out of control that they have to seek alternate interventions. Beers added that the reality that everyone is currently living in, is isolating children from mandated reporters and other adults that they trust to share their story.

“Children that are being abused or maltreated are living with people that are the perpetrators of the abuse and neglect who are already under a great deal of stress and lack coping skills,” she said. “There’s no outlet for the children and very few outlets for the adults.”

“On top of the normal stressors families have to deal with, the pandemic has added isolation, homeschooling, and additional financial hardships.”

She said there are only two ways child welfare can help families and they are if the family asks for help or a CPS report is generated.

She added that the number of CPS intakes they received during the month of April and so far in May have declined at an alarming rate and is not an accurate representation of the abuse or neglect occurring in Chenango County.

Beers said CPS has two primary functions with its top priority being to ensure the safety of children, and its second is to keep families together whenever possible.

“There is a lot of work and gathering of information to accomplish both these tasks,” Beers added. “The department receives reports from the State Central Registry of Abuse and Maltreatment (SCR), and if a reporter has a concern and they call the SCR.”

“If a report is generated, it gets sent to the local Department of Social Services for investigation.”

She said that during the course of the investigation, the CPS worker gathers information and assesses child safety and risk of future abuse and maltreatment with every contact they have.

She added that a CPS worker engages with the family to resolve any areas of concern during the course of the investigation, and that substance misuse also often co-occurs with child maltreatment.

“The very last thing we want to do is separate a child from their family,” Beers said. “In fact it’s very rare that this occurs.”

“Any time a child is separated from their family the Family Court makes the final decision, and when we are not equipped to help the family resolve whatever issue warranted child welfare involvement, we’ll refer families to various services that are equipped to assist them.”

She said CPS is here to help and assist the families of Chenango County, and reporting acts of abuse can help victims get away from their abusers if necessary.

She added that anyone can reach out to the CPS hotline at 1 (800) 342-3720 for additional information.