MIDVALE, Utah (KUTV) â
April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, and organizers with the Family Support Center say they are seeing a trend that disturbs them.
The organization provides resources to help protect children, strengthen families and prevent child abuse in Utah. During the pandemic, they ve noticed the number of reported child abuse cases has gone down.
When the pandemic hit, child abuse cases were steadily climbing, but now the number of cases has gone down but not because the abuse stopped, said Jocelyn De La Rosa, the Family Support Center s executive director.
“Usually, the people that are trained to identify it are not seeing the kids,” De La Rosa said.
Deseret News
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Jocelyn De La Rosa, executive director of The Family Support Center, plants blue pinwheels in honor of every child who was abused in Salt Lake County during 2020 at the Salt Lake County Government Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, April 21, 2021. In Salt Lake County alone there were 3,616 confirmed cases of child abuse last year.
Laura Seitz, Deseret News
Police and child welfare workers in Utah’s most populous county confirmed fewer cases of child abuse in 2020 after the pandemic closed schools, churches and other places where adults tend to spot signs of abuse.
Now, Salt Lake County leaders and advocates are urging people to keep an eye out in their own communities and report any evidence of neglect or physical, emotional and sexual abuse so authorities can intervene.
Salt Lake County leaders say pandemic has left kids vulnerable to abuse ksl.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ksl.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.