April is Child Abuse Prevention Month and, in a couple of weeks, our friends at GRADD will once again be hosting the annual Stand Against Child Abuse. This year s Stand, due to ongoing concerns about COVID-19, will be a drive-thru event at Towne Square Mall. And, for the third year in a row, when the Stand is held, Kentucky will have the highest rate of child abuse in the entire country.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Children s Bureau Child Maltreatment 2019 report was just released and Kentucky had more than 20,000 reported abuse and child neglect cases in that calendar year. If you break down those statistics based on population, that s 20 cases out of every 1,000 children in the commonwealth. According to the report, we re well above the U.S. average of 8.9 children per every 1,000. That s startling and horrifying.