This NY Times article and Dartmouth College recent study showed 163% increase of pediatric (child) hospitalizations involved suicidal behavior over the last 11 years). The study did not include psychiatric hospitals or metrics from the COVID lockdown years (arguably presenting an even greater percentage increase).
Rural hospitals are struggling to stay in business and many urban hospitals are ending mental health services as they do not have beds for the high numbers of cases and cannot manage the depth and scope of the mental health problems they are seeing.
COVID locked abused and neglected children in toxic homes for extended periods of greater trauma and abuse (the World Health Organization’s definition of torture).
Mental health care for at risk children has never been adequate and the Dartmouth report should scare the dickens out of providers in the field.
Adverse childhood experiences – ACES (like PTSD in soldiers) are the principal cause of behaviors tied to traumas that often remain with children for entire lifetimes.
Add to this, the COVID lockdown, inadequate mental health and child safety services and significant increases of domestic violence are punishing more children that has been hurting them more severely.
Some blame sits with social media for increases in suicide and self-harm – it is gasoline thrown on a fire. It’s also here to stay. This CASA guardian ad litem thinks that we need to concentrate on things we can change. We can improve how we serve children in need of Child Protective Services as it is a primary driver of trauma and mental health issues facing our kids today.
Self-hate and constant anxiety children were common to my CASA caseload kids. These negative and fearful thoughts were primary drivers of dysfunctional and self-harming behaviors. My first visit to a 4-year-old case child was at a hospital suicide ward. Her 7-year-old sister cut herself. Nothing is known about any of the terrible things that happened to the fifty children I worked with in child protection.
About 4 million annual reports of child abuse are made to CPS. The most recent average number of children in each Hennepin County CPS case was 3.9 (representing between 8 & 15 million at risk children out of a population of 80 million children).
For every six-year old foster child’s successful suicide (Kendrea Johnson), there are hundreds of attempts and many hundreds of self-harming incidents in hospitals and Child Protective Services (CPS) – many if not most of these incidents are never reported.
For every child killed while in child protection (recent Safe Passage investigative study of child maltreatment deaths) there are hundreds of children starved, beaten, raped and otherwise abused that are never known outside the home.
We are confused about this because there has not been data available for CPS, legislators, and administrators to make decisions based on meaningful child outcomes. This CASA child advocate believes that until we measure and report those things important to children in the system, we will continue to misunderstand the problems and speculate wildly on where money should be spent and resources applied.
In the end, each child allowed to be missed or underserved by CPS or provided Prozac like drugs instead of needed services will likely lead a problematic and dysfunctional life.
Over a child’s lifetime, it’s expensive, painful to the child, hurts schools, and damages public safety and the community.
Until we measure meaningful outcomes for the children in CPS, we will never know how many CPS children are thriving, desperate, or on a path to leading a productive life.
When we track and measure meaningful outcomes we can know the needs these children have and we will make better policies and programs to improve the sad statistics of suicide and self-harm and make life better for all the children we are serving.
KARA advocates for the people, policies and programs
that improve the lives of abused and neglected children.
KARA Signature Video (4 minute)
COVID is Hammering Children’s Mental Health
All Adults Are the Protectors of All Children