INDIANAPOLIS – This has been the first year in which our state has had a drastically new infrastructure in place to look at the problems facing Indiana’s abused and neglected children.
I have been fortunate these past few months to serve on both the Child Services Oversight Committee and the Commission for the Improvement of the Status of Children—key components of that infrastructure—and I would like to share my impressions of what has taken place and what needs to be done.
      The task we face is enormous.
At the last Commission meeting, State Health Commissioner William VanNess reported that Indiana has “consistently had one of the worst infant mortality rates in the U.S.,†dating back 110 years.
Indiana’s infant mortality rate of 7.7 per 1,000 live births is third highest in the nation.
Lifestyle choices such as smoking and obesity make a big difference in these statistics in Indiana.
We should be able to reduce the incidence of these and other at risk indicators—serious birth defects, low birth weight and early births, SIDS, complications in pregnancy and accidental suffocation. They accounted for 57 percent of all infant deaths in the nation in 2010.
Of course, infant mortality is a priority. Just as important are child fatalities as a result of abuse and neglect.
Of the 292 child deaths reported to the state Department of Child Services in 2011, 40 were due to child abuse or neglect.
- 48 percent of the 40 deaths were due to abuse among children under the age of one;
- 38 percent of the 40 deaths were due to neglect among children under the age of one; and
- 6 of the total number of deceased children had prior history with the Department of Child Services.
What can we do to reduce child fatalities in abuse and neglect?
We should expand proven prevention and treatment efforts and support those programs at home and in the legislature with funding.
We, in state and local government, the chambers of commerce and economic development groups should address what will surely be one of the Commission recommendations, i.e. to fight child poverty.
Low income was found in 75 percent of the child abuse and neglect fatalities. Consider that 49 percent of all our youth in Indiana now live in low income households and the issue is magnified.
Why governments and chambers of commerce and economic groups? One way to fight child poverty is more good paying jobs in Indiana. Today 24 percent of all jobs in Indiana are in occupations that pay wages below the poverty level. Indiana’s median household income is $48,393 compared to $52,762 nationally. Vanderburgh County’s is even less: $43,334.
As policymakers, we should be placing a greater emphasis on initiatives that provide good-paying jobs to attract new residents and businesses to Indiana and convince them to stay here.
The legislature can encourage people to live here. We can adopt policies that promote Indiana as a fair and equitable place to live and raise a family.
Yes, the challenges we face are staggering.
But what excites me is that there are scores of individuals across this state who recognize the problem are committed to doing something about it.
They are lawmakers and parents and judges and law enforcement officers and committed advocates. They are brought together by their desire to make things better for our children.
We have a big task ahead. All of us. But the goal is worth it and I’m excited to be part of it.
