The Veiled Consequences of COVID-19 on Child Abuse Reporting in Georgia
Abstract
In 2019, there were nearly 4.5 million reports of child abuse. It has been found that stress increases the risk and exposure of violence towards children. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic caused stress and disruption for many. This stress often generated or increased the number and severity of several risk factors associated with child maltreatment including substance use, mental health issues, and isolation. As children were not at school and isolated at home, there were fewer adults present to notice signs of abuse or neglect. This study examined the impact of COVID-19 on the reporting of child maltreatment in Georgia and compared it to reporting at the national level using data from the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect. Specifically, this study examined reporting sources and dispositions across various maltreatment types for the six-month interval beginning immediately after the COVID-19 lockdown began in late March through September 2020. The data was then compared to the corresponding interval in 2019. This paper further examined whether changes occurred in multiple other categories, including victims’ age, race, and living arrangements. Data showed that in both the U.S. and Georgia, the number of child abuse reports dropped by approximately 50%. Moreover, there were also changes in the report sources, ages of the victims, types of mistreatments and time from report to disposition. Understanding how the COVID-19 pandemic affected child abuse reporting will lead to reform and potentially improve outcomes in the event of a recurrence.
Keywords
COVID-19, Pandemic, Child abuse, Child maltreatment, Georgia, NCANDS
The Veiled Consequences of COVID-19 on Child Abuse Reporting in Georgia
In 2019, there were nearly 4.5 million reports of child abuse. It has been found that stress increases the risk and exposure of violence towards children. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic caused stress and disruption for many. This stress often generated or increased the number and severity of several risk factors associated with child maltreatment including substance use, mental health issues, and isolation. As children were not at school and isolated at home, there were fewer adults present to notice signs of abuse or neglect. This study examined the impact of COVID-19 on the reporting of child maltreatment in Georgia and compared it to reporting at the national level using data from the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect. Specifically, this study examined reporting sources and dispositions across various maltreatment types for the six-month interval beginning immediately after the COVID-19 lockdown began in late March through September 2020. The data was then compared to the corresponding interval in 2019. This paper further examined whether changes occurred in multiple other categories, including victims’ age, race, and living arrangements. Data showed that in both the U.S. and Georgia, the number of child abuse reports dropped by approximately 50%. Moreover, there were also changes in the report sources, ages of the victims, types of mistreatments and time from report to disposition. Understanding how the COVID-19 pandemic affected child abuse reporting will lead to reform and potentially improve outcomes in the event of a recurrence.
