CASA of Carson City—882-6776

Speak Up For A Child.

The Cost In $

Child maltreatment is a significant factor in delinquency, substance abuse and criminal behavior. A recent study in Texas showed that most prisoners on death row had been abused as children and had then received no services or treatment.

It has been estimated that 30% of abused children have some type of language or cognitive impairment, 50% of abused children have socio-emotional problems, 22% of abused children have learning disabilities, 14% of abused children exhibit self-mutilative or other destructive behavior, that 50% of abused children have difficulty in school. (Daro, D. 1988. Confronting child abuse, New York Free Press.) Thus the menotary cost of child maltreatment comes through expenses incurred by courts, jails, prisons, mental health and school programs. Additionally, there are lost tax revenues. (See In The Wake Of Childhood Maltreatment, U.S. Dept. Justice report.)

During 1992, a Michigan study estimated that the cost to that state of 15,940 cases was 823 million dollars. (The Cost Of Child Abuse vs. Child Abuse Prevention: Michigan’s Experience, Robert Caldwell, PhD.)

Nonetheless, public policy in America continues to support the building of prisons more than it does the funding of child welfare.