As feared by child advocates, the number of calls to a statewide abuse and neglect hotline dropped significantly during the coronavirus pandemic. That’s not because abuse and neglect declined, but because the isolated days of COVID-19 have kept children out of sight. Calls to the hotline fell 13% compared with 2019 — that’s 193,448 calls […]
child abuse hotline
Posted inColoradans, Health, News, Politics and Government
Colorado’s new strategy to prevent child sexual abuse zeroes in on every ZIP code
A new strategy to prevent sexual abuse of children across Colorado is all about math. The goal: 5% of the adult population in every ZIP code should know exactly how to respond if a child told them they were abused, and they should know how to cut down on the likelihood that abusers have access […]
Posted inColoradans, Health, News, Politics and Government
Despite reforms, the number of children dying of abuse and neglect in Colorado hasn’t subsided
In the past five years, 146 children died in Colorado from abuse or neglect. You haven’t heard about almost any of them. The children are listed — not by name but by case number — on spreadsheets published online under Colorado law by the state human services department. Only a few of their deaths made […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, Health, News, Politics and Government
Colorado’s child abuse hotline can’t process tips from social media or email — despite a memo urging change
Colorado’s statewide hotline to report child abuse and neglect has no process in place to accept texts, social media tips or even emails, a concern raised by an employee a year ago in an internal child welfare division memo. The hotline — launched in 2015 to give Coloradans a single 800-number instead of expecting them […]