by Andrew Kiser
The Western Slope Center for Children (WSCC) predicts that there will be over 400 cases of child abuse reported this year.
This number will be similar with 2015, when Mesa County saw a 27 percent rise from 2014.
Executive Director of the WSCC, Melissa Lytle believes the increase could be from the new resources that the center provides and that other organizations are doing a better job of spreading the word.
“We are seeing a larger number of kids,” Lytle said. “So we partnered with other agencies to broaden our nets of resources and we are working closer with the county and city.”
Also, with the increase the center is looking for a bigger building to work in. According to Lytle, the center saw a decrease at the beginning of 2016, but since March, they have seen an estimated number of 40 children per month.
In 2015, 90 percent of the children seen at the center were sexually abused and 88 percent of the victims were abused by someone they knew. Lytle says how the center detects sexual abuse is by certain physical and mental indicators that a victim presents.
“For sexual abuse, the physical indicators would be any type of trauma to the genitals of the child and sometimes certain types of genital infections can be a sign,” Lytle said.
The center finds victims that have been sexually abused are the hardest to identify because most of the identifiers are mental.
“Most often what we see in children is not really physical signs of sexual abuse, but more behavioral indicators,” Lytle said. “That can be that they have inappropriate knowledge of sexual terms or activity for their age or development. They can be sexually acting out on other children or they have hygiene issues or sometimes they withdraw.”
The center finds victims of physical abuse or neglect is easier to spot.
“For physical abuse, it is usually easier because there are physical signs,” Lytle said. “For neglect, there also can be physical signs because you might have a child that is malnourished or is wearing inappropriate clothing for the weather or might be dirty or have poor hygiene.”
One of the centers’ goals is to intervene with children early to help limit issues they may have as adults.
“Children, who don’t resolve that trauma early in life end up having inappropriate relationships as adults,” Lytle said. “They may start using drugs and usually have mental health issues, behavioral issues in schools, poor peer relationships or general relationships. Without proper treatment it can be life long and it can affect their ability to parent.”
WSCC is a non-profit organization that provides services for children, who suffered neglect or sexual and violent abuse. The center coordinates with professional agencies and independent service providers to meet the needs of abused children in the Grand Valley.
To report any kind of child abuse, the statewide hotline at 1-844-CO-4-KIDS. It is operated for 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
