If the pace continues as it has for the first six months of 2015, Fayette County will see its substantiated cases of child neglect come close to doubling its 2014 numbers, illustrating the pervasiveness of the issue locally.
Child neglect and abuse statistics for June, released Aug. 4 by the Indiana Department of Child Services, show for that month another 15 substantiated cases of child neglect within Fayette County, which ranked as the second-highest total for June in the six-county DCS Region 12.
That figure also increased the county's yearly total of substantiated child neglect cases to 72, only five less than the county's overall total of 77 for 2014.
Child neglect, as defined by the state of Indiana, is when a “child’s physical or mental condition is seriously impaired or seriously endangered as a result of the parent, guardian, or custodian being unable, refusing, or neglecting to supply the child with necessary food, clothing, shelter, medical care, education, or supervision.”
It also covers children whose conditions are impacted through parents or guardians manufacturing illegal drugs where the child resides. Illegal drug abuse, in fact, is part of the reason given by Indiana Gov. Mike Pence Thursday in his announcement that DCS will hire 113 more caseworkers to tackle a 26 percent increase this year in its caseload. It is unknown as of yet whether Fayette County or other area counties will see any of those additional caseworkers.
Illegal drug abuse has also been a recurring theme in the many child neglect cases Fayette Circuit Court Judge Beth A. Butsch has seen in the past year, she stated this past April in a Child Abuse Awareness Month ceremony at the Fayette County Courthouse.
Fayette County's overall numbers for June, according to DCS, included one substantiated case of child sexual abuse which gives the county to date this year, five substantiated cases of child sexual abuse — only one less that its total of six for 2014. It also had one substantiated case of physical abuse for June as well.
Another area county, Wayne, had 30 substantiated cases of child neglect in June, which led DCS Region 12. Both Wayne and Fayette counties were the only two counties in that region to also break double-digits for their total of substantiated child neglect cases for June.
Overall, the state had 2,130 substantiated cases of child neglect, 226 substantiated cases of physical abuse and 265 substantiated cases of child sexual abuse in June, according to DCS.
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