Louisville Courier-Journal Series on Child Abuse and Neglect

A Courier-Journal Special Report: Children in Crisis, By Deborah Yetter, Louisville Courier-Journal:

• Part One: Kentucky leads the nation in deaths from child abuse and neglect and at least half the deaths have come after the cases came to the attention of child welfare authorities.
  • Kentucky officials knew that many of the children who died from abuse might be at risk
  • Recognizing the warning signs of abuse can save some children’s lives
  • Many Kentucky social workers ‘bombarded’ by pressures of job
  • Painful lives cut short: Three tragic tales of child abuse in Kentucky
  • Victims of child abuse come from all parts of Kentucky
  • Graphics: Child abuse by the numbers; child abuse trends
• Part Two: Kentucky continues to have a high rate of child abuse even as its rate of substantiating abuse and neglect has declined.
  • As allegation rate rises, advocates fear Kentucky is missing some abuse
  • Baby crash dummies help sort out facts
  • Funding is a struggle for other social agencies too
  • Graphics: Abuse reports; ages of abuse; abuser relationship to victim
• Part Three: Even after a child dies, the records of abuse remain confidential under Kentucky’s law that provide secrecy.
  • Jefferson jurist allows rare look behind scenes of family court
  • Confidentiality exceeds law’s requirements in Kentucky