Situation: Child matreatment
A witness case: The state of Florida (USA) – Impact on society of child abuse, abandonment, and neglect.
- In the state of Florida the problem of child abuse, abandonment, and neglect has a tremendous impact on society.
- During the fiscal year of 2003-2004 there were 32.3 victims of maltreatment per 1000 children.
- Whereas the youngest children had the highest rate of maltreatment across the nation (with a rate of 16 per 1,000 children for children under the age of 4), in Florida the rate of child victims under the age of four was 42.5 per 1,000 and a rate of 35.2 for children age four to seven.
- These children often have immediate and long-lasting effects involving many aspects of their development, such as
- brain development,
- cognition and
- physical, psychological and emotional health.