Kentucky leads the nation in child abuse

BOWLING GREEN Ky.- Kentucky ranks first in child abuse incidents.

According to the Child Maltreatment report from the Children’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Kentucky had 22,410 victims of child abuse in 2017. Executive director of Court Appointed Special Advocates Jana Sublett said the numbers are overwhelming, but she’s not surprised that Kentucky holds the place it does.

“It’s scary to think that we’re at that level. As someone who looks at these numbers and is familiar with what’s going on, it’s really not surprising that we’ve had an increase in child abuse rates every year for many years now,” Sublett said.

Minister of family services at the Potter Children’s Home, Lee Fowlkes, said the high numbers come from a variety of factors, including poverty, and substance abuse.

“I think one of the main things is that we just have a lot of risk factors that can contribute to child abuse. One of the other things is that it’s being reported more which would be a positive thing. It’s terrible that it exists in such high numbers,” Fowlkes said.

Along with many other organizations, representatives with CASA and the Potter Home realize that this abuse is a real issue, as they fight to break the cycle and change the lives of those who need it.

In the end, Fowlkes said just changing one life, could mean so much.

“That’s what we live for, that’s what we do. We know that we may not be able to fix all the problems in the state of Kentucky, we may not be able to fix all the problems in the country, but if we can make a difference for one kid…that’s what we’re here for,” Fowlkes said.