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Spokane agencies seeking solutions to child abuse and neglect have designated the Spokane County Community Network as the organization that will track ideas and proposals to address the problem.
For Wednesday, April 30, 2008.
Child abuse and neglect can't be reduced solely to a discussion of numbers, because one case can be considered one case too many.
If you think there's a link between poverty and child abuse or child neglect, you're probably typical. More than half the people polled recently in Spokane and Kootenai counties said they believe there's a connection.
NEW YORK Many states often fail to release adequate information about fatal and near-fatal child abuse cases, placing confidentiality above disclosure to a degree that thwarts needed reforms, two child advocacy groups say in a new report.
Physical abuse at a young age is linked to aggression later in childhood, but little is known about the impact of neglect.
For Tuesday, April 29, 2008.
The first time Shawna Beese-Bjurstrom's biological mother abandoned her, she was just a few months old.
It's just one blog, but her goal is to change the world, one reader at a time. The 28-year-old Shadan Mohajerin plans to leave her Spokane job and move to Washington, D.C., to continue working on human rights and women's and children's issues.
For Monday, April 28, 2008.
Once homeless and addicted, Christopher and Dejah Bridges have started a family and look forward to moving to Arkansas
Washington's once prestigious child death review system, which state health officials say helps them identify ways to prevent the future deaths of children, has declined in recent years because of lack of funding by the Washington Legislature.
Jillian Vickerman breathing hard and squeezing an 8-ounce paper cup of water suddenly realized Saturday she was having a proud moment.
It's the end of a long day and the kids are restless. Still, a dreaded trip to the grocery store is necessary.
Every family could use wise and compassionate grandmas and grandpas. These elders can often cut through family dynamics and dysfunction. They can also step in with hugs, advice (when asked) and some spare change to use in emergencies.
For Sunday, April 27, 2008.
For Sunday, April 27, 2008.
The smell of fresh marker ink always delivers a shock to Dan Fox.In his line of work as a therapist it generally means one thing: the drawings of children, who carefully sketch frightful experiences that their minds would rather lock away.
The 73-year-old woman said her father had broken her collarbone with his fist when she was a teenager. He'd killed her dog and burned her legs with a hot poker from the fireplace.
Imagine a small child at a dinner table, together with his parents. Nobody is eating, because Mom and Dad are fighting, with words escalating to punches. The child withdraws to a corner of the house, listening, heart pounding, waiting for the battle to end.
Almost 200 people gathered early Thursday for breakfast and another presentation by Dr. Robert Anda at the Coeur d'Alene Resort.
For Friday, April 25, 2008.
Sketching an amaryllis in ink, 4-year-old Charlotte Meenach drew water rising through the flower's stem, even though her preschool lessons hadn't covered how flowers are nourished.
For Thursday, April 24, 2008.
People in the Spokane and Coeur d'Alene areas seem fairly certain they'd do something to stop child abuse, but not nearly so sure what they'd do.
Child abuse happens too often in the Inland Northwest, representatives of law enforcement, child welfare and social agencies say.
The kid down the street seems to have bruises all the time. She looks thin and her clothes are dirty and poorly fitting.
Straight A's. Perfect SAT scores. A record number of Advanced Placement courses. Countless scholarships, awards and state competition placements.
It may have been a gloomy weekend, but our mailbox has been exploding with color as kids from throughout the area sent us their best work for this year's Our Kids: Our Business coloring contest.
For Monday, April 21, 2008.
The baby girl was born at Christmas, a gift that came too early.She has delicate fingers, a tuft of dark hair, bright brown eyes and her mother's addiction to drugs.
A possible new $100 million foundation focused on Spokane health care needs is spurring hope among charitable organizations accustomed to scratching for dollars to pay for programs ranging from wellness to child abuse prevention.
A study that began in the 1980s as an inquiry into weight-loss program dropouts and evolved into potent childhood trauma research remains a catalyst for helping communities understand and treat the effects of abuse and neglect.
The following events and activities are scheduled during the communitywide Our Kids: Our Business campaign through April. For more events, lists of agencies and stories, see the Our Kids: Our Business site at spokesmanreview.com /ourkids/.
Dr. Robert Anda, a senior researcher at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, will speak Thursday in Spokane and Coeur d'Alene as part of the Our Kids: Our Business campaign.
To request help or report a suspected case of child abuse or neglect (24-hour resources): 911
The Spokane Valley seventh- and eighth-graders decided they'd live in their own apartments, instead of with their parents, when they had jobs of their own. They wanted new cars, cell phones, Internet service and cable television with movie channels. And they planned to go to movies, sporting events, concerts and nightclubs every month.
There's a hole in Lori Malin's basement wall caused by a fit of rage and a flying plastic toy.The puncture left unpatched on purpose is a reminder of the Coeur d'Alene mother's previous life, when she feared hurting her children and destroying her family with anger, insecurity and a shortage of parenting skills. That was the tumultuous life Malin left behind in October 2001 when she called ICARE Child and Family Advocacy Center, a nonprofit child-abuse prevention program in Kootenai County.
For Friday, April 18, 2008.
For Friday, April 18, 2008.
Last year, 8,726 local kids put on cleats, hoisted bats, tied their running shoes and headed outside for some fun and exercise. Coached by around 900 volunteers, they gathered at places like the South Complex off Regal Street or at the Dwight M. Merkel Sports Complex just north of Joe Albi Stadium. And as they got ready to run, dribble, catch, skip and jump, they all knew one thing: They were guaranteed to get some game time, because that's the way it is in the Spokane Youth Sports Association.
For Thursday, April 17, 2008.
For Thursday, April 17, 2008.
Two out of every five people served by food banks in the Inland Northwest are children.
Ask residents of Spokane or Kootenai county if they'd volunteer to help prevent child abuse and neglect, and chances are good they'll say yes.
Several North Idaho child-care providers and programs were honored last week by the North Idaho Association for the Education of Young Children at the organization's 11th Early Childhood Professional Recognition Event.
The following events and activities are scheduled during the communitywide Our Kids: Our Business campaign through April. For more events, lists of agencies and stories, see the Our Kids: Our Business site at spokesmanreview.com /ourkids/.
Child abuse prevention may be the responsibility of the entire community, but it begins at home.
Poll results graphics:
Should community do more?
Who is responsible?
For Tuesday, April 15, 2008.
For more than 20 years, Gayle Kiser has been a court-appointed special advocate representing children in Spokane courts. She's listened to stories from the war zone of dysfunctional
For Monday, April 14, 2008.
Fill out an application at one of the CASA offices or online. A screening interview will examine the applicant's background, upbringing and professional experience.
For Monday, April 14, 2008.
Dan Sweetland moved from his parents' home and the violence and drug use there when he was 5.
About 11.5 percent of Spokane Public Schools high school students dropped out in 2005-06.
The walls of Mrs. Golden's kindergarten class are covered with the alphabet, with shapes and colors, with drawings of "The Cat in the Hat."
Those baby names held such promise: Vanessa is Greek for butterfly; there was Summer for the season, and Nevaeh, a backwards version of paradise. None of these names hints at the darkness spiraling near the center of each little girl's family life.
There's still time to enter the Our Kids: Our Business pinwheel coloring contest.Just go to spokesmanreview.com/coloringcontest to download an entry form. Be sure to attach your address and phone number on a separate sheet of paper so we can contact you if you win.
Darlene Cate has raised her great-grandchildren in a loving Spokane Valley household, but there's only so much the 71-year-old who walks with a cane can do for rambunctious 11-year-old Ashley and her 9-year-old brother, Nathan.
If there were a little more spring in the steps and sway in the hips of the 270 people who showed up Friday for the Chase Youth Commission's Breakfast of Champions, it wasn't because of their shoes it was the KuUmba Drummers.
Brandon Neeser wanted to be as prepared as possible for the birth of his daughter once he was released from the Spokane County Jail.
For Friday, April 11, 2008.
There's something about horses. Some children get on a horse for the first time and never want to get off they get a lifelong case of "pony fever."
For Thursday, April 10, 2008.
If you think the problems of child abuse and neglect are preventable, you'd probably find most of your friends, neighbors and co-workers agree. So would child welfare experts who work with victims of abuse and neglect.
The Spokane man accused of killing his 4-year-old daughter wants his trial moved across the state, and his lawyers cite the communitywide Our Kids: Our Business campaign as the reason they believe he won't be treated fairly here.
Child abuse and child neglect occur frequently in America today as families struggle with poverty, substance abuse, inadequate education and mental health problems.
The pinwheels planted Monday outside the Idaho State Department of Health and Welfare's office in Coeur d'Alene added color and sparkle to a blustery, gray day.
PORTLAND Parris Nabors was the type of kid teachers usually send to the principal.
Oregon has no state sales tax, so in Portland, ballot measures generally fall to property tax levies. As a result, the ballot is frequently crowded.
When just more than half of Portland voters said "yes" to the Children's Investment Fund in 2002, levies for children's programs in San Francisco and Seattle already had been around for more than a decade.
Residents in Spokane and Coeur d'Alene say they are concerned about child abuse and neglect, but are they ready to put their money where their mouth is? Yes, a pair of surveys suggest.
Support the Our Kids: Our Business campaign by signing the Call to Action pledge. A PDF of the form is available at spokesmanreview.com/ourkids/pledge/. The form will be reprinted in the newspaper on April 16. Starting April 20, The S-R will print names of those who sign the pledge.
Among the hundreds of infants rescued from abusive and neglectful families by the Washington state foster-care system in the late 1980s and early '90s were five children adopted by a Spokane couple.
Fighting addiction and child abuse must start with communities such as Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene, not the Idaho Legislature, an addictive behavior consultant told a class of child-care workers Friday.
ATLANTA About 1 in 50 infants in the U.S. have been neglected or abused, according to the first national study of the problem in that age group.
One photo showed a swim instructor and his student. A short film featured footage of an elementary school, emphasizing the pint-sized furnishings. Several photos combined to make a collage of tender family moments with a recently adopted child.
Poster-sized children's drawings of houses, people, princesses and at least one tree will be hanging on the second level of River Park Square for the next three weeks.
Devon Miller never should have been allowed to live with the man now in prison for killing him.But misunderstood policies and miscommunication between the Washington state Department of Social and Health Services and the Yakama confederation of tribes sent 20-month-old Devon to live with two relatives who should have been disqualified as caregivers, according to a state fatality review of the boy's death.
Heather Jewell has three pet peeves: running, gum and kids who use their hands instead of cues to play pool.
Color sprouted in the front yard of the Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery on Wednesday afternoon as volunteers from the all-female group The Assistants planted 3,963 pinwheels one for each child who came through the nursery's door in 2007.
The good-natured honking from passing drivers began after the first couple of hundred pinwheels appeared. And it was followed by cheers and waves as staff, volunteers, families and friends of Sacred Heart Medical Center planted 2,722 pinwheels one for each baby born at the medical center in 2007 in the cold lawn along McClellan Street.
Advocates for children don't need to work very hard to convince us that child abuse and neglect is a serious problem in our community.
When we worry about the problems our kids face today, we may concentrate less on the causes and more on the symptoms.
If not for the courage and devotion of his aunt, a 4-year-old boy born to a drug-addicted and incarcerated mother might be lost in a child welfare
It's been a year since the Spokane Police Department assigned two detectives to focus exclusively on child abuse cases. The decision followed the horrific March 2007 death of 4-year-old Summer Phelps and came at a time when the number of physical abuse cases reported to police had increased dramatically.
Jessica Warren is just the person the Nurse-Family Partnership is looking for: a single, low-income, first-time mother-to-be with a lot of questions and no one else to turn to for answers.
OLYMPIA Child abuse, neglect and foster care were much on the minds of Washington lawmakers this year, and they approved several changes that advocates long have urged.
Jonathan Lytle, accused in one of the most shocking incidents of child abuse in Spokane history, may not be mentally fit to stand trial.
Idaho children are staying in foster care 10 days longer than they were six years ago, a trend state officials attribute partially to methamphetamine use by parents and the difficulty of treating the drug's addiction.
We have a promise to keep. It's simple, really: We promise to protect and nurture our community's children.
At the end of 2007, there were 1,015 children in out-of-home care in Spokane County, according to the Washington Department of Social and Health Services. In the Idaho Panhandle, 394 children were living in foster care at the end of February 2008.
Beginning in April, children will be able to find refuge from abuse at 75 Safe Places in Spokane, including every fire station, libraries and many businesses.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: $400,000 a year for 5 years.
It takes "he-roes" and "she-roes."That's what Mary Ann Murphy said about the people who organized the kickoff breakfast for April's Our Kids: Our Business campaign. But that statement also applies to preventing child abuse.
Post Falls Mayor Clay Larkin remembers clearly the day nearly 40 years ago when he was called to a Post Falls home as part of the city's volunteer ambulance crew.
BOISE A Senate committee chairwoman has blocked legislation that would have ended Idaho's distinction as the only state in the nation with no system for reviewing child deaths.
The two grown men, one with a badge and the other with a red tie, teetered on the tiny chairs in the Head Start classroom as they prepared to read a book to the students.
Washington would be required to review cases in which a child nearly died if the child had experienced any contact with welfare services within a year under a bill approved this week by state lawmakers.
One year ago, the Inland Northwest learned of a case of child abuse that emergency room and law enforcement personnel would call one of the worst they'd ever seen.
BOISE Idaho is the only state in the nation that has no system for reviewing child deaths, but that would change under legislation that cleared a House committee Tuesday.
The Spokesman-Review's monthlong "Our Kids: Our Business" project earned the newspaper the 2007 Anna Quindlen Award, one of journalism's highest honors for coverage of issues important to young people and child welfare.
Nearly every state reimburses families far less than the actual cost of caring for foster children, according to a national study released earlier this month.
Number of children in foster care: Washington, 10,068; Idaho, 1,818Number of licensed family foster homes: Washington 6,223; Idaho 1,562
Invoking the torture death of 4-year-old Summer Phelps, Spokane agencies that work to prevent child abuse have asked for and received $2.3 million in federal and state grants aimed at ensuring it doesn't happen again.
The Washington mother of one of Summer Phelps' playmates and a Connecticut mother moved by chilling news accounts have launched an Internet petition they hope will change child abuse laws following the death of the Spokane 4-year-old.
Washington child welfare officials logged at least a half dozen complaints about the adults in charge of Summer Phelps' care before the 4-year-old's death by abuse in March, newly released state records show.
OLYMPIA Two days before Mother's Day, Gov. Chris Gregoire on Friday signed new laws to protect children against abuse.
For Sunday, May 06, 2007.
I commend the "Our kids, our business" campaign by this newspaper regarding the welfare of our children.
In the end, there remain more questions than answers.How can families break the cycle of abuse?
When Rebecca McKillip was a 3-year-old trying to pour her own cereal in a maggot-infested kitchen, no one was there.
For weeks we've been contemplating Summer Phelps' wide grin and her cascade of red curls, and the unconscionable abuse that destroyed them both.
Every day, I try to remember to thank God for life's many blessings. It's a checklist of sorts:Health is good.
All it takes, sometimes, is just one look.From the moment they entered the world, Amy Robinson's children spoke to her.
A year ago, the 39-year-old mom and her six children arrived at Spokane's YWCA domestic violence shelter with nothing more than a few suitcases of clothing.
Parents and other caregivers are "hard-wired" to love their children, according to Kent Hoffman and Bert Powell, two of the leading experts on attachment and bonding. But sometimes, something gets in the way, which then inhibits parents from that natural tendency to love and care for their child.
Kootenai County has the highest percentage of domestic violence in Idaho, according to Bridget Eismann, a crime victim advocate.
On the Web: circleofsecurity.org More than 10,000 people throughout the world have received introductory training in the Circle of Security model.
Here are some suggestions from the Circle of Security Project to help caregivers build a secure attachment with children:
Kaden Foreman stacked the colorful foam blocks end on end until they towered beyond his reach. "That's tall," he said.
Terry McCune took the meth-addicted infant into her home when he was 2 days old. Seven months later he's still there.
For Linda Norris, the image was heartbreaking: Some children in Stevens County were leaving their troubled homes with their belongings stuffed into plastic garbage bags.
The following events and activities are scheduled during the communitywide "Our Kids: Our Business" campaign, which runs through April.
To learn more about becoming a foster parent:In Washington
Olive Crest Foster Family Agency: (509) 468-0700
The spicy aroma of tacos drifted through the hallways of Alexandria's House on a recent afternoon. Five young women gathered in the small kitchen to share a meal.
Our world is filled with people of different personalities, opinions, and genders. Every person brings something new to the world, and we need to embrace them all.
My kids accuse me of being a compulsive mother. They say not only do I parent them, but anyone under 21 who happens to be nearby.
For Thursday, April 26, 2007.
The following events and activities are scheduled during the communitywide "Our Kids: Our Business" campaign, which runs through April.
Two Spokane police detectives have been assigned to focus exclusively on physical child abuse cases, effective immediately, police officials announced Wednesday.
All parents, regardless of income or experience, can benefit from the support given by programs such as Parents as Teachers.
It's easy to believe the toddlers in the Early Head Start nursery at Spokane's West Central Community Center really are going places.
North Idaho Parents as Teachers can be reached at (208) 292-1656 or niparentsasteachers@ roadrunner.com.
When Raquela Davis had to return to work after her six weeks of maternity leave, she was worried about the kind of care new daughter Makaile would get.
Many children are traumatized, frightened and cautious when they enter counselor Lucy DePaolo's Spokane office.
Committing to a better future is only the first step to ensuring that our generation receives the adequate skills needed to make safe and smart choices.
For Wednesday, April 25, 2007.
Top law enforcement officials in the region think incarceration is one of the best opportunities the justice system has to help abusive parents.
Emergency numbers
To request help or report a suspected case of child abuse or neglect:
The chief witness in the case of Spokane County v. Perry J. Bache fidgeted in her jean jacket.
Colleen Combs started teaching Love and Logic classes to Spokane area parents 11 years ago."Parents were coming to me with the same concerns over and over again," said Combs, a counselor at Spokane's Arlington Elementary School. "They had questions and frustrations about parenting."
Collaborative effort: The Drug Endangered Children program recognizes the need to quickly treat kids taken from homes where drugs are used or manufactured.
More than 400 kids from throughout the region entered our pinwheel coloring contest, part of the Our Kids: Our Business abuse prevention project. Below are the winners from each of the three age categories.
YAKIMA Like a tiny tornado, Andrew Taylor rumbled through the playground and into the parking lot of a small apartment complex here. The 15-month-old ducked under a parked truck and grabbed an empty cola cup.
For Monday, April 23, 2007.
Dear Tom, the letter begins. You beat me. Gave me a black eye at four. Threw cold water on me and had me stand outside. You never called me by name.
Imagine, if you can stomach it, being a child who has been sexually abused. Then think of having to tell your story to a steady stream of strangers.
Dr. Jack P. Shonkoff is the director of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University.
According to America's Promise more than 8.5 million children do not have supportive, caring adults in their lives.
The following have pledged in the next year to do what they can to provide a safe and nurturing environment for the community's children.
The following events and activities are scheduled during the communitywide "Our Kids: Our Business" campaign, which runs through April. For more info, events, lists of agencies and stories, see the "Our Kids: Our Business" site at spokesmanreview .com/ourkids/
Teens in Kootenai County's Juvenile Detention Center have told Lenaya Hogan they'd rather be in lock-up than in their chaotic or violent homes.
Spokane nonprofits and businesses launched two programs on Friday designed to engage the public in preventing child abuse and neglect.
And the survey says: 35 percent of area youths have smoked marijuana. Almost 40 percent of area youths have smoked cigarettes.
LEWISTON Bruce Grimoldby walked through the Northwest Children's Home education center and stopped to tend to a preteen boy sitting in a small, cement-block room with the door open. "If he runs out of here, I'll grab him," Grimoldby, the home's director, said to a frazzled-looking teacher.
It seems impossible with all the awareness about child sex abuse that children and teens can still be vulnerable to sex abuse when they participate in outside activities.
Mary Ann Murphy is chairwoman of the Washington Council for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect and executive director of Partners with Families and Children: Spokane, a program sponsored by Deaconess and Sacred Heart medical centers for children who are abused, neglected, endangered by drugs or exposed to violence.
The following events and activities are scheduled during the communitywide "Our Kids: Our Business" campaign, which runs through April.
Each week, a group of professionals gathers in a meeting room at the offices of Partners with Family and Children. They hear the saddest of stories, often view disturbing photos and together seek ways to act on the best interests of vulnerable children in our community.
Kenny Olson had thick dark hair and a kind smile. His high-pitched voice didn't break until he was 20, prompting his big sister to tease him that he should audition for the Vienna Boys Choir.
The following events and activities are scheduled during the communitywide "Our Kids: Our Business" campaign, which runs through April. For more info, see spokesmanreview.com /ourkids/
746 children under 18 died in Washington in 2004, the latest year for which statistics are available.
Standard review for Phelps: A Washington child welfare official will not call for an executive-level review of Summer Phelps' death, because the 4-year-old Spokane girl had little contact with state agencies/Page A5
Changing times and a growing awareness of child abuse have led to greater distrust of adults who work with children, prompting stricter rules in organizations.
Dennis Adams is a volunteer who helps make homes safe so families can be reunited when abuse and neglect tear them apart.
The kids had the last laugh during a vigil held in their honor Tuesday night. About 50 children played an impromptu game of soccer.
KREM-TV: krem.comKXLY-TV: kxly.comKHQ-TV: khq.com
The following events and activities are scheduled during the communitywide Our Kids: Our Business campaign, which runs through April. For more info, see spokesmanreview.com /ourkids/
Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Inland Northwest
Address: 222 W. Mission, Suite 210
On the Web
Spokesmanreview.com/ourkids continues with Week 3: The Costs of Abuse. Find archived stories and multimedia presentations, a downloadable copy of the call to action, a searchable database of agencies and more.
Detective Dave Beck nearly stepped on 10-day-old twins strapped into car seats and hidden among clothing, human feces and filth littering the floor of a middle-class Post Falls home as he checked out a report of child neglect.
As volunteer programs coordinator with Spokane County Juvenile Court, Susan Cairy helps recruit and train community members who want to make a difference in children's lives through the neighborhood accountability board, or diversion program, and the Court Appointed Special Advocate program. Cairy answered questions online Monday about those programs, the training required to take part, and other issues having to do with child abuse and neglect prevention. Below is an edited transcript of the chat. To read more, go to spokesmanreview.com/ourkids/chats.
For Tuesday, April 17, 2007.
Today on spokesmanreview.comSpokesmanreview.com/ourkids continues with Week 3: Log in to see archived stories and multimedia presentations, a downloadable copy of the call to action, a searchable database of agencies and more.
Child abuse is costing you money.It is doubtlessly crass to put it like that. After all, the human costs paid by abuse victims are heartbreaking and lifelong, not merely expensive in social and financial terms.
Were it not for the wise grandmas, aunties and doulas of human history, we'd have fizzled out long ago.
The floppy, brown haircut hides the scars and bumps on the boy's head. The bulky headphones drawn over his ears emit a jumble of discordant sounds, training his brain to process and filter noise again.
We can hardly bear another law named for a child who has died. This spring both the Washington House and Senate have approved Sirita's Law, named for 4-year-old Sirita Sotelo, of Lake Stevens, and the Raphael Gomez Act, after a 2-year-old from Ephrata. These children, who could not have been any more vulnerable or any more deeply betrayed, were beaten to death after being returned to their families from foster care.
"Our Kids: Our Business" is a community-wide campaign to raise awareness about child abuse and neglect in the Inland Northwest.
Investing in children and families especially those living in the most desperate circumstances is the surest and most economical way for communities to secure healthy futures for everyone, a Boeing Co. executive told a lunch gathering in downtown Spokane on Friday. The executive, Bob Watt, said research proves at-risk families that receive support become far less likely to abuse or neglect their children, become addicted to drugs and alcohol, commit crimes or end up on welfare.
The family car is an old Chevy van, with enough room to fit 15 people.Before long, the Segalla family will need nearly every seat in the vehicle.
More than 950 children in Kootenai County will be abused or neglected this year, according to Beth Barclay, director of ICARE Children and Family Advocacy Center.
Outrage erupts every time a child dies by abuse and the loss of Summer Phelps has been no different.
Washington state lawmakers are negotiating a final budget for the next two years. Among the items being discussed:
OLYMPIA It's the memories that push Gary Malkasian.He remembers the 3-year-old girl he and his wife took in as foster parents. He remembers her dancing and singing, her scrutiny of an anthill in a backyard stump, how he taught her to spot Mars in the southern sky.
Three letters put registered sex offender and convicted child rapist Jimmy Cecil Arrowsmith into prison for life: DNA.
Holmes Elementary School counselor Stephanie Leek remembers the first time she had to report a case of child sexual abuse.
Reports of teachers involved in sexual misconduct with their students nearly always make headlines, but in truth, those cases are rare, state education officials say.
Public schools in Spokane and North Idaho offer curricula aimed at teaching kids how to recognize sexual abuse and say "no" to abusers.
An advocate for survivors and recent victims of abuse urged people to educate children about the problem of child abuse and neglect.
The following events and activities are scheduled during the communitywide "Our Kids: Our Business" campaign, which runs the month of April. For more info, see spokesmanreview.com/ourkids/
Percentage of total child-abuse reports from school personnel (2004 data):Washington: 16 percent
@ www.spokesmanreview.com
Detectives investigating sex abuse charges against a Twin Lakes, Idaho, man in November discovered a collection of child pornography, including hundreds of thousands of images, some of prepubescent children being raped and sexually abused.
Contact: www.cybertipline.com or (800) 843-5678
When state officials sought to identify the most vulnerable children in Washington, they began in Hillyard, on a dozen rough-and-tumble blocks in northeast Spokane.
The thing is, the abuser was such a nice guy. He wasn't a monster, some stranger preying on the single mom and her 7-year-old daughter.
When the organizers of April's "Our Kids: Our Business" project needed a speaker for their capstone event, they turned to the world's leading aerospace company.
The following events and activities are scheduled during the communitywide "Our Kids: Our Business" campaign, which runs the month of April. For more community events, lists of agencies and stories, see the "Our Kids: Our Business" site at spokesmanreview.com/ourkids/.
@spokesmanreview.com
spokesmanreview.com/ourkids changes gears with Week 2: How to recognize abuse. View multimedia presentations from previous installments, check out a searchable database of agencies, or look up abuse reports by ZIP code. Find upcoming events, download a coloring contest entry form or download and sign the call to action.
Abusers ensure compliance with their victims through a process known as "grooming," experts say. The basic steps include:
Address: 210 W. Sprague, Suite 100Spokane, WA 99201
Families and Communities Together
Address: Northeast Community Center
After they learned of the little girl's brutal death, neighbors of 4-year-old Summer Phelps regretted not calling authorities.
As 5-year-old Franklin Moore watched plaster ooze over his little hand last month, he listened to his mother talk about the art project he was helping create.
Imagine that your mother is addicted to methamphetamine and is usually high or passed out, and that the responsibility of a younger sibling rests on your shoulders.
The simple, life-size cutouts in the shape of infants and children make a dramatic statement: Some children don't live to tell of the horrors they've suffered.
Pinwheels keep twirling throughout the Inland Northwest this month. The most visible symbol of the region's Our Kids: Our Business child abuse prevention campaign.
Silent Witness exhibit
Silhouettes representing children who died from abuse or neglect will be displayed at the following public events and locations:
The following events and activities are scheduled during the communitywide "Our Kids: Our Business" campaign, which runs the month of April. For more community events, lists of agencies and stories, see the "Our Kids: Our Business" site at spokesmanreview .com/ourkids/
If you go
What: The Rights of the Child exhibit at the Human Rights Education Institute in Coeur d'Alene.
Coeur d'Alene Mayor Sandi Bloem issued a special proclamation Thursday asking residents to each pledge to do one thing to make the community safer for kids.
Coeur d'Alene's Human Rights Education Institute is featuring an exhibit of artwork created by children in recognition of Child Abuse Prevention Month.
The following events and activities are scheduled during the communitywide "Our Kids: Our Business" campaign, which runs the month of April.
RAPID LIGHTNING, IDAHO Several miles down a pocked and muddy road, sits a two-bedroom, half-century-old, single-wide trailer, home to three generations of the family Bonagofski.
Emergency numbers
To request help or report a suspected case of child abuse or neglect:
He didn't want to lie to his pastor. So the man told him everything: The terms of his probation. The years in prison. The fact that he had molested a child.
As a caseworker, as attorney general, as governor and, most importantly, as a parent, I have made protecting children a duty, a passion and a priority. Recognizing April as Child Abuse Prevention Month gives us the opportunity to remind one another that we all share a responsibility to keep Washington's children safe.
Summer Phelps soon may join the ranks of Washington child abuse victims whose deaths demanded urgent review and action a state investigator said Tuesday.
Despite federal and state laws giving preference to Native American families and tribes in Indian child welfare cases, it took Tracy Fuentes a year to win custody of her nephew.
To request help or report a suspected case of child abuse or neglect:
The following events and activities are scheduled during the communitywide "Our Kids: Our Business" campaign, which runs the month of April.
Address:1803 W. MaxwellSpokane, WA 99201Phone: (509) 325-5502
On a snowy day last January, as Malcom and Rebecca Engle celebrated the birth of their first son, the state's child welfare system moved quickly into action.
Melissa Cilley hoped people driving by the Garland Theater on Monday morning would notice all the color.
Audio slideshow: Garland festivities
Substance abuse prevention starts at home, but anyone can play a role. As executive director of the Greater Spokane Substance Abuse Council since 1993, Linda Thompson runs several programs that seek to prevent and recognize substance abuse problems. In a live chat Monday she also emphasized that people can help with prevention by being good role models.
Today on the Web
Spokesmanreview.com continues with Week 1: Factors of Abuse and Neglect. Also, watch an audio slideshow of today's festivities at the Garland Theater with today's coverage at spokesmanreview.com/ourkids
In a hospital bed in February, Dejah Bridges fought the most natural urge: to give birth to her child. The 24-year-old recovering drug addict said she resisted the waves of contractions. Though a doctor and nurse hovered nearby, it was the prospect of Washington social workers waiting for her son's birth that terrified her.
At least the convicted sex offender who worked as a substitute teacher in several Spokane County school districts in recent years is not alleged to have victimized children he contacted in the classroom.
8104 E. Sprague Ave.Spokane Valley, WA 99212Phone: (509) 922-8383
Before she became Spokane's most horrific example of abuse in recent memory, Summer Phelps was an invisible child.
Pregnancy didn't change Alisha Germany. Even as her belly swelled, the 24-year-old Spokane Valley woman continued the erratic life she'd lived since age 15
Paul Haupt settles his 6-foot-2-inch frame on a couch in the cramped counselor's office at Spokane's Stevens Elementary School.
Like a lot of violence that occurs within families, child abuse can be awfully tough to measure.
Remember when the man ran over his wife and killed her in front of their three children?
Her name was Summer. In Spokane during that season astonishing gardens flourish in the city's historic Manito Park.
Substance abuse is a factor in as many as a third to two-thirds of all child abuse and neglect cases, according to federal statistics.
To request help or report a suspected case of child abuse or neglect (24-hour resources):
Summer Phelps was still alive late last year when Mary Ann Murphy and I first discussed the possibility of a community-wide campaign against child abuse in the Inland Northwest.
Social service agencies, business leaders, media and other community partners will launch a 30-day initiative next month aimed at preventing child abuse and neglect.
The woman whom police say killed her 4-year-old stepdaughter last weekend has been in and out of trouble and was sexually abused as a child, her half-sister said this week.
After Summer Phelps died Sunday, authorities said the 4-year-old was one of 14 children whose death was linked to a caregiver in the Spokane and Coeur d'Alene areas since 2000.
Last Sunday, in the aftermath of the death of a 4-year-old girl, a dozen police officers met with psychologists, a chaplain and other law enforcement officers.
Summer Lytle was killed by "homicidal violence," Spokane County's medical examiner said Tuesday.
A 4-year-old Spokane girl stopped breathing in the bathtub Saturday night as her resentful stepmother left her alone to cook an anniversary meal for the girl's father, according to court records.
Spokane, Wash., Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and the Inland Northwest ©Copyright 2008, The Spokesman-Review
