South Carolina Is Faulted on Child Services

By Kim Severson
The New York Times
July 10, 2013

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/10/us/south-carolina-is-faulted-on-child-services.html?_r=0

In South Carolina, people accused of sexually abusing children do not face trial for years. Children who report abuse are not interviewed for weeks. Churches often stand between victims and help.

Those were among the findings of a privately financed report that comes as South Carolina is working to shore up its child protective system. The state is facing lawsuits and legislative scrutiny after a series of deaths, rapes and other assaults on children who were in state custody.

The report was welcomed by Gov. Nikki R. Haley, who said it offered useful recommendations for improving how the state — both the government and its citizens — can better address childhood sexual trauma.

It also prompted Ms. Haley to recount her own experience as a physically abused child.

While her mother worked she spent her days in day care at a neighborhood home, the governor said.

“One day I came home and I had a lot of bruises and a lot of issues,” she said during a news conference to discuss the report, by the National Child Protection Training Center.

She said her mother confronted the neighbors, who soon packed up and left without any repercussions.

“When it happened to me, my parents didn’t know what to do,” Governor Haley said. “They didn’t know who to go to. No one knew how to handle it.”

The report, “Silent Tears,” was based on interviews with hundreds of people who work directly with abused children. It called for more training at colleges and universities and for a uniform system of investigation.

State law enforcement records show more than 3,000 children reported being sexually abused in 2011. Most people who handled those cases received little training in college related to child abuse, the report said.

Felony child abuse trials, which should begin within six months, according to bar association standards, often take three years to get to court. And evidence collected when a case is reported varies widely.

“Everybody should know how to interrogate a subject, and everybody should know why crime scene photographs are important and why corroborating evidence is important,” said Victor Vieth, executive director of the training center, which is based at Winona State University in Minnesota.

The study found that church communities were least likely to report abuse and sometimes covered it up, urging victims to forgive their abusers instead of reporting them, Mr. Vieth said.

Because South Carolina is ranked as the fourth most religious state in the country, targeting churches and seminaries for more training is key, he said.

“When people don’t report it’s most often out of ignorance,” he said.