Child abuse cases on the rise in Butler County
The number of substantiated cases of child abuse and total reports of child abuse in Butler County both went up last year, according to an annual state report on the incidents.
During 2016, Butler County had 502 reports of child abuse and 38 substantiated cases, according to the state Department of Health's Child Protective Services Report, which was released Wednesday afternoon.
Those totals were both increases from 2015, when the county had 422 total reports and 30 substantiated cases of child abuse.
In 2016 the county also had six substantiated cases and 25 suspected cases of repeat abuse, and one substantiated case of child abuse involving agents of a county agency, according to the report.
The county's rate of 1 substantiated child abuse report per 1,000 children was lower than the statewide average of 1.7 per 1,000.
The report also tracks general protective services (GPS) reports, which are slightly different from child protective services (CPS) reports in that they do not rise to the level of suspected child abuse, but “allege a need for intervention to prevent serious harm to children.”
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