Rising Child Abuse Fills Shelter, Leaves Kids With No Haven

By Amy Linn, 6-03-09

The calls come at 3 a.m., or at all hours in tough times like these. Fran Albrecht picks up the phone, and her heart sinks at what she hears.

Kids need help, the police tell Albrecht, the director of the Watson Children’s Shelter. The children’s parents were arrested during a drug bust. Or their father beat up their mother. Or the kids have been abused or abandoned. The calls come from Child and Family Services, too, and the question is always the same.

“Do you have an opening?” the authorities ask Albrecht, whose 16-bed emergency shelter in Missoula is the only one of its kind for abused and neglected children in Western Montana.

“No,” Albrecht has to say, because she has no choice--her shelter is full. “No, we don’t have an opening.”

There is hardly anything worse for Albrecht and others in her position than to turn down a child in need. But a dramatic surge in child abuse and neglect cases--in Montana and across the country--has left providers with few alternatives.

“We are seeing unprecedented numbers of referrals,” Albrecht says. “I’m leaving here each day knowing that we’re not able to take care of these kids. And it’s not just happening in Missoula,” she adds. “It’s happening across the nation.”

Albrecht, for one, hopes the days of saying no will soon be over: a second shelter, another safe, 16-bed home for children from birth to age 14, is in the planning stages. A groundbreaking for the new facility on Buckhouse Lane in Missoula is planned late this summer; completion is slated for next year.

But while children’s needs are skyrocketing, the economic downturn has dried up donations, leaving the project with a gaping shortfall. Albrecht says the shelter has raised only one half of the $4.5 million needed to build the new facility and keep both shelters operating in the coming years. The United Way this year reduced its annual donation from $25,000 to $10,000. Private donors are giving less, as well.

“If it were my choice, I would break ground tomorrow,” she says. “But as the need goes up, charitable giving is going down.”

As an emergency measure, Albrecht expanded the license on the existing shelter from 16 to 19, so she can give three additional children the things Watson provides: a safe environment, food, clothing, support, comfort, access to medical care, outings, celebrations, and much-needed time to play. But the region needs far more than just three extra slots.

The shelter--where an average stay is about 45 days--has had to turn away an average of 1 to 2 children per week over the past three years. This year, referrals have doubled, Albrecht says. “In the last four months, we’ve had to turn away about four children on average per week.”

The economy is a major factor, experts say. Among the problems: Young single mothers are asking boyfriends to move in with them to help pay rent, and the boyfriends--who have no connection to the children--turn out to be abusers. Parents and caregivers are losing their jobs and their homes; drug and alcohol abuse is increasing with the stress. So is violence.

“And people tend to take it out on the kids,” says Albrecht.

Consider:

-- In Central Florida last year the number of fatal child-abuse cases more than doubled compared to 2007, from 14 to 30. In the first five months of this year, authorities are already investigating the deaths of 59 children, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

-- In Tennesee, child abuse cases in some counties have increased by more than 18 percent. “We’re seeing much more psychological abuse and trauma than I’ve seen in my career,” a family services official told WVL-TV.

-- In Maine, the number of shaken-baby cases reported by hospitals tripled last year amid growing numbers of child-abuse cases as a whole, according to the Maine Sunday Telegram, which reported “a nationwide surge in abusive head trauma.” In response, the state launched an educational program to prevent shaken-baby syndrome, in which infants can die or suffer brain damage due to being shaken for as little as 10 seconds.

-- In Montana, as many as six children per day are abused or neglected, according to Albrecht. The Missoula division of the state Department of Family Services receives about 100 child-abuse calls each month.

When the reports involve children who have been hurt or whose homes aren’t livable, Albrecht gets asked for help. Last year, the Watson Children’s Shelter received 130 requests for housing, and had to turn away 42 of them.

Albrecht remains hopeful she’ll be able to open the new shelter as early next year as possible. But before and beyond that—because child abuse requires interventions on every level—she also hopes people in the community can take simple steps to lend a hand.

Look out for children, she says. Lend support to neighbors. And if your family is under stress, reach out for help.

“I just want people to remember that there are children suffering out there,” Albrecht says. “These kids don’t have a voice. So we need to speak on their behalf.”

To learn more, or to hear from children at the Watson Children’s Shelter in their own words, go to Oneisntenough.

To make a donation, click here.

To report a possible case of child abuse or neglect,
call toll-free 1-866-820-5437 (1-866-820-KIDS), for the Child Abuse Hotline, run by the Child and Family Services division of the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. (For TTY-hearing-impaired, call toll-free 1-866-341-8811.)