Abused Children Need Help From
People Outside Family
By Catherine Macek
Duke Medical Center
Special To The Post
—JDuch*nX-.-_Abusedchil
dren, who suffer psycholo
gical as well as physical
trauma, need a great deal
of help from people outside
the family. At Duke Uni
versity Medical Center
such support is provided in
part by the Child Protec
tion Team (CPT).
The CPT, consisting of
Duke physicians, nurses,"a
physician’s associate and a
social worker, is a group of
medical professionals that
acts as an advocate for
abused children.
_“The group jneets Regu
larly to discuss possible
and confirmed abuse cases
of children seen or hospit
' alized at Duke." said team
member Dr. Peter English,
an assistant professor of
pediatrics. "Our primary
roles are to help supervise
medical treatment of the
abused child and to serve
as a medical advisor to
Durham County's Depart
Dr. William H. Greene, president of Livingstone
-College, la pictured receiving a plaque from Dr. Pill
Cho, chairman of the college’s Social Welfare' De
I partment. Dr. Cho received the plaque on behalf of the
college during the Association for Gerontological
Human Development meeting in Philadelphia, PA. Dr.
Lennie Marie Tolliver, United States Commissioner on
Aging, made the presentation and cited Living
stone as a “role model" for other historically black
colleges that are seeking to improve their capa
bilities in serving the minority aged. The Livingstone
_Social Welfare and Sociology Gerontology
Certificate Program, along with 'the Northwest
Piedmont Area on Aging, recently sponsored a con
ference which explored the linkages between education
and practice in dealing with the elderly in North
Carolina and Dr. Tolliver served as keynote speaker.
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ment of Social Services
(DDS), which handles
abuse cases as part of their
child protective agency.' ’
After reviewing informa
tion from all physicians
who treated the child, the
team provides the DSS with
a consensus of the child’s
physical injuries. Such me
dical information is needed
as proof of abuse.
“In the past the DSS
social workers had to be
sleuths and check with
each doctor involved with
the case," English pointed
out. “Often a number of
physicians were involved
with the diagnosis and
treatment of these chil
dren, and it was difficult
.. f.0r_saciaLJKorkeixJo cor
rectly interpret the vast
quantity of medical infor
mation
A variety of sources alert
the CPT about possible
cases of child abuse, in
cluding emergency room
personnel, Duke physicians
and inpatient pediatrics
staff. "These children often
are easy to identify, es
pecially if they have been
hospitalized with certain
injuries of suspicious ori
gin." English said. “But
through the DSS we also
receive referrals from pri
mary care physicians or
teachers who are required
by fcrw-to-report suspected
child abuse cases. Neigh
bors, family members or
even the abused child also
can notify the DSS
“In addition, Duke pedia
tricians who see these
children for other medical
reasons in our outpatient
clinics sometimes notice
unusual .bruises _or- burns
and inform us."
THE CPT, which pro
vides its services without
charge, evaluates around
100 cases a year. About 25
percent of the cases involve
sexual abuse. "This per
centage is high compared
"■RT published"s'talTsTics.’ Hut
we see some of the most
severely abused children at
Duke," English said.
Although North Caro
lina's DSS receives about
25.000 reports of child
abuse each year, this
probably is only the tip of
the iceberg. English said
"Even with mandatory
reporting laws, people
often don't want to get
involved. And, of course,
it s the child who suffers."
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