In a dimly lit room, a boy sits alone on his bed. His arms covered in fresh bruises, he sits in silence as memories from ten minutes ago mingle and fuse with those from the previous years. All the while, one question goes through his head: “Why?”. Did he not score high enough on his spelling test? Did he forget to vacuum the carpet by the front door? Was he popping his gum too loud? While he contemplated this, a woman stood alone in her living room. A flood of emotions washed over her - regret, frustration, guilt, stress- all these things fill her consciousness as she buries her face in her hands, as if all the self hatred she felt would help her atone for the actions she repeats, yet never learns from. ‘This has to stop’. The words ring in her head. ‘This has to stop’.

All across America, child abuse has been a growing problem. In Spokane alone we have seen an increase in the number of reported cases to Child Protective Services (CPS) over the past few years. To battle child abuse in our local community, we need to band together to support the Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery in their efforts to stop child abuse before it happens.

In the United States, child abuse rates/reports have been rising over the years. According to the National Children’s Alliance, in 2013 there was an estimated 679,000 children abused or neglected in some way in the United States, and in 2014 there were 60,897 cases of physical abuse reported, while that same year there was 205,438 cases of sexual abuse reported. With these rising numbers we should focus our attention preventing the abuse, so there will be less cases to report, and less endangered children.

For many of the parents involved in these unfortunate circumstances, the cause of abuse is often a mix of stress and bad coping skills, along with the factor that parents don’t have a place or support group to take  their children while they calm down. According to the article “How CPS and the Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery fight child abuse at its root” from the Inlander, child abuse is closely linked to parents fighting multiple stressors all at once. Many injuries young children suffer from are often linked to the actions of stressed parents. Many people will shake an object or someone by the shoulders to let out their frustration. If they are holding their young child this can lead to shaken baby syndrome-- when an infant is shook by someone and their small head (which has little support) is tossed around and they get brain injuries--which often results in the death of the infant.

While some may argue that CPS would be more effective, as they can remove the child from the home, recent evidence proves that removing the child may be harmful to that child’s development. According to the Committee of Early Childhood, Adoption, and Dependent Care, “[children] in foster care have disproportionately high rates of physical, developmental, and mental health problems”, as opposed to children that are not placed into a foster home. Along with that, the Committee of Early Childhood, Adoption and Dependent Care also claims that “Children who have experienced abuse or neglect have a heightened need for permanency, security, and emotional constancy” which isn’t really possible when they are moving from home to home in the foster system. While it is also harmful to keep a child in an abusive home, it won’t just be fixed by putting the child into foster care. Rather than trying to remove the child from the home, we should work with the parents to make the home safer for the child, or try to find a safer and more stable option aside from foster care, which will help to benefit both the child, their parent(s), and the relationship between them.

Some may think Vanessa Behan is just a daycare, but they are actually non-profit agency, and do much more than just watch your kid for a few hours. On their website they offer assistance with crisis counseling, and at their facilities they provide diapers and formula to mothers in need and allow children to stay in their care for up to three days. When in their care children are looked after by volunteers or employees 24/7, and are kept comfortable and content in a playroom filled with toys. They are fed, allowed to take naps, and have access to a playground outside. Jessica Taylor, a mother of two, describes the volunteers at the crisis nursery as being “someone who loves my children unconditionally, and it is somewhere my little children see as a friend’s home.”

To help lessen the spread of child abuse, we should donate or volunteer to help the Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery. The Vanessa Behan organization has already served thousands of children over the years, with the count over 75,000. Many adults now grew up in situations that at times put them in less than ideal situations. Wouldn’t it have been nice to have a service like this available,when they were younger, to prevent those situations? You can’t turn back time, but you can make it so children today never have to live through them.

If we really want to bring a stop to the rising number of child abuse cases in Spokane, than we need to stop the abuse before it can happen; we need to help the Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery so they can help the struggling families in our community, and bring a wider awareness to the community that child abuse can be prevented. The Vanessa Behan agency could help more than just the Spokane community; some parents using this service come from Coeur d’Alene and other nearby communities, and the service that Vanessa Behan provides locally can be used to inspire other communities to focus their efforts on prevention, and on helping members of their community.