New Child Abuse Hotline Launched In North Dakota

If a child is being abused at home, they may not be able to tell anyone. A child abuse victim may need help in their situation. This week, North Dakota Child Protective Services released a new program to speed up the report-to-investigation of child abuse process.

KX News reports that there is a new hotline for North Dakotans to report suspected child abuse. With the help of this new hotline, instead of child abuse reports taking a few days to process, reports will immediately come directly to Child Protection Services (CPS). The hotline number is toll-free and calls can be made from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM on weekdays. Get the full story from KX News here.

According to 2019 data from the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA), there wear just under 4,000 investigations into reports of child abuse and neglect in North Dakota in 2017. Of those investigations, there were actually 1,981 victims. The data from CWLA says 76.8% of those victims were neglected, 7.9% were physically abused, and 2.4% were sexually abused. Read more about at-risk children here.

What are signs of child abuse? The Mayo Clinic's website has a detailed list of signals that may indicate a child is being abused. Signs of child abuse include withdrawal, abuse of others, low self-esteem, and other harmful behaviors. Find out more about signs of child abuse here.

The New Child Protective Services program launched on Monday (January 4). If you suspect child abuse, call this number: 1-833-958-3500. For immediate help, call 911. And get more details about the new program from ND.gov.