Children First for Oregon

Child abuse takes many different forms

By Chris Honore
For the Ashland Daily Tidings
December 04, 2009

What would cause a child to choose the mean streets of a city or a town rather than living at home? And what happens to those children who cannot leave, who are too young to make such a harrowing decision and so must remain, all the while suffering chronic and unremitting abuse?

But first, how is child abuse defined?

According to the Center for Disease Control there are four categories of child abuse: neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse and psychological abuse.

In Jackson County, according to Children First for Oregon, in 2007, 440 children suffered abuse and neglect and 320 children suffered from threat of harm. Of those 760 children, Doug Mares, District 8 manager of the Department of Human Services, reports that 404 were younger than six years of age; 268 were six to 12; and 88 were 13 and older.