SAGINAW -- The numbers are frightening; in a recent study by the Michigan League for Human Services, the amount of child abuse cases in Michigan have jumped through the roof.
”My viewpoint is one case is too many, I always think there's too many cases, part of it is the financial situations where families are struggling so hard and it also happens in some cases happen when situations get a little too far,” said Ellen Hatcher with he CAN Council Organization.
Educators believe an all around poor economy has an impact on abuse cases, making a bad situation worse.
The Saginaw County School District, says all teachers and staff keep a trained eye on their students.
"One of the things as a school district that we do, is that we have a support system for our students and their families, so if there is something going on, and students feel uncomfortable in the home, they have someone in the school district that they can talk to," said Spokesperson Safiya Mosley.
The number of abuse and neglect cases in Saginaw County has jumped 60% over an 8 year period.
"The numbers that we talk about, the increase is like 7,000 cases, but we’ve investigated actually around 1,000 that were confirmed," said Hatcher.
Hatcher says in her 10 years of working with kids, she believes more people are taking a proactive approach at protecting the well being of our youth.
"In Saginaw we are here to protect children, and when we see these children that we are concerned about, we call, we don't wait till the tragedies happen,” said Hatcher.
