News Photo by Julie Riddle Children’s feet appear at the Boys and Girls Club of Alpena on Thursday.

ALPENA — Fewer Northeast Michigan families received a visit from an investigative agency in 2020 than in the previous year and fewer still received a visit in 2021, even as COVID-19 restrictions eased, a recent report shows.

In 2020, the number of Northeast Michigan children living in homes investigated by Children’s Protective Services decreased by more than 500 over 2019 figures, according to the recently released 2021 Kids Count Data Book, a compilation of data on children’s well-being. The Michigan League for Public Policy compiles data for Michigan.

In 2021, CPS investigated even fewer children’s homes.

A rise or fall in the number of reports of child abuse or neglect might not reflect an increase or decrease of actual abuse, said Bob Wheaton, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services spokesman. Wheaton attributed the 2020 and 2021 decrease to ongoing concerns about the pandemic that meant people weren’t around others as often and therefore might not spot and report signs of abuse.

But the 2021 decline in CPS investigations surprised Brad Somers, executive director for the Boys and Girls Club of Alpena, who expected reports of abuse to rise when children returned to classrooms more regularly after months of remote learning because of the pandemic.

Still, the club’s employees, all mandated reporters, have had to report fewer cases of suspected child abuse or neglect recently than in past years, said Somers.

Somers said poverty can contribute to child abuse, and he believes federal stimulus checks sent out to help people during the pandemic may have helped alleviate some of the stresses of poverty, perhaps helping to alleviate abuse.

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‘SO SOMETHING BAD DOES NOT HAPPEN’

The continued low number last year could also reflect communities more aware of the need to look out for their neighbors, Somers said.

Whatever the reason, residents can help keep kids safe by forming connections with the people around them, said Catherine Knoch, director of operations at the Boys and Girls Club.

“Be a support system for your friends and family,” Knoch said. “Be a support system for a person you don’t know. Because that can be a preventative measure so something bad does not happen.”

If residents and mandated reporters share concerns about possible abuse earlier and more often, even if those concerns turn out to be unfounded, “that gives us an opportunity to provide services to families to keep kids safe and keep families together,” Wheaton, the DHHS spokesman, said in an email to The News.

RISE AND FALL IN NUMBERS

In the decade before the pandemic, CPS investigations increased dramatically in Northeast Michigan and the state, reaching nearly 2,000 Alpena-area investigations in 2019.

A centralized hotline and improved mandated reporting training contributed to a steady statewide increase in reports of suspected abuse and neglect since 2010, Wheaton said.

The sharp decline in investigations in 2020, however, brought the total lower than any year since 2013, according to the Kids Count data.

In Alpena and Montmorency counties, CPS investigations decreased by about a quarter and a third, respectively, in 2020, then hovered at the same number the following year.

In Alcona County, CPS investigated 100 fewer families in 2021 than in 2020.

Presque Isle County investigations decreased by a third in 2020 and by another quarter in 2021.

In the Alpena area, DHHS officials have worked with community partners to support families and checked on at-risk families during the pandemic to help prevent a crisis, Wheaton said.

SPREADING KINDNESS

Prevention programs like the Northeast Michigan Community Service Agency School Success Partnership Program, the Boys and Girls Club, and summer programs by the Salvation Army help strengthen families to prevent abuse, Wheaton said.

The Boys and Girls Club intentionally connects families with food, clothing, and other resources that can help reduce the stresses that can lead to abuse, Knoch said.

With all its downsides, the pandemic did highlight the importance of taking care of people with financial or other hardships and stepped up the delivery of resources to people in need, Knoch said.

That intentionality of help, and the community’s increased awareness of family situations around them, may have been enough to combat the danger of at-risk kids kept home in stressful situations, she said.

Anyone can help a child simply by “spreading kindness,” Knoch said. “Get a support system in place before that problem arises.”

Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693 or jriddle@thealpenanews.com. Follow her on Twitter @jriddleX.

Check out the document below.

Kids Count 2022 by Julie Riddle on Scribd