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Question: How will the current economic crisis impact Children's Services?
Answer: Our leadership team has been engaged in an ongoing process of making some very difficult decisions regarding restructuring and reallocating our resources. Our leadership team is committed to responding to allegations of abuse and neglect, or to assessing the safety and risk to any given child within the community. We're committed to doing whatever is necessary to fulfill our obligation to keep kids in Hamilton County safe.

Question: If I call 241-KIDS, does that automatically mean that a case is opened?
Answer: When you call us, it doesn't necessarily mean we will open a case. It may be that our screeners can direct you to a particular resource that might fulfill the current need that you have without any further Children's Services involvement. However, if those circumstances deteriorate, we're here to provide the help and support that your family might need in the least intrusive way possible.

Question: Do you offer counseling or any services to parents that have messed up?
Answer: Our 241-KIDS operators are able to provide information regarding community resources, depending upon the needs of the particular caller or family. If more intensive assistance is required, our agency contracts with a number of different mental health and substance abuse providers--among other supportive services to connect families with the help that they need.

Question: When should I call 421-KIDS?
Answer: Any time that you suspect that a child might be subjected to an abusive or neglectful incident or situation. We often hear, "I wasn't sure if I should call," or "I didn't want to get anybody in trouble." But, the bottom line is the safety of the child. And I would recommend if you have any doubts or thoughts about whether you should call, you should pick up the phone and call us and let us determine if we need to investigate the situation.

Question: If I report something, will the person find out that I reported it?
Answer: Absolutely not. We are required by law to maintain confidentiality. We never reveal the source of the call, or the caller.

Question: It seems like it's a good idea to never leave a small child in a car alone?
Answer: A lot of times we get calls about kids left alone in cars that we investigate and one of the things we ask is why did the caregiver make the decision to leave the kids by themselves. The response we often here is: "I didn't mean to leave them alone for that long, or I only thought I would be gone for a few minutes." Then, a few minutes turns into half an hour. The police get called, and then we get involved.

10:26:17 AM [Visitor] If a child under the age of 8 is left in a car alone for hours, spring, summer, fall or winter, with windows rolled up...at what point is this concidered child abuse or neglect?
Answer (Scott Boone): We would obviously want to know more details regarding the circumstances of this particular scenario that you are describing. However, based upon the information that you have provided, it would be likely that the parent or caregiver of this child would be subject to possible criminal charges and we may attempt to make arrangements to have the child reside with an alternative caregiver until we were able to gather enough information to determine that the child was safe. By the way, Scott Boone is providing the answers to all of these questions.

Question: Why would a mother leave a child with some guy she hardly even knows?
Answer: It happens a lot. That's where we get a lot of our Shaken Baby cases. They are leaving their child with a man who is not equipped to deal with an infant. The guy gets frustrated--and the child gets hurt as a result. Unfortunately, part of that has to do with a lack of support that surrounds the mother in most cases. She doesn't have anybody, hooks up with a guy, and says: "Would you watch over my child while I run to the store?" Comes back, and her baby has been abused.

Question: You see some horrific cases in the media. For example, someone is sleeping with a baby and rolls over -- and causes an infant death. What do you say in situations like this?
Answer: We need to continue educating the community. One of the more tragic things that we see are infant deaths that are preventable, which are co-bedding deaths. We also are seeing an increase of kids that are getting hurt at the hands of boyfriends or males that mothers have only been involved with for a short time and/or know little about.

Question: How about spanking a child? When does that cross the line from punishment to abuse?
Answer: Our guide in determining abuse is based on the Ohio Administrative Code (5101:2-1-01:). In part, the code states: "Exhibits evidence of any physical or mental injury or death, inflicted other than by accidental means, or an injury or death which is at variance with the history given of it." That's just a portion of the definition. You can read the section mentioned above for a complete understanding.

Question: What is the standard for allowing a child to be home alone? What's appropriate? What might be neglect?
Answer: There are a number of different factors -- age of child, maturity level, duration that the child has been home alone. Some kids are home for a couple hours at a time, but there is a neighbor next door that checks in. A child is able to get in contact with mom or dad -- and we consider all of those things in terms of how the child is prepared to manage by themselves for a period of time before we would make a determination of neglect.

Question: What happens when you determine that a child has been abused? Do you immediately remove her or him from the home?
Answer: Not necessarily. It depends on the circumstances involved with the family. Our primary objective is to keep kids safe within their own families. Placement outside of the home is a last resort. However, if we determine that there are no other options available within the family structure, we will do what is necessary to petition the court for removal.

Question: So people are becoming more aware of the problem?
Answer: Yes. 241-KIDS has been around for 30 years -- and people say they had no idea they could call. Some people just weren't aware of how they could report abuse. A lot of times, unfortunately, they don't call anybody. Or, if we're fortunate, they call they local law enforcement agency, and they make a referral to us. A lot of people don't know that we are here to help.

Question: Why the increase?
Answer: I think you can attribute it to a number of factors. One thing that I would identify would be that we do a tremendous amount of education in the community--informing folks of our role and our availability. That is one of the reasons.

Question: That seems awfully high. Are you seeing more each year?
Answer: Yes. Over the last three years, we have experienced a 15 percent increase in our calls each year.

Question: How many calls to you get?
Answer: Last year, we got 66,110. Of those, 6,436 were determined to be actual reports of child abuse or neglect.

Question: What are some of the contributing reasons? Why do people abuse children?
Answer: It can be a combination of any number of different factors -- mental health, substance abuse, lack of education, socio-economic factors, cultural differences.

Question: How does somebody go about reporting Child Abuse in Hamilton County?
Answer: Call our 24-hour hotline, 241-KIDS. We have expert social workers that answer the phone at any time of the day or night to determine if a family is in fact in need and requires a referral to our Investigations Unit.

Question: What are some of the more common examples of child abuse? What do you see most often.
Answer: We see it all. We get referrals from community, law enforcement, medical professionals, schools, friends, families regarding a variety of alleged injuries. It ranges from minor cuts and bruises to broken bones and skull fractures. We also get a lot of sexual abuse referrals.

9:46:09 AM [Darryl] Will this topic today...regarding neglect, be for adults also and not just for children?
9:47:19 AM [Scott Boone] Yes. This is regarding child abuse. However, we could do one on elder abuse in the future. We operate the 421-LIFE elder abuse reporting line, too.

* The chat about Child Abuse and Neglect begins at 10 a.m., today. Feel free to submit questions now.

* If you run into technical problems, please e-mail us at boehmm@jfs.hamilton-co.org.

* See the schedule above for upcoming chats, including our first one about Child Care!