"There is absolutely no doubt that since the economy started getting worse, the number of reports to child abuse hotlines has gone up and the severity injuries has increased as has the number of kids who end up in the hospital due to child abuse," Lambert said. Earlier identification of at-risk families may help stem some of the violence, he said.
The onus is on everyone in society to help buck this disturbing trend, Amaranth said. "Speak up in a very loud and clear voice because a lot of these children don't have the voice to speak for themselves," she said. "If you feel that a child is being harmed in some way, you have to call it in." Every state has a child abuse hotline.
http://www.everydayhealth.com/kids-health/0206/thousands-of-us-kids-hospitalized-for-abuse.aspx?xid=aol_eh-news_1_20120206_&aolcat=HLT&icid=maing-grid7|main5|dl11|sec3_lnk1%26pLid%3D133127
