Answer: "Child abuse" can be defined as causing or permitting any harmful or offensive contact on a child's body; and, any communication or transaction of any kind which humiliates, shames, or frightens the child. Some child development experts go a bit further, and define child abuse as any act or omission, which fails to nurture or in the upbringing of the children.

Answer: Child abuse happens often. It is estimated that as many as a million cases of abuse and neglect happen each year. Its effects are severe:

Emotional or Physical Handicaps (sometimes lifelong):

• An abused child may never be able to love and trust other people; may always have a poor self-image.
• Injuries inflicted in childhood may result in permanent crippling, deformity.

"Acting Out" Behavior:

• Often, abused children become teenagers/adults who act in criminal and other antisocial violent behavior.

Even Death:

• Parents who habitually abuse their children may very well end up killing them. Hundreds of such cases happen every year in the United States.
• We know that child abuse is a symptom that can be treated successfully, eased, prevented or the cause cured. But first, more people have to understand and care.

Answer: If the Juvenile Division decides that it is necessary to remove a child from the home, several possibilities exist:

• the child may be placed with the other parent, if they are separated or divorced
• the child may be placed with relatives, or in a foster or group home

Where the child goes depends on the needs of the child. The court will order that the parents and the child protection agency work together to reunite the family as quickly as possible. Court hearings are held at least every six months if a child is removed from the home to make sure that efforts are being made to bring the child safely back home. The hearings may be held more often if needed.

Answer: Children enter foster care to several reasons:

• 18.8% Physical Abuse
• 7.9% Emotional abuse
• 6.2% Sexual Abuse
• 3.2% Caretaker Inability

Answer: Nationwide, more than 500,000 children live in foster care. In California, which has the largest foster care population than any other state, the number of foster youth has tripled in the last 20 years.

Answer: Approximately 68.2% of the foster children are between the ages of 5 and 17 years. The ethnicities are as follows:

• 50.9 % Hispanic
• 31.7% African American
• 13.4% White
• 2.5% Asian/Pacific Islander
• 0.6% Filipino
• 0.5% American Indian/Alaska
• 0.4% Other

Answer: YES! Parents are expected to visit regularly, except in unusual circumstances. The parent/child relationship must be maintained if at all possible. It is very hard for children to be separated from their parents, even when the parents have harmed the child. No one can easily replace a child's parents.

Answer: The following happen to children who emancipate from the system:

• 65% emancipate without a place to live
• Less than 3% go to college
• 51% are unemployed
• Emancipated females are 4 times more likely to receive public assistance than general population
• In any given year, foster children compromise less than 0.3% of the state's population, and yet 40% of persons living in homeless shelters are former foster children. A similarly disproportionate percentage of the nation's prison population is comprised of former foster youth.

Answer: For your own sake...and for the family's sake. Child abuse is a tragedy that affects us all:

• A Social Burden: Permanent mental or physical damage caused by child abuse can rob a person of the ability to be an independent, productive citizen.
• A Legal Burden: Crime, delinquency, drug and alcohol addiction, etc., often result when a person has been mistreated as a child.
• The Abused Child and Family Can't Get Help Themselves: Abuse is a vicious cycle usually passed on from generation to generation.
• They Want To Be Helped and Can Be: The great majority of these troubled parents can learn how to be good mothers and fathers, to enjoy their children.
• To Break The Abuse Cycle, The Community....You....Must Become Aware of How Serious The Problem Really Is....And Do Something About It.

Answer: There are numerous ways the community can support youth in foster care. Below are a few options:

• Become a Mentor with CUN's Mentoring Partnership for Los Angeles Youth (mPLAY). By giving some of your time as a mentor, you can inspire a youth to reach their full potential.
• Adopt a child. If there is room in your heart and home to create a permanent home for a child from one of our partner agencies.
• Make a financial donation to CUN to help sustain our mission. Your contribution will help us provide these children with permanent mentors.