Hawaii: Drug use, job loss spur child abuse

Juvenile Justice Digest, Dec 17, 2001

The State Human Services Department said child abuse cases have jumped 50 percent to a record high in recent months, most of which can be attributed to drug abuse or unemployment or both.

Cases in Oahu, for example, have jumped from about 130 per month last summer to 200 per month since the economy plunged after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

Human Services Director Susan Chandler said the department is receiving the largest volume of complaints and investigations per month in the program's history.

About 90 percent of the cases involve drugs, with crystal methamphetamine the drug of choice, officials said.