Lubbock ranks #2 in child abuse rate

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) -For a consecutive year, the Lubbock area has had the second-highest rate of child abuse in Texas, behind only the Abilene area.

Lubbock county commissioners proclaimed April as “Child Abuse Prevention” month at the meeting. In the previous decade in Lubbock county, 11,147 children were labeled as abused; 22 died - four of these last year alone.

On average, three children a day are victims of abuse or neglect in Lubbock county. Most children are younger than five.

“There’s not another issue in Lubbock that I’m aware of that many children on an ongoing basis and isn’t on the news every night like this is, so I think this is an issue we have to bring out the shadows - we have to talk about it, we have to admit that it occurs, and that’s the way you solve it,” said Carla Olson, Chairman of the Advocacy Committee for South Plains Coalition for Child Abuse Prevention.

Throughout April, the Coalition for Child Abuse Prevention asks everyone to wear blue often to discuss the topic openly. It is intended to resemble the color of bruises.