Attitudes and Perceptions Regarding Child Abuse Community Survey

When child abuse is discovered, families and caregivers may wonder where to turn, how the legal process works, and how their family will be supported. Efforts are now underway by the Olympic Peninsula YMCA and community partners to develop the Jefferson County Children's Advocacy Center (CAC). At the CAC, children from Jefferson County who experience abuse, and their non-offending family members, can come for safety, justice, and healing.

This survey will help provide us important information about our community’s perception and experiences with child abuse. All your answers will remain anonymous.

This survey may take you 5 - 10 minutes to complete.

Content Warning:
This survey will ask you questions about child abuse, a potentially disturbing subject. If you would like to speak to someone about any feelings that come up while taking this survey, you can call the Dove House Crisis Line at 360-385-5291 or the Salish Regional Crisis Line at 1-888-910-0416. Both are available 24 hours a day.

Definition of child abuse and neglect:
Washington State law defines abuse and neglect as injury, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, negligent treatment or maltreatment of a child under circumstances which indicate that the child’s health, welfare, and/or safety is harmed.



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* 1. What is your age? 

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* 2. If you live or work in Jefferson County, please enter that zip code here.

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* 3. What is your ethnicity? (Please select all that apply.)

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* 4. What is your total household income?

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* 5. Are you a mandatory reporter? (For the definition of Mandatory Reporter, copy/paste this link: https://bit.ly/3RdA03J)

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* 6. Have you ever known a child who you believed was abused or neglected?

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* 7. If you answered "No" to question #6, please skip to question #9.

If you answered yes to the previous question, did you (please check all that apply):

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* 8. If you reported the child abuse, how much time was it from when you became aware of the suspected child abuse and the time of your contacted someone?

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* 9. Rate the level of concern you would have in reporting a child abuse or neglect case to the authorities (Child Protective Services (CPS), the police or sheriff): No concern, A little concern, A lot of concern.

  No concern A little concern A lot of concern
Belief that CPS, police or sheriff would not believe me.
Fear that reporting the abuse might make things worse for the child.
Fear that I might be wrong about how serious the abuse is.
Feeling uncomfortable about invading someone's privacy
Not sure about how to report child abuse.
Not sure about what is considered child abuse.
Fear that my report would not be confidential.
Fear that a parent/caregiver would go to jail.

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* 10. Rate how easy or hard it would be for you to report a case of child abuse in the following situations, from easiest (1) to hardest (5), or you can mark "I don't know."

  1 2 3 4 5 I don't know
It would be easy or difficult for me to report any case of child abuse.
It would be easy or difficult for me to report any case of child neglect.
I would be easy or difficult for me to report any case of emotional abuse.
Not knowing the real story would make it easy or difficult for me to report a case of child abuse.
Please answer True, False or I Don't Know to questions #11 - #20:

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* 11. An injury must require medical attention to be defined as child abuse.

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* 12. Professionals such as teachers or social workers who work with children and suspect a child they know may be abused or neglected are required by law to report it to authorities.

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* 13. The general public cannot report a case of child abuse directly to Child Protective Services (CPS) but must make a report to another professional first such as a teacher or social worker.

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* 14. If you report child abuse to Child Protective Services, the police, or sheriff, you must give your name.

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* 15. People who report possible child abuse can be sued for making a false statement that is damaging to a person's reputation (libel) if they are wrong about their suspicions.

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* 16. If abuse is reported to the authorities, the law requires that the child be taken out of the home immediately.

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* 17. Child abuse laws apply only to children under 16 years of age. 

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* 18. The person accused of child abuse has the right to know who reported the suspected abuse.

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* 19. Depending on the level of potential danger to the child, Child Protective Services will investigate the reported abuse/neglect within 24 – 72 hours.

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* 20. Being denied proper care and attention can be a sign of child neglect and is subject to investigation.

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* 21. I experienced abuse or neglect as a child.

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* 22. Check the top three services you think could help to really reduce child abuse and neglect.

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* 23. Please notate Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree or Strongly Disagree to the following statements.

  Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree
If everyone who struggled with drug use had proper support, we would significantly reduce child abuse.
If everyone who struggled with poverty had proper support, we would significantly reduce child abuse.
If everyone one who struggled with homelessness had proper support, we would significantly reduce child abuse.
If all people received the emotional support they needed, we would significantly reduce child abuse. 
A long term effort to raise awareness about child abuse and neglect in our community would be helpful in preventing it.

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* 24. How important is it for us to help our community with these challenges? Click up/down arrows to rate from most important (1) to least important (6)

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* 25. The Jefferson County CAC is currently funded by federal grants and donations. The CAC serves all children of Jefferson County. Would you support using existing Jefferson County and/or Port Townsend city funding to help with the development of the Jefferson County CAC?

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* 26. Would you support the development of a child-friendly process where the child tells their story of abuse once to a trained interviewer who knows how to work with children and can ask the right questions in a way that does not re-traumatize the child?

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* 27. Would you be in favor of a team approach where all professionals handling a child abuse case work together for safety, healing and justice for the child?

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* 28. Would you support providing a full range of helpful services to the non-offending parent/guardian(s) of children who have experienced abuse?

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* 29. What would be the best way for you to receive updates about the Jefferson County CAC?

Thank you for taking the time to help keep the children of Jefferson County safe.

For more information about the Jefferson County Children's Advocacy Center, please copy/paste this link into your browser: https://www.olympicpeninsulaymca.org/child-advocacy.

If you would like to speak to someone about any feelings that may have come up for you during this survey, or to learn more about any resources available to you, please call the Dove House Advocacy Services Crisis Line at 360-385-5291 or the Salish Regional Crisis Line at 1-888-910-0416. Both are available 24 hours a day.

The Jefferson County CAC acknowledges the use of survey content from the Arizona State University School of Social Work. LeCroy, C.W., Milligan-LeCroy, S. (2020). "Public perceptions of child maltreatment: A national convenience sample." Children and Youth Services Review, Volume 119 (December 2020), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105677.

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