Heightened awareness of child abuse has resulted this year from investigations in the Plum Borough School District, where three high school teachers were charged with having sexual relationships with female students, and the Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, where priests allegedly sexually assaulted children for a half-century as their superiors orchestrated a sweeping cover-up.
People who suspect child abuse in their communities are urged to report their concerns to ChildLine, a hotline operated by the state Department of Human Services. But what if nobody answers the phone or frustrated callers hang up after being put on hold for long periods?
That was the alarming scenario outlined Tuesday in a report by state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale.
Last year, amid chronic understaffing and a desire to minimize employee overtime, nearly 42,000 calls to the hotline — about 22 percent of the total volume — went unanswered.
Either the telephone system disconnected those calls because too many others were already on hold or the callers hung up because they got tired of waiting. As Mr. DePasquale rightly pointed out, “Any single one of those unanswered calls could have been a life-or-death situation — and even one neglected or abused child in the commonwealth is one too many.”
One caller waited about 51 minutes before speaking with a caseworker. Another gave up after a wait of about 53 minutes and ended the call without speaking to anyone. Mr. DePasquale also criticized ChildLine for failing to track, document and supervise calls that were answered.
True, expanded abuse reporting laws affected call volume. And some callers want to ask questions about laws or training, not report suspected wrongdoing. But regardless of the time of day or day of the week, every call to ChildLine should be answered with the same urgency as a call to 911.
Child-welfare advocates and the union representing ChildLine workers had raised concerns about hotline operations in the past. Gov. Tom Wolf’s spokesman, Jeff Sheridan, said the program was “an absolute mess” when the administration took office in January 2015. Officials said they have worked diligently to address the problems — hiring staff, adding technology and decreasing the percentage of unanswered calls — and will not stop until they are properly handling each call. If more money is needed to operate the hotline more effectively, as Mr. Sheridan indicated, it should be made available promptly.
An Allegheny County grand jury has faulted Plum school administrators for failing to contact ChildLine to report inappropriate teacher conduct. But such calls are useless unless they are answered, tracked and supervised. Instead of playing a leading role in the growing fight against child abuse, ChildLine has been part of the problem.
First Published: May 26, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
