National Child Abuse Prevention Month in April recognizes the importance of families and communities working together to prevent child abuse and neglect. Services developed by this collaboration can help protect children and strengthen families.
Tim Rolfe, family advocacy program manager at Army Community Service, has worked in the family violence prevention field for 26 years. He shared the importance of raising child abuse awareness on Redstone. Rolfe
Redstone Arsenal family advocacy program manager VIEW ORIGINAL
said he was once a victim of child abuse.
“Growing up in a single-parent home and watching my mother escape an abusive relationship from my father, and then struggling to make ends meet year after year for me and my three siblings had an enormous impact on me while growing up,” he said. “In this line of work, we often see children adopt the behaviors that were role-modeled for them, or they decide to use it as fuel to make a difference when they enter adulthood. I suppose my childhood experiences served as the initial fuel to help other families in need.”
Rolfe has been in the field of social work since he was an undergraduate social work student at Jacksonville State University in 1996. He began working at a group home for children while studying at JSU and fell in love with the idea of helping children and families.
“In my opinion, there is no greater cause in life than helping a family in need as there are so many families struggling to provide a nurturing home environment that every child deserves,” he said. “After serving in the Army from 1992-1995, I also developed a special place in my heart for military families. As a young married Soldier, I quickly noticed the challenges within the military lifestyle, which can often be even greater than that of our civilian counterparts given the unique mission of our service members, and their families. Serving our nation’s military in the capacity of a social worker seemed to be the best of both worlds for me professionally. I feel my personal experiences serve as critical intrinsic motivators that are needed to do this job well daily and I am extremely passionate when it comes to serving our nation’s finest.”
Rolfe said it’s important to focus on child abuse awareness year-round and he has never seen a “typical” case of child abuse. Every situation that the family advocacy program encounters has its own set of circumstances that are unique to individual families. Reports range from severe and egregious to situations that may be considered minor oversights on behalf of the parent or caregiver that have the potential of resulting in some form of harm to the child. It’s important the FAP response recognizes this dynamic so that appropriate levels of interventions are provided to the family for best possible outcomes.
According to Rolfe, when a community is united in the stand against child abuse and is more aware of how to recognize and respond when situations arise, children are better protected and outcomes for families improve. A quick response and implementation of effective interventions at the first indication of risk increases a child’s ability to thrive in a safer home environment.
Rolfe said the Army’s reporting systems allow family advocacy professionals to track the number of child abuse and neglect cases that take place annually. Of the more than 42,000 reported incidents of child abuse involving service members from 2015-19, 74% involved physical abuse, 22% were defined as emotional abuse, 4% were sexual abuse, and less than 1% were neglect, according to the GAO Report to Congressional Committee, May 2021. In 2022, the Army’s annual Fatality Review Report determined that 32 children died due to issues of abuse or neglect in the home. The most common child fatality was due to unsafe sleeping or co-sleeping habits of the parent or caregiver.
Rolfe said the family advocacy program is implementing new initiatives to support victims of child abuse on Redstone. A new initiative to better support victims of child abuse includes FAP’s clinical response through the Incident Determination Committee, formerly known as the Case Review Committee, which meets monthly and is chaired by the Garrison commander. The IDC at Redstone Arsenal was established in August 2022. The committee is a multi-disciplinary team of professionals that reviews child abuse cases and makes determinations of meeting or not meeting criteria established within the Decision Tree Algorithm, which is an evidence-based best practice for the Army. This process provides recommendations to unit commanders for treatment and intervention services to assist military families in crisis. Also, the incident determination committee is proving to be a more effective approach as it incorporates more command involvement with the Garrison commander playing a key role in facilitating the meetings and having a vote at the table. Unit commanders also have a vote during the IDC meetings, which was not the case with the prior case review committee process.
Rolfe emphasized that education and awareness are important to prevent all forms of child maltreatment especially as it relates to new parents. The family advocacy program provides parent education and training on a regular basis through interactive virtual workshops where curriculum can be easily accessed and viewed within the privacy of the parent’s home or office. The FAP is a flexible program that stands ready to meet the needs identified by the Redstone community. If there is a particular topic of interest, they encourage parents to reach out to the program and make a request. There are also clinical services and support that can be accessed after the fact. An assessment and proper referrals to installation and community resources are provided as needed.
Rolfe described some warning signs of child abuse and neglect.
“The obvious signs of abuse and neglect where the child is clearly being mistreated in some way with severe bruising, broken bones, burn marks, or other obvious physical signs is what most people envision when looking for evidence of child abuse. However, we know that in many cases children may be suffering great harm with no obvious physical signs,” he said. “Therefore, it is important to educate the community on other factors that could be signs of maltreatment to include behavioral red flags. These behaviors may include reverting back to former stages of development like bedwetting, selective mutism, being overly clingy to other adults in their life, or suddenly appearing withdrawn. Additional signs for school aged children may include a decline in grades for no apparent reason, delinquent behaviors such as running away from home, physical aggression toward teachers, classmates or pets, drug and alcohol use, destruction of property, and being overly promiscuous.
“It is not uncommon for children to be experiencing some form of maltreatment but will not report the abuse because they are fearful of what may happen as a result. In many cases the child loves the person that is abusing them and is conflicted about how to make the abuse stop. That is why it is crucial to stay engaged with children that might be at risk of being abused to ensure they feel comfortable enough in disclosing if needed. Mandatory reporters to include service members and helping professionals within the Redstone community could be the very lifeline a child needs to save them from further harm.”
Rolfe said early reporting to the family advocacy program and Department of Human Resources is the best way to respond to a child that is potentially being abused or neglected. Mandatory reporters such as social workers, medical professionals, counselors, Child and Youth Servicers staff, daycare workers, teachers, law enforcement officers, first responders, and service members are required to report suspected child abuse by law.
“We know that early reporting in most cases produces much better outcomes for children and families at risk. When providing community education, we remind everyone that they should never try to investigate the matter themselves,” Rolfe said. “If you are questioning the need to make a report, make it, and allow DHR to determine if a response is needed and what interventions would be appropriate. Most people are ambivalent about making child abuse reports because they are fearful of what that will mean for the child/family. It is important to note that DHR has multiple ways of supporting a family to ensure the safety of the child and preserve the family to the best of their ability through least restrictive means such as implementing in-home services. Some may decide not to report child abuse because they are concerned about the family retaliating against them. DHR will accept anonymous reports and they are bound by law to keep reporter information strictly confidential.”
Rolfe said knowledge is power. Early reporting when child abuse is suspected, helping spread the word of the Garrison commander’s zero tolerance policy, and inviting co-workers and friends to family advocacy program prevention and awareness events, training and workshops are important.
Community resources that assist families and victims of child abuse include Madison County DHR, National Children’s Advocacy Center, Crisis Services of North Alabama, Family Services Center, and Wellstone.
Rolfe said the family advocacy program has a goal during this year’s child abuse awareness campaign.
“The ultimate goal I hope to accomplish during Child Abuse Awareness Month is to unite the RSA community for a very noble cause of preventing child abuse, empower families with information and resources that may be struggling or at risk of child maltreatment, and to give every child within our community a voice that ensures an opportunity for each of them to grow up in a safe and stable home environment that will enable them to grow and thrive into happy well-adjusted adults,” he said.
For more information, call the family advocacy program manager at 256-876-5397.
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