Child abuse down in Carson, leveled out in other counties.

Carson City, Douglas, Storey and Lyon counties experienced little change between 1998 and 1999 in reported child abuse cases.

In the four counties served by the Carson City office of the Nevada Division of Child Family Services, 1,173 cases of child abuse or neglect were reported to the agency. That is slightly up from the 1998 number of 1,168. The number of children involved is not tabulated in the report.

The total number of incident reports includes substantiated and unsubstantiated claims. Caseworkers say an unsubstantiated case simply means that the evidence did not fit the criteria for an investigation by the agency.

Broken down by county, Carson City fared better than its three counterparts. Claims of abuse or neglect were down 107 from 638 reports to 531 reports. The numbers from 1999 are a final estimate but cannot be confirmed until unresolved cases can be processed by mediators and judges.

Douglas County cases jumped from 197 to 265; Lyon County rose from 312 to 350 cases, while Storey County rose from 21 to 27 cases.

Child and Family Services workers who service the four-county jurisdiction say they hope to improve the numbers by taking a new approach to the problem of dysfunctional parenting.

"The focus used to be, 'Remove the children from their homes and then figure out what the problem was,'" said Social Welfare Manager Kendell Wilson. "Now we are more family centered then we used to be. We try to keep the families together while we work out the problems."

The agency will do whatever it can to keep families together by having a minimum standard they must meet. Supervisor Jan Kandt said that means if the children are fed, clothed and treated well enough, the minimum standard is being met.

"If we get a call that a child is not getting the proper nutrition, and we go there and the child is getting macaroni and cheese, we don't want to disrupt that family," she said.

The greatest obstacle for families under the supervision of the agency is a lack of awareness about proper parenting.

"We don't always know what we're getting into," Wilson said. "A lot of these people think they have the right to do whatever they want with their children."

Social Worker Supervisor Arnie Sierra said many parents believe their excesses in discipline are a necessary part of punishment.

"We've had the comment, 'What's wrong with using the belt? My father used a belt and I turned out all right,'" he said. "That's the type of problem."

Wilson said the agency believes it is of greater benefit to the children if the parents' actions and parenting philosophies are reformed. Foremost, the motivation is to keep the children with the parents during critical phases of development. The last resort is to take the children out of the home and place them with foster parents.

Over the last few years, Child and Family Services has shifted its program away from the agency's buildings and into the homes. Now workers take parents aside in the Intensive Family Services program, attempting to overcome problems that may be preventing them from responsibly parenting.

"We'll go into a family's home as many times in a week as it takes to be intensively involved," Wilson said. "That can include teaching cooking and cleaning."

In the cases where the child has to be removed from the parents custody, caseworkers are also required by a Nevada Legislature-mandated "permanence plan."

Wilson said permanent or semipermanent homes now have to be found within 12 months so children aren't bounced around between shelters and foster parents. That instability can have psychologically damaging effects, they said.

"We are seeing more and more young children disturbed at the age of 2 or 3," said Kandt. "We're even getting calls of children that are acting out sexually."

The changes in behavior are the result of influences like too much television and bad role models, Wilson said. The agency's motivation is to break cycles that condition children to act out and further frustrate parents.

Nine workers are stationed in Carson City, two in Silver Springs, two in Yerington and two in Gardnerville. Kandt said the agency is currently understaffed and is having trouble recruiting new social workers, especially in the rural areas.