Indiana child abuse rates 1.5 percent times the national average

INDIANAPOLIS – Two young brothers bludgeoned to death by their mother wielding a 10-pound weight. A 2-year-old slipping out a door with a broken lock and drowning in a pool. A disabled 8-year-old poisoned by a lethal overdose of her allergy medication.\nFifty-three children died from abuse and neglect during the state’s 2006 state fiscal year, just one fewer than the previous year, the Indiana Department of Child Services reported Thursday.\n“These are not statistics to be glanced over lightly,” advocate Bill Stanczykiewicz, president and CEO of the Indiana Youth Institute, said. “These are young children dying from abuse and neglect. This should sicken all of us to take action on their behalf.”\nIndiana averages 3.4 abuse or neglect deaths per 100,000 children, or about 1 1/2 times the national average of just under two deaths per 100,000, he said.\nThe latest report covered the 12-month period ending June 30, 2006. Abuse deaths rose to 30 from 24 during the previous state fiscal year, and neglect deaths fell to 23 from 30.\nEleven of the deaths in the latest reporting period occurred in households the caseworkers had prior contact with, compared with 20 deaths in state fiscal year 2005, the report said.