School counselors play vital role in reporting child abuse and neglect

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., (KRDO) - School counselors play a vital role as mandatory reporters, making up a significant portion of calls coming into the statewide Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline, 1-844-CO4KIDS.

According to data from the El Paso County Department of Human Services, total calls to the hotline year over year for 2019, 2020, and 2021 have been decreasing based on mandatory or non-mandatory reporters.

At Wilson Elementary School their school counselor plays a vital role in ensuring kids are being taken care of at home and at school. Their roles are being highlighted as part of National School Counseling Week, Feb. 7-11.

The El Paso County Department of Human Services says the number of reported calls to the child abuse and neglect hotline have been down since 2019, but in the past few months they've noticed most of their calls coming from mandatory reporters, school counselors fall under that category.

"School counselors are critical they see children on a daily basis and they are on the frontlines of conversations with children on what is happening at home," said April Jenkins with the El Paso County Human Services department.

Cassidy Bristol, school counselor for Wilson Elementary School has been at the frontlines of those conversations with kids and in just the last year has made a couple calls to the El Paso County Department of Human Services.

"I think it has been an intense and stressful time over the last couple of years for everyone not just students but also parents and sometimes they just need that extra help and our main goal is to ensure students are safe," added Bristol.

According to Safe Passage, a non-profit organization that helps kids under 18 with the healing process by acting as the single source of contact for medical, investigative, and legal services, though the number of calls don't match, El Paso County has the highest child abuse reporting rate in the state.

"It could be because we do have a lot of people that are trained as mandatory reporters and are coming forth and are making those reports rather than not, so we are not entirely sure but we just want to make sure that we respond in a way that is helpful to kids and families," said Emily Bowker with Safe Passage.

If you know of a situation regarding child abuse, you can make a call at 1-844-CO-4-kids.