The McHenry County Board surprised county health officials Tuesday by rejecting a $102,800 state grant for a child-abuse prevention program.
The vote was actually 14-8 to accept the grant, but because it would have been an addition to the budget, 16 votes in favor were needed.
The number of child-abuse reports in the county has grown from 7.2 for every 1,000 children in 1990 to 10.7 cases per 1,000 children in 1998, an increase of 48 percent.
County Board opponents support child-abuse prevention but oppose the idea of government doing the work. They noted that more than one dozen social service agencies that deal with anger, violence, substance abuse and other youth and family problems are in operation.
“This is a prime example of government intruding on the rights and privacy of individuals,” said County Board member Donald Brewer, who led the opposition. Brewer said he feared that parents would be labeled as potential child abusers, “and once people are labeled, they’re labeled for life.”
County Board member Ersel Schuster agreed, saying she feared that people who are evaluated for the program could not count on absolute privacy of medical and financial records. She said evaluators would look for risk factors, including single, separated or divorced parents; unemployed; inadequate income; lack of immediate family in the area; and previously giving up a baby for adoption.
“There probably isn’t a person in this room who doesn’t fall into one of those categories,” she said.
The health department had planned to team up with staff at local hospitals, who would interview parents of newborns to evaluate whether they have risk factors that could indicate future child abuse.
Those parents would be offered a chance to take part in the program, which would help them manage anger and stress and understand the stages of child development. The decision to participate would be voluntary.