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For North Carolina's Child Welfare Workers
From the NC Division of Social Services and the Family and Children's Resource Program
Volume 7, Number 2 • May 2002
Children's Services Practice Notes is a
newsletter for North Carolina's child wel¬
fare workers produced four times a year
by the North Carolina Division of Social
Services and the N.C. Family and Children's
Resource Program, part of the Jordan In¬
stitute for Families and the School of So¬
cial Work at the University of North Caro¬
lina at Chapel Hill.
In summarizing recent research, we try to
give you new ideas for refining your practice.
However, this publication is not intended to
replace child welfare training, regular super¬
vision, orpeerconsultation—onlyto enhance
them.
Let us hear from you!
If you would like to comment about some¬
thing that appears in this or any other is¬
sue of Children's Services Practice Notes,
please do so! Address your comments to:
John McMahon
J ordan Institute for Families
UNC-CH School of Social Work
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3550
State Courier Number: 17-61-04
E-mail: johnmcmahon@mindspring.com
Newsletter Staff
Daniel Brezenoff, MSW, Writer
Lane Cooke, MSW, Advisor
John McMahon, MA, Writer/Editor
Amy Ramirez, Assistant Editor
Visit Our Website
To read this or past issues of Practice Notes
on line, go to <http:// www.sowo.unc.edu/
fcrp/Cspn/cspn.htm>.
WORKING WITH JUVENILE SEX OFFENDERS
If you work in any area of child welfare
you will work with children or adoles¬
cents who have problems with sexual
behavior or sexual aggression. Why?
Because sexual abuse is a significant
risk factor for these behaviors, and in
child welfare we all work with children
who have been sexually abused.
If you have not yet worked with chil¬
dren or teens who sexually offend, you
probably have questions about how to
recognize and treat them
and what we can do to keep
other children safe.
By providing answers to
these and other questions,
this issue of Practice Notes
seeks to support you in
your efforts to help these
children and their families
while ensuring the safety of
the community. ♦
What should I
do differently
when working
with juvenile
sex offenders?
UNDERSTANDING JUVENILE SEX OFFENDERS
As a child welfare professional, you
know that some children and teens sexu¬
ally abuse others. Some of these chil¬
dren live in homes you investigate for
abuse and neglect. Others are in the
custody of your agencies, and you are
working either to reunite them with their
families or to place them in adoptive or
other permanent homes.
To ensure the well being and the
safety of these children and teens, as
well as the safety and well being of those
around them, you must know some ba¬
sic facts about juvenile sex offenders.
The following will give you a basic un¬
derstanding of this troubled population.
SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM
Research shows that sexual abuse of
children is a widespread phenomenon.
It is estimated that there are somewhere
between 250,000 and 300,000 cases
of child sexual abuse each year in the
U.S.The estimated number of sex abuse
survivors in the U.S. is over 60 million
(NRCCSA, 1994). Although numbers of
this magnitude shock us, they are famil¬
iar to most working in child welfare.
The significant contribution of juveniles
to these overall numbers is less well
known. It is estimated that in the United
States juveniles account for up to one
fifth of all rapes and up to one half of all
cases of child molestation committed
each year (CSOM, 1999).
JUVENILE SEXUAL OFFENSES
Although children and youth do engage
in sexually aggressive and abusive be¬
haviors, from a North Carolina cont. p. 2
ABOUT THE TERM "SEX OFFENDER"
Some people hear the term "juvenile sex offender"
and think of a youth who has been charged and
convicted of a sexual offense. However, in this
issue we use the term "juvenile sex offender" to
refer not only to these children but to any child
who has problems with sexual behavior or sexual
aggression, regardless of his or her involvement
with the law.
