ST. LOUIS — April is Child Abuse Prevention Month.
Did you know, 9 children are reported abused or neglected every hour in Missouri? That’s according to St. Louis Crisis Nursery. In Illinois, there are 222 reports of child abuse every day.
Sadly, things have gotten worse during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mike Duggar is president of Lutheran Family and Children's Services of Missouri.
"We can't show you pictures of the broken bones. We can't show you the cigarette burns. We can't show you the neglect that these kids are facing. I think if people could see that, they would have a completely different perspective on it and I think they would be more willing to take action," he said.
LFCS saw a 91% increase in calls for help in 2020 and their counseling program was overwhelmed with an increase of 400% for those seeking help.
"There is such a demand right now. Child abuse is a reality and we need to do everything we can to fight it. This is not an issue of socioeconomics, this is not a racial issue, child abuse and neglect occur across every spectrum," explained Duggar.
Duggar said the goal is always to keep the child in the home and they do that by removing stressors. They provide rent, food and counseling. But this past year has been unlike any they've seen.
"The stressors that are already there in life, we're seeing it multiply," said Duggar.
"It has really been a challenge,” Dianne Mueller with St. Louis Crisis Nursery said the need is at a level they haven't seen since their inception some 35 years ago.
"The stress just of not having food or not having diapers is very serious and can cause depression,” Mueller said.
RELATED: 35 Years of Service: St. Louis Crisis Nursery protects 125,000 children from abuse and neglect
The nursery has a handful of locations across the St. Louis area and has stayed open 24 hours a day during the pandemic. They've provided more than 160,000 hours of crisis care and some 2,000 families have been a part of their family empowerment program.
Both programs say the best thing you can do, especially with many kids still out of school, is report any abuse you see.
"The early intervention, getting there helping these families, helping these kids as soon as possible will help us really turn the curve and drive those numbers down and the impact we could see 10-20 years from now," explained Duggar.
The National Domestic Abuse Hotline is available 24-7. That number is 1-800-799-safe.
There are ways you can help, like wearing blue in April to raise awareness. LFCS is in dire need of loving foster families right now, click here for more information. St. Louis Crisis Nursery has an Amazon wish list you can purchase necessities from.