Senate Resolution No. 2235

BY: Senator STEWART-COUSINS

MEMORIALIZING Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim
April 21-27, 2024, as Abusive Head Trauma/Shaken
Baby Syndrome Awareness Week in the State of New
York

WHEREAS, The most recent statistics compiled by the federal
government estimate that 558,900 children were victims of abuse and
neglect in the United States in 2022, of whom 27.3 percent were under
three years of age; and

WHEREAS, That statistic includes 50,056 children in New York State,
of whom 10,564 (21 percent) were under three years of age; and

WHEREAS, On an average day in the United States, at least five
children will die as a consequence of abuse or neglect by a parent or
other person entrusted with their care; and

WHEREAS, Children younger than one year of age accounted for 44.7
percent of all child abuse and neglect fatalities in 2022, and children
four years of age or younger accounted for two-thirds (67.7) of all
child abuse and neglect fatalities in 2022; and

WHEREAS, The leading cause of death of abused children under age
five is Abusive Head Trauma, including the inflicted trauma commonly
known as Shaken Baby Syndrome; and

WHEREAS, On average 1,200 to 1,400 children in the United States are
diagnosed with AHT/SBS every year, and medical experts believe many
additional cases are likely misdiagnosed or undetected; and

WHEREAS, Inflicted head trauma occurs when a caregiver loses control
and shakes a baby or young child, most frequently less than one year of
age but in some cases as old as five years of age, resulting in loss of
vision, brain damage, paralysis, seizures, or death; and

WHEREAS, Shaken Baby Syndrome often causes permanent, irreparable
brain damage or death to an infant, and may result in more than
$1,000,000 in medical and rehabilitation costs for the care of a single
disabled child during the first years of life; and

WHEREAS, A growing body of medical evidence indicates that even mild
trauma to the brain caused by AHT/SBS is likely to cause learning
disabilities in children and substantially increase the risk of
substance abuse; and

WHEREAS, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated in
2011 that the average cost of child maltreatment is $210,012 over the
course of a victim's lifetime, including the costs of child welfare,
special education, criminal justice expenses, medical care and lost
productivity as an adult; and

WHEREAS, It is estimated that the taxpayers of the State of New York
may, though the State Medicaid program, pay as much as 41% of the
medical and rehabilitation costs of inflicted head injuries; and

WHEREAS, The Centers for Disease Control estimates child abuse costs
our nation more than $124 billion a year, and the cost of child abuse in
New York State is estimated to exceed $13 billion a year; and

WHEREAS, The most effective way to end AHT/SBS is by educating
parents and caregivers about the danger of shaking children and
providing the skills needed to cope with frustration and anger, and the
minimal costs of educational and preventative programs may avert
enormous medical and disability costs and untold grief for many
families; and

WHEREAS, Evidence-based education and awareness programs, such as
the nationally recognized New York SBS Prevention Project, developed by
Dr. Mark Dias with the support of the NYS Children and Families Trust
Fund, and implemented in collaboration with Kaleida Health Women and
Children's Hospital of Buffalo and the Maria Fareri Children's Hospital
of Westchester, are shown to raise awareness and provide critically
important information about SBS to parents, caregivers, daycare workers,
and health care professionals; and

WHEREAS, The NYS Office of Children and Family Services supports the
work of hospital-based education programs through the efforts of the
Safe Babies New York program, bringing this and other important safety
information to the families of 210,000 babies born last year in New York
State; and

WHEREAS, Home visiting programs, such as Healthy Families New York,
the Nurse Family Partnership, and other programs for new parents show
great promise for preventing maltreatment; and

WHEREAS, These prevention efforts are supported by national groups
such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, Prevent Child Abuse America
and the National Center for Shaken Baby Syndrome, as well as individuals
and organizations in New York State, such as Prevent Child Abuse New
York, the Cynthia Gibbs Foundation, and the SKIPPER Initiative, who work
to educate new parents and caregivers, increase awareness among the
general public and professionals, and encourage increased support for
victims and their families in the health care and criminal justice
systems; and

WHEREAS, The New York State Legislature has enacted legislation to
help increase awareness of AHT/SBS by requiring that: hospitals offer
written information about Shaken Baby Syndrome (2001); new child care
providers be educated about the causes, consequences, and prevention of
SBS before they are licensed to care for children (2003); hospitals to
offer new parents the opportunity to watch a video about the causes,
consequences and prevention of SBS so that they can help protect their
child from shaking injuries (2004); the Health Department coordinate a
statewide campaign to educate the public about the causes, consequences
and prevention of SBS (2006); the Education Department provide a
curriculum on SBS to schools so that students, who not only may be
parents someday, but who may be babysitting for young children now, are
educated about the importance of coping skills (2006); and

WHEREAS, This Legislative Body wishes to commend those advocates,
organizations and agencies of State, county and local governments which
continue work continuously and tirelessly to educate parents and
caregivers about the causes, consequences and prevention of SBS and
other inflicted injuries; and

WHEREAS, This Legislative Body particularly wishes to recognize the
nurse educators who provide education to new parents at New York's
maternity hospitals so that every new parent has the opportunity to
learn how they can help protect their child from shaking injuries; now,
therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
memorialize Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim April 21-27, 2024, as
Abusive Head Trauma Shaken Baby Syndrome Awareness Week in the State of
New York; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to The Honorable Kathy Hochul, Governor of the State of New
York.