Financial Assistance Programs for Abused Children

According to Child Help, a foundation devoted to the prevention and treatment of child abuse of all kinds, 5.8 million children suffered abuse in 2007 alone. Someone makes a report of children abuse every 10 seconds and many cases of child abuse never get reported. Child abuse has many far reaching effects. Some children suffer serious, long term or even permanent physical injuries and as much as 80 percent of adults abused as children suffer from at least one diagnosable psychological disorder. In such cases, they may need some financial assistance.

Crime Victims Fund

The Crime Victims Fund helps victims of all sorts of crime, including child abuse, pay for medical treatment, mental health care and some other needs that result from the abuse. Children as well as adults can get financial assistance from the fund.

Supplemental Security Income

Most abused children, while they certainly suffer effects of the abuse, manage to function fairly normally. They can go to school, function in the community, care for themselves as well as most children that haven't suffered abuse, communicate normally and so on. They will manage to hold jobs when they get older. Some have serious, long lasting physical or mental problems related to the abuse, however. Those children may qualify for Supplement Security Income, a program of the Social Security Administration that provides monthly payments for disabled children from families with low incomes.

Medicaid

Some abused children need ongoing medical care due to the abuse they suffered, perhaps treatment for physical problems caused by the abuse or mental health treatment to help them cope with the emotional effects of abuse. If the Crime Victims Fund does not adequately compensate them for the cost of medical care they need and if their families have low incomes, they will probably qualify for Medicaid, which covers a wide range of health care services.

Adults Abused as Children

Children that suffered severe abuse may need ongoing assistance as adults. If they qualified for Supplemental Security Income as children, they may continue to qualify for that or qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance as adults if their physical or mental problems prevent them from holding jobs. In that case, they will probably qualify for Medicaid as adults, as well, and will qualify for Medicare after qualifying for disability benefits for two years. They may also qualify for other types of financial assistance as adults, like food stamps, housing assistance and assistance with utilities.

Sources:

Child Help. http://www.childhelp.org/pages/statistics . National Child Abuse Statistics.

Office of Justice Programs. http://www.ovc.gov/publications/factshts/cvf2010/intro.html#vc . Crime Victims Fund.

Social Security Administration. http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10026.html . Benefits for Children With Disabilities.

Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services . http://www.cms.gov/MedicaidGenInfo/ . Medicaid Overview.