Child Abuse Has Lifelong Costs. Why Aren’t We Doing More?
Child Abuse Has Lifelong Costs. Why Aren’t We Doing More?
August 12 2026 - Bob Getty
About This Episode
By Bob Gatty
Survivor and advocate Sheryl Hauk says America is paying a tremendous human and financial price for failing to prevent childhood abuse, intervene quickly, and hold abusers accountable.
Childhood abuse does not end when childhood does. It can follow survivors into adulthood through damaged relationships, mental and physical health problems, difficulty learning, homelessness, and other lifelong consequences.
That is the message Sheryl brought to a recentLean to the Left interviewin which she called for stronger child-protection laws, greater investment in early intervention, and more support for Child Advocacy Centers across the country.
Hauk is a retired music educator, an advocate for abused children, and author ofPiece by Piece: A Memoir of Survival, Resilience, and the Power of Creativity. She also is a survivor of years of childhood sexual, physical, and emotional abuse.
For decades, she kept her own abuse largely private.
“I didn’t have a voice,” she said, explaining that she did not tell her children what had happened to her until she was about 50. By then, she had spent nearly four decades working with young people and had seen firsthand how trauma affects learning, relationships, and confidence.
Her question now is simple:
If we understand the consequences of childhood trauma, why aren’t we doing more to prevent it and respond to it?
A costly public-health problem
Hauk argues that child abuse should not be viewed only as a private family tragedy. It is also a public-health and public-policy problem.
She pointed to higher medical costs, depression, anxiety, suicide, criminal-justice involvement, and other consequences that can follow survivors throughout their lives. She also cited commonly reported estimates that one in four girls and one in 10 boys experience sexual abuse before age 18.
The earlier society intervenes, she said, the better the prospects for reducing those long-term consequences.
“We know in research that when we have early intervention, when we have very quick ways of being able to have a long-term support system and even prevention programs, that we mitigate what happens as adults,” Hauk said.
She believes that makes investment in prevention fiscally responsible as well as morally necessary.
The accountability gap
One of Hauk’s strongest concerns is the patchwork of state statutes of limitations governing civil and criminal cases involving childhood sexual abuse.
She said many survivors do not disclose what happened to them until years or decades later, which means the law can prevent them from seeking justice by the time they are emotionally prepared to act.
Hauk has worked for years to change those laws.
She described helping win an extension in Hawaii that allows some survivors more time to pursue cases, but said the rules remain inconsistent from state to state.
For survivors whose legal window has already closed, accountability may be impossible.
That, Hauk said, is unacceptable.
Trauma can interfere with learning
As a longtime educator, Hauk also believes childhood trauma is an overlooked factor in school performance.
She described research showing that severe trauma can interfere with the parts of the brain responsible for logical thinking, reading, and writing for extended periods after a traumatic event.
For educators, she said, that raises an important question: How many children who are struggling in school are actually struggling to survive?
Hauk said that was true in her own life.
“I did not excel at school,” she recalled. “I excelled at music.”
Music and creativity became a way for her to cope.
The danger is often close to home
Hauk also stressed that child sexual abuse is frequently committed by someone the child already knows.
“We worry about our kids being picked up and trafficked,” she said, but added that the greater statistical danger comes from people already close to children — relatives, neighbors, teachers, coaches, and other trusted adults.
That reality makes prevention and awareness even more critical.
Child Advocacy Centers under pressure
Another major concern is funding for Child Advocacy Centers, or CACs.
These centers provide forensic interviews, counseling, advocacy, and other services designed to help children without repeatedly retraumatizing them.
Hauk described one center in the Detroit area that conducts roughly 2,000 forensic examinations of children each year and still faces waiting lists for services.
She also described efforts in Michigan to obtain $2 million in state funding for approximately 40 Child Advocacy Centers — an amount she considers shockingly small given the scale of the problem.
“These are public-health issues,” she said. “This is a public-policy issue.”
From survivor to advocate
Hauk endured abuse until she was 18.
She said the turning point came after a counselor at Baylor University helped her understand that her siblings might also be at risk.
When she returned home, she confronted her abuser and refused to allow the abuse to continue.
Her memoir,Piece by Piece,tells that story while also offering hope and resources for other survivors.
Hauk says her goal now is larger than selling a book.
She wants people to understand what she calls the “silent disability” of childhood trauma — and to recognize that society has the ability to reduce its damage.
“We would change the landscape of our communities,” she said, if more resources were devoted to prevention, intervention, recovery, and accountability.
