Child advocacy group led by homeschooled adults offers insights on the abuse of homeschooled children, calls for legal reform to promote child safety
[Washington, DC] A new report developed by a child advocacy group reveals eye-opening insights into extreme cases of child abuse within homeschooling families.
The Homeschooling’s Invisible Children (HIC) 2024 report examines three key dimensions of abuse and homeschooling: red flags surrounding homeschooling, patterns in abuse, and outcomes for victims as well as how abuse came to light. Developed by the Coalition for Responsible Home Education (CRHE), the report contains insights based on the nearly 500 cases of severe child abuse and neglect on public record and documented in the HIC database.
“While many families homeschool responsibly, abuse and neglect do occur in homeschooling environments,” said Dr. Jonah Stewart, CRHE research and operations director and the report’s lead author. “The data we have collected illuminate how abusive caregivers are able to use homeschooling to conceal and escalate their abuse.”
Among the report’s key findings are the following:
- Withdrawal from school to homeschool under suspicious circumstances is a red flag for abuse. Concerning data from several states show that withdrawal from school to homeschool under certain circumstances is a red flag for abuse and neglect. The new report paints a national picture of this trend; CRHE researchers have identified almost 60 cases (n=59) in which families withdrew their children from school soon after a social services investigation closed, or in direct response to school officials making a report to social services. Since 2000, at least 31 homeschooled children have died from abuse after being withdrawn from school under these suspicious circumstances.
- Perpetrators with prior convictions of crimes against children have been permitted to homeschool – with devastating outcomes for homeschooled children. CRHE researchers have identified a number of cases in which caregivers who had been convicted of crimes against children were permitted to homeschool. These cases include that of Trinity Love Jones, a homeschooled child who died after systematic abuse perpetrated by her mother and her mother’s boyfriend, who both had prior convictions for violent crimes against minors. Despite these convictions, they were allowed to withdraw her from school to homeschool her about a year prior to her death.
- 61% of HIC database cases come to light too late, most often when the victim is dead or dying, or when the victim flees or is abandoned (n=70). These cases also involve abuse being reported after the fact (or child abuse not being reported directly), or abuse coming to light under circumstances irrelevant to the victim.
“The insights found within this new report are horrifying, but they are not surprising,” said Angela Grimberg, CRHE executive director. “These tragedies are the inevitable outcomes of decades of deregulation that have left homeschooled children with minimal legal protections from abuse and neglect. Each of these children’s stories represents a policy failure.”
Homeschool laws nationwide have few measures to ensure children’s safety. Among these laws’ most egregious failures are the following:
- All 50 states allow families that were recently subject of a social services investigation to withdraw their children from school to homeschool them.
- 47 states do not prevent caregivers convicted of crimes against children from homeschooling.
- 18 states only require parents to notify their school districts that they are homeschooling without imposing any accountability to ensure children are educated or alive.
- 11 states do not require parents to make any notification to officials, effectively nullifying compulsory education law by creating “truancy loopholes.”
- Only one state enforces the requirement that all homeschooled children be consistently assessed for academic progress.
- No state requires all homeschooled children to come into contact with a trained mandatory reporter for child abuse.
CRHE recently released the Make Homeschool Safe Act, first-of-its-kind model legislation that codifies measures to support homeschooled children’s safety, education, and wellbeing. Versions of the Make Homeschool Safe Act are in development in Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota.
“The findings in the HIC report clearly illustrate the urgent need for homeschool reform,” said Stewart. “The report, and HIC moreover, document extreme manifestations of broader problems. For every grisly, highly visible story of a child harmed in a homeschool environment, there are an unknown number of others grappling with the wide-ranging harms of underregulated homeschooling.”
“Our hope is that the public and policymakers grasp this urgency and take action to make homeschool safe for children,” said Grimberg.
New report reveals troubling insights on abuse of homeschooled children
Child advocacy group led by homeschooled adults offers insights on the abuse of homeschooled children, calls for legal reform to promote child safety
[Washington, DC] A new report developed by a child advocacy group reveals eye-opening insights into extreme cases of child abuse within homeschooling families.
The Homeschooling’s Invisible Children (HIC) 2024 report examines three key dimensions of abuse and homeschooling: red flags surrounding homeschooling, patterns in abuse, and outcomes for victims as well as how abuse came to light. Developed by the Coalition for Responsible Home Education (CRHE), the report contains insights based on the nearly 500 cases of severe child abuse and neglect on public record and documented in the HIC database.
“While many families homeschool responsibly, abuse and neglect do occur in homeschooling environments,” said Dr. Jonah Stewart, CRHE research and operations director and the report’s lead author. “The data we have collected illuminate how abusive caregivers are able to use homeschooling to conceal and escalate their abuse.”
Among the report’s key findings are the following:
“The insights found within this new report are horrifying, but they are not surprising,” said Angela Grimberg, CRHE executive director. “These tragedies are the inevitable outcomes of decades of deregulation that have left homeschooled children with minimal legal protections from abuse and neglect. Each of these children’s stories represents a policy failure.”
Homeschool laws nationwide have few measures to ensure children’s safety. Among these laws’ most egregious failures are the following:
CRHE recently released the Make Homeschool Safe Act, first-of-its-kind model legislation that codifies measures to support homeschooled children’s safety, education, and wellbeing. Versions of the Make Homeschool Safe Act are in development in Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota.
“The findings in the HIC report clearly illustrate the urgent need for homeschool reform,” said Stewart. “The report, and HIC moreover, document extreme manifestations of broader problems. For every grisly, highly visible story of a child harmed in a homeschool environment, there are an unknown number of others grappling with the wide-ranging harms of underregulated homeschooling.”
“Our hope is that the public and policymakers grasp this urgency and take action to make homeschool safe for children,” said Grimberg.