HELENA — Montana court officials are expressing alarm over a steep rise in child abuse and neglect cases.
Since 2010, the number of cases handled by the state’s district courts has more than doubled.
That trouble statistic was part of a report Tuesday delivered to the state legislature’s Law and Justice Interim Committee.
Beth McLaughlin, the administrator for the state’s district courts, says that a rise in meth use among parents could be the reason behind the rise in abuse cases. But she acknowledged that the information is anecdotal.
The number of cases in the state’s largest county, Yellowstone, more than doubled from 223 to 512 just in the last two years.
Courts across Montana handled more than 2,300 abuse and neglect cases last year, up from 1,600 cases in 2014.