Dyan Neary

And then he had to read that documentation, medical paperwork and child welfare reports, hundreds of pages.

He searched Google, got some help from someone on his staff.

He began to decipher the system.

He learned that in Lehigh County, if a parent is suspected of child abuse, in this case, suspected by a doctor at the hospital, that doctor calls the state child abuse hotline.

An operator there takes down the report and sends it to Children and Youth Services, known as CYS.

And then CYS has two months to make a determination.

Or a third category, founded, meaning that both CYS and a court have found that you're an abuser.

There was one more term Mark had never heard before, which kept popping up in the paperwork.

Child abuse pediatrician.

Mark realized almost all of the allegations in the family's files had been made by this kind of doctor.

A child abuse pediatrician.

CAP for short.

More Googling, and Mark learned this.

CAPs are doctors who are trained specifically in how to tell whether an injury is the result of abuse.

To tell the difference, say, between an arm broken by falling off the swing set versus an arm broken after being twisted by force.

They often work in children's hospitals, including Lehigh Valley's children's hospital.

And they play a crucial role in keeping children safe.

According to the most recent government data, every year, more than 3 million children in the U.S.

are victims of suspected abuse.

CAHPS helped figure out which of those children need protecting.