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Statistics
Follow the Money
Authored & Edited by
egypt 
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• Child Abuse and Neglect Cost Nation over $100 Billion per year; Most Federal Child Welfare Funds Unavailable for Prevention Services and Supports

• False Allegations: What the Data Really Show

• Child Maltreatment Statistics from the Agency

• Adoption Statistics from the Agency

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Child Abuse and Neglect Cost Nation over $100 Billion per year; Most Federal Child Welfare Funds Unavailable for Prevention Services and Supports

WASHINGTON, DC – An economic impact analysis released today estimates the costs of child abuse and neglect to society were nearly $104 billion last year, and a companion report highlights the unavailability of federal child welfare funding for programs and services known to be effective at reducing incidences of child abuse and neglect.

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WASHINGTON, DC – An economic impact analysis released today estimates the costs of child abuse and neglect to society were nearly $104 billion last year, and a companion report highlights the unavailability of federal child welfare funding for programs and services known to be effective at reducing incidences of child abuse and neglect.

Total Estimated Cost of Child Abuse and Neglect in the United States, by Prevent Child Abuse America (PCAA) and Time for Reform: Investing in Prevention, Keeping Children Safe At Home, by Kids Are Waiting (KAW), a project of The Pew Charitable Trusts, show that while the economic costs associated with child abuse and neglect rose to a staggering $103.8 billion in 2007,  merely ten percent of federal money dedicated for child welfare, approximately $741.9 million, can currently be used to prevent child abuse and neglect from occurring by strengthening families.

The PCAA report documents pervasive and long-lasting effects of child abuse on children, their families, and society as a whole.  The $103.8 billion cost of child abuse and neglect includes more than $33 billion in direct costs for foster care services, hospitalization, mental health treatment, and law enforcement.  Indirect costs of over $70 billion include loss of productivity, as well as expenditures related to chronic health problems, special education, and the criminal justice system.

“Prevention of child abuse and neglect makes sense – and makes ‘cents,’ too,” said PCAA President & CEO Jim Hmurovich.  “The data in these reports show that a greater focus on prevention will decrease both the short and long-term costs to society.  But it is impossible to calculate the pain, suffering, and reduced quality of life that victims of violence against children experience throughout their lifetime.”

The KAW report finds that the current federal child welfare financing structure does not adequately support services and supports that could help keep more children safely with their families. The report shows that the majority of dedicated federal funding for child welfare is currently reserved for placing and maintaining children in foster care and cannot be used for prevention or reunification services or supports.

States may access dollars under Title IV-E, the principal source of federal child welfare funding, only after children have been removed from their home and enter foster care. Of the $7.2 billion federal funds dedicated for child welfare in 2007, approximately 90 percent supported children in foster care placements ($4.5 billion) and children adopted from foster care ($2.0 billion). States can use about 10 percent of federal dedicated child welfare funds flexibly for family services and supports, including prevention or reunification services.

The report recommends specific policy options to keep children safe and strengthen families:

• Ensure a sufficient, flexible and reliable federal resource to help support the continuum of services needed by at-risk children and families.
• Reward states for safely reducing the number of children in foster care and achieving all forms of permanence.
• Make all abused and neglected children eligible for federal foster care support.
 
The KAW report also shows that most children (54%) who leave foster care reunite with their families, after having stayed in foster care for an average of six months. In fact, safely reunifying foster children with their parents is a primary goal of the child welfare system.  States vary widely in the percentage of children rejoining their families upon leaving foster care, from 30 and 33 percent in DC and Virginia respectively to 76 percent in Idaho. (Top 15 and bottom 15 state reunification rates listed in the table below.)

States with the highest and lowest rates of children reunified with their families after foster care in 2005

Top 15 highest reunification rates
Rank State/District N %
1 Idaho  1,067 76%
2 Nebraska 2,507 73%
3 Iowa  3,425 72%
4 New Mexico 1,417 69%
5 Minnesota 4,903 67%
6 Delaware 448 66%
7 New Jersey 4,992 66%
8 Wyoming  663 66%
9 Wisconsin 3,759 65%
10 Indiana  3,910 63%
11 Rhode Island 856 63%
12 Nevada  1,989 63%
13 Oregon  3,150 63%
14 Connecticut 1,180 62%
15 Washington 3,770 62%

Bottom 15 lowest reunification rates
Rank State/District N %
37 Kentucky 1,727 46%
38 Montana  532 46%
39 Ohio  5,517 45%
40 South Carolina 1,381 45%
41 Alabama  1,461 45%
42 Arkansas 1,466 43%
43 North Carolina 2,313 42%
44 Illinois 2,517 41%
45 New Hampshire 219 40%
46 Maine  386 39%
47 Utah  680 34%
48 Texas  4,146 34%
49 Maryland 908 34%
50 Virginia 1,120 33%
51 DC  310 30%
 
Note: Percentages represent the number of children reunified of total exits from foster care in 2005. Source: AFCARS 2005

Federal child welfare financing reform could help prevent child abuse and neglect in the first place and reduce the current reliance on foster care by lessening the need for some children to enter the foster care system and helping others safely reunify with their families more quickly. 

The Kids Are Waiting report highlights an array of services that have been shown to be effective at:
1. Decreasing the incidence of abuse and neglect. The Nurse-Family Partnership program, active in 20 states, resulted in a 48 percent lower level of abuse and neglect for children whose families received home visitation services compared with the control group. An evaluation of the Healthy Families New Jersey program showed that 99 percent of the children served were free from abuse and neglect.
2. Reducing short and long term trauma to children. In Tennessee, Renewal House, a residential program for mothers who have an addiction and their children, demonstrated that fewer infants born to mothers in the program require neonatal intensive care.
3. Lessening the need to remove children from their families.  Due to increased investment in prevention services, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, was able to maintain more than 65 percent of children at home for the entire time they were served by the child welfare system. 
4. Lowering the costs of care per child.  In Wisconsin, wraparound Milwaukee decreased the number of children in foster care placement by sixty percent and reduced the cost of care from $5,000 to less than $3,300.

“Taking children away from their families is a traumatic experience that will stay with them forever,” said Marci McCoy-Roth, program officer with The Pew Charitable Trusts.  “Foster care should not be the only option available to keep children safe and help families in crisis. States and the federal government must work in partnership to prevent child abuse and neglect and ensure that all children have safe families. The importance of family is a fundamental American value. How much longer must our children wait for the permanent families they deserve?”

ABOUT PREVENT CHILD ABUSE AMERICA: Prevent Child Abuse America is a national nonprofit that advocates for public policies to diminish or eliminate risk factors for child abuse and neglect, while promoting protective factors.  For more information visit www.preventchildabu se.org  

ABOUT THE KIDS ARE WAITING CAMPAIGN: Kids Are Waiting: Fix Foster Care Now, a project of The Pew Charitable Trusts, is a national, nonpartisan campaign dedicated to ensuring that all children in foster care have the safe, permanent families they deserve through reform of the federal financing structure that governs our nation's foster care program. For more information visit:http:// www.kidsarewaiting.org 

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Instructions for Completion of Form CWS-101

Annual Budget Request for Title IV-B Funds

1. Computation of Federal Grant Award:
   
   Each State should base its request on its share of the $141 million allotment until it has been certified as meeting the criteria establishing its eligibility to receive its share of funds beyond the $141 million allotment.

   1. This is the total the State expects to spend during the year based upon its current eligibility.

   2. This figure is 75% of the amount in A, but is limited by the State's allotment as specified in the appropriate Action Transmittal.

2. Funds will be awarded to each State based on the amount requested for each quarter. No quarterly submissions are required except to amend the original request.

3. The signatures of both the Administrator of the Single State Agency and the Director of the State Single Organizational Unit are required.
   
   Note: This budget request is subject to the A-95 approval process.

Attachments:

Attachment II: State Grant Table showing tentative FY 1981 apportionment of Federal Child Welfare Services State Grant Funds
Attachment III Notes on possible direct payments to Indian tribal organizations

Independent Living Initiative
FY 1990 Allotments

ATTACHMENTS:

Attachment A:   Section 477 of the Social Security Act
Attachment C:   HDS Regional Administrators

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Child Maltreatment Statistics from the Agency
2005  ~

Child Maltreatment 2005 : Summary of Key Findings
From:  Child Welfare Information Gateway:  http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/canstats.cfm
Numbers and Trends

This factsheet presents excerpts from Child Maltreatment 2005, a report based on data submissions by State child protective services (CPS) agencies for Federal fiscal year (FFY) 2005. The full Child Maltreatment 2005 report is available on the Children's Bureau website: www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cm05/index.htm:

Table of Contents
Child Maltreatment 2005

(PDF - 4,364 KB)

Inside Cover

Letter from the Associate Commissioner

Acknowledgements

Summary

Chapter 1:     Introduction

Background of NCANDS
Annual Data Collection Process
Structure of the Report

Chapter 2:     Reports

Screening of Referrals
Report Sources
Investigation or Assessment Results
Report Dispositions by Report Source
Response Time from Report to Investigation
CPS Workforce and Workload
Tables and Notes
Chapter Two: Figures and Tables

Chapter 3:     Children

Children Who Were Subjects of an Investigation
Child Victims
First-Time Victims
Types of Maltreatment
Sex and Age of Victims
Race and Ethnicity of Victims
Living Arrangement of Victims
Reported Disability of Victims
Recurrence
Perpetrators of Maltreatment
Maltreatment in Foster Care
Tables and Notes
Chapter Three: Figures and Tables

Chapter 4:     Fatalities

Number of Child Fatalities
Age and Sex of Child Fatalities
Race and Ethnicity of Child Fatalities
Perpetrator Relationships of Child Fatalities
Maltreatment Types of Child Fatalities
Prior CPS Contact of Child Fatalities
Tables and Notes
Chapter Four: Figures and Tables

Chapter 5:     Perpetrators

Characteristics of Perpetrators
Tables and Notes
Chapter Five: Figures and Tables

Chapter 6:     Services

Preventive Services
Postinvestigation Services
Tables and Notes
Chapter Six: Tables

Chapter 7:     Additional Research Related to Child Maltreatment

Reports on Key Indicators, Outcomes, and National Statistics
Studies of the Characteristics of Children in the Child Welfare System
Capacity-Building Initiatives
Suggestions For Future Research

Appendix A:     Required CAPTA Data Items

Appendix A: Table

Appendix B:     Glossary

Appendix C:     Data Submissions and Data Elements

Appendix C: Tables

Appendix D:     State Commentary

Limited print copies are available from Child Welfare Information Gateway.

How many children were reported and investigated for abuse and neglect?

During Federal fiscal year (FFY) 2005, an estimated 3.3 million referrals, involving the alleged maltreatment of approximately 6.0 million children, were made to CPS agencies. The increase of approximately 73,000 children who received an investigation during FFY 2005, compared to FFY 2004, is largely due to the inclusion of data from Alaska and Puerto Rico for FFY 2005. An estimated 3.6 million children in the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico received investigations by CPS agencies.

•        A majority (62.1%) of referrals were screened in for investigation or assessment by CPS agencies.

•        Approximately 30 percent (28.5%) of the reports included at least one child who was found to be a victim of abuse or neglect.

•        About 60 percent (60.3%) of the reports were found to be unsubstantiated; about 25 percent (25.2%) of the reports were substantiated.

Who reported child maltreatment?

For FFY 2005, more than one-half of all reports (55.8%) of alleged child abuse or neglect were made by professionals. They were primarily made by educators, police and lawyers, and social services staff. The remaining reports were made by nonprofessionals, including friends, neighbors, and relatives.

•        Approximately two-thirds of substantiated or indicated reports were made by professional sources.

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Who were the child victims?

During FFY 2005, an estimated 899,000 children in the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico were determined to be victims of abuse or neglect. The increase of approximately 20,000 victims in FFY 2005, compared to FFY 2004, is largely due to the inclusion of data from Alaska and Puerto Rico for FFY 2005. Among the children confirmed as victims by CPS agencies in FFY 2005:

•        Children in the age group of birth to 3 years had the highest rate of victimization at 16.5 per 1,000 children of the same age group in the national population.

•        More than one-half of the victims were 7 years old or younger (54.5%).

•        More than one-half of the child victims were girls (50.7%) and 47.3 percent were boys.

•        Approximately one-half of all victims were White (49.7%); one-quarter (23.1%) were African-American; and 17.4 percent were Hispanic.

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What were the most common types of maltreatment?

As in prior years, neglect was the most common form of child maltreatment. CPS investigations determined the following:

•        More than 60 percent (62.8%) of victims suffered neglect.

•        More than 15 percent (16.6%) of the victims suffered physical abuse.

•        Less than 10 percent (9.3%) of the victims suffered sexual abuse.

•        Less than 10 percent (7.1%) of the victims suffered from emotional maltreatment.

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How many children died from abuse or neglect?

Child fatalities are the most tragic consequence of maltreatment. Yet, each year children die from abuse and neglect. During FFY 2005:

•        An estimated 1,460 children died due to child abuse or neglect.

•        The overall rate of child fatalities was 1.96 deaths per 100,000 children.

•        More than 40 percent (42.2%) of child fatalities were attributed to neglect; physical abuse also was a major contributor to child fatalities.

•        More than three-quarters (76.6%) of the children who died due to child abuse and neglect were younger than 4 years old.

•        Infant boys (younger than 1 year) had the highest rate of fatalities, at 17.3 deaths per 100,000 boys of the same age in the national population.

•        Infant girls had a rate of 14.5 deaths per 100,000 girls of the same age.

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Who is responsible for the abuse and neglect?

In FFY 2005, more than three-quarters of perpetrators of child maltreatment (79.4%) were parents, and another 6.8 percent were other relatives of the victim. Unrelated caregivers (foster parents, residential facility staff, child daycare providers, and legal guardians) accounted for less than 10.1 percent of perpetrators. Women comprised a larger percentage of all perpetrators than men, 57.8 percent compared to 42.2 percent. More than three-fourths of all perpetrators were younger than age 40.

•        Of the perpetrators who maltreated children, less than 8 percent (7.7%) committed sexual abuse, while 61.0 percent committed neglect.

•        Of the perpetrators who were parents, more than 90 percent (90.6%) were the biological parents, 4.3 percent were the stepparents, and 0.7 percent were the adoptive parents of the victim. The parental relationship was unknown for 4.5 percent of the victims.

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Who received services?

During an investigation, CPS agencies provide services to children and their families, both in the home and in foster care.

•        Sixty percent (60.4%) of victims and 26.9 percent of nonvictims received services.

•        Less than 22 percent (21.7%) of victims and 4.5 percent of nonvictims were placed in foster care.

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The statistics in the Child Maltreatment reports are based on data submitted to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS). NCANDS is a voluntary reporting system that was developed by the Children's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to collect and analyze annual statistics on child maltreatment from State CPS agencies.

From:  http://www.childwelfare.gov/can/prevalence/

Prevalence

National and State statistics on the prevalence of different types of maltreatment, abuse and neglect in out-of-home care, and recurrence.

•        Frequently asked questions

•        National and State statistics

•        Prevalence by type of abuse

•        Prevalence of maltreatment in out-of-home care

•        Prevalence of recurrence of maltreatment

•        Related resources

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Child Maltreatment 1995: Reports From the States to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System

       This report summarizes data submitted by the states to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) in 1995. The data provide a profile of child abuse and neglect cases in the United States. More than 1 million children were victims of child abuse or neglect during 1995. Almost all of the abuse was perpetrated by parents (80 percent) or other relatives (10 percent). Approximately half of the children were victims of neglect and 25 percent were victims of physical abuse. One quarter of abused children were younger than four years old. Cases were most often reported by professionals ...

Child Maltreatment 1996: Reports from the States to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System

       This report summarizes the data submitted by state child protective services agencies to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System for 1996. More than 2 million reports of child abuse or neglect were investigated by state agencies during 1996. Of those reports, almost 1 million cases were substantiated, translating to 15 of every 1,000 children in the United States. Neglect was found in slightly more than half of the substantiated cases, while 24 percent of victims were physically abused and 12 percent were sexually abused. More than 1,000 children died as a result of maltreatment during 1996. Data are ...

Child Maltreatment 1997: Reports From the States to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System

       The 1997 report of the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System summarizes statistics submitted from the states about child protective service investigations, the characteristics of victims, service responses, child fatalities, and the characteristics of perpetrators. See a list of all Child Maltreatment Reports. Screening of reports, sources of reports, worker responsibilities, investigations, rates of victimization, types of maltreatment, demographics of victims, prior service histories of victims, post-investigation services, removal from home, number of child fatalities, fatalities in foster care, relationship of abuser to victim, and demographics of abusers are presented in aggregate as well as by state. Responding ...

Child Maltreatment 1998: Reports From the States to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System

       This report summarizes data submitted by the states to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System in 1998. See a list of all Child Maltreatment Reports. The state reports covered the number of children receiving preventive services, the number of referrals to Child Protective Service agencies, the number of reports investigated and substantiated, types of abuse and neglect perpetrated, services provided for victims, characteristics of victims and perpetrators, and the number of child fatalities from abuse and neglect. In total, approximately 2.8 million children were referred to child protective services for suspected maltreatment. Two-thirds of these cases were ...

Child Maltreatment 1999

       This report, in CD-ROM format, summarizes child abuse statistics submitted by states to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) during 1999. The data are presented in aggregate and by state, and trends are reported when available. Topics include sources of reports; time for response; child protective services workforce; victimization rates; types of maltreatment; age, race and gender of victims; age and gender of perpetrators; relationship of perpetrators to the victim; number of child fatalities; fatalities by prior contact with child protective services; and types of services provided. Nationwide, 60 percent of the 2,974,000 referrals received were investigated. ...

Child Maltreatment 2000

       This report summarizes child abuse statistics submitted by states to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) during 2000. See a list of all Child Maltreatment Reports. The data are presented in aggregate and by state, and trends are reported when available. Topics include sources of reports; time for response; victimization rates; types of maltreatment; age, race and gender of victims; age and gender of perpetrators; relationship of perpetrators to the victim; number of child fatalities; and types of services provided. Nationwide, 60 percent of the incidents reported to child abuse authorities were investigated. Slightly more than ...

Child Maltreatment 2001

       This report summarizes child abuse statistics submitted by states to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) during 2001. See a list of all Child Maltreatment Reports. The data are presented in aggregate and by state, and trends are reported when available. Topics include sources of reports; time for response; victimization rates; types of maltreatment; age, race and gender of victims; age and gender of perpetrators; relationship of perpetrators to the victim; number of child fatalities; and types of services provided. Nationwide, more than two-thirds of referrals received were investigated. Fifty-nine percent of the investigated cases were ...

Child Maltreatment 2002