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Date: Friday, April 17, 1998
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Michael Kharfen (202) 401-9215

HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala today released new data showing continued record high levels of child abuse and neglect in the United States. According to the new report, "Child Maltreatment 1996: Reports from the States to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System," almost 1 million children were identified as victims of abuse or neglect in 1996, and an estimated 1,077 children died in 1996 as a result of abuse or neglect.

April is National Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Month.

The results although slightly down from 1995, continue a long-term trend, with total child abuse and neglect cases remaining in the record-high range of 1 million for five years.

"Last year, Congress passed and President Clinton signed into law the historic Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, which makes protecting the safety of children the paramount concern in adoption and foster care," Secretary Shalala said. "This month -- and every month of the year -- states, caseworkers, and the courts should rededicate themselves to making sure that we achieve the intent of this critical law child abuse cannot be tolerated."

The new law, enacted in November 1997, requires that child safety be the highest priority when making service provision, placement, and permanency planning decisions for children. The law reaffirms the importance of making reasonable efforts to preserve and reunify families, but -- for the first time -- also specifies instances when states are not required to make efforts to keep children with their parents, such as when doing so places a child's safety in jeopardy. These new provisions give states important new tools in their efforts to break the cycle of abuse within families.

"This new law represents a real step forward and gives us an unprecedented opportunity to reform the child welfare system," emphasized Olivia Golden, HHS Assistant Secretary for Children and Families.

HHS is consulting with states this spring on necessary regulations under the new law. Beginning in 1999, HHS will issue annual reports evaluating the performance of all 50 states.

The Clinton Administration is committed to promoting and supporting policies and innovative programs that work to increase children's safety and reduce children's risk of harm. In addition to the new law, HHS has granted child welfare waivers to 10 states to pursue innovative strategies for improving state child welfare systems: California, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Oregon. As part of the new law, HHS has authority to approve up to 10 additional waivers for FY 1998 through 2002.

To supplement these efforts, Secretary Shalala today also announced a new campaign by the HHS Children's Bureau to encourage community prevention efforts and to provide help to those who work with children and families. The "Prevention in Action" campaign features a new web site which includes information and resources about the problem of child abuse and how to help prevent it. The web site can be reached through www.acf.dhhs.gov/news. Hard copies are available upon request from the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect at 1-800-FYI-3366.

According to the report released today:

• Parents are the chief perpetrators of child abuse and neglect. Nearly 80 percent of the cases involved abuse and neglect by parents, with an additional 11 percent involving other relatives.
• Among children who died due to abuse or neglect, very young children were most likely be killed, with children aged 3 and under accounting for three-quarters of all deaths.
• Fifty-two percent of maltreated children suffered neglect, 24 percent physical abuse, 12 percent sexual abuse, 6 percent emotional abuse, 3 percent medical neglect and 16 percent other forms of maltreatment. Some children suffered more than one type of maltreatment.
• More than half of the children were under 8 years old, while 28 percent were younger than 4 years old. Younger children were more likely than older children to be neglected, while older children were more likely than younger children to be physically, sexually or emotionally abused.
• Fifty-two percent of victims were girls and 48 percent were boys.
• Fifty-three percent of all victims were white, 27 percent African-American, 11 percent Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander 4 percent and 2 percent Native American. African American and Native American children were abused and neglected at a rate almost twice their proportions in the national child population.

The total number of children identified as victims of abuse or neglect, based on validated case data, and the total number of states reporting data for the last five years are as follows:

	Year			Number			States Reporting
	
	1992			  992,617			48
	1993			1,018,692			47
	1994			1,011,628			48
	1995			1,000,402			49
	1996			  969,018			47

Copies of "Child Maltreatment 1996" will be available in mid-April and can be obtained by calling the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information at 1-800-FYI-3366.

Note: HHS press releases are available on the World Wide Web at www.dhhs.gov.