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Letter from the Associate Commissioner:
Child Maltreatment 2004
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Administration for Children and Families
Administration on Children, Youth and Families
1250 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20024 |
Letter from the Associate Commissioner:
I am pleased to present a copy of Child Maltreatment 2004. This fifteenth annual publication of
data collected via the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) is for Federal
fiscal year 2004. It reflects our commitment to provide the most complete national information
about child maltreatment known to the States' child protective services (CPS) agencies. Key findings
in this report include the following.
- During the past 3 years, the rate of victimization and the number of victims have been decreasing. For 2001, the rate was 12.5 per thousand children resulting in an estimated 905,000 victims;
for 2004, the rate was 11.9 resulting in an estimated 872,000 victims.
- Since 2001, the rate and number of children who received an investigation have been increasing.
For 2001, the rate was 43.2 children per thousand children, resulting in an estimated 3,136,000
children who received an investigation; for 2004, the rate was 47.8 resulting in an estimated
3,503,000 children.
- Nationally, 64.5 percent of child victims experienced neglect (including medical neglect), 17.5
percent were physically abused, 9.7 percent were sexually abused, and 7.0 percent were emotionally
or psychologically maltreated. Rates of victimization by maltreatment type have fluctuated
only slightly during the past several years.
- For 2004, a nationally estimated 1,490 children died of abuse or neglect–a rate of 2.03 children
per 100,000 in the national population, which is comparable with the rate of 2.00 children per
100,000 in the national population for 2003.
Included in this report are national- and State-level findings about perpetrators of maltreatment,
CPS workforce workload, and preventive and postinvestigation services.
I hope that you find this report to be a useful reference. The document will be posted on the Web
site of the Administration for Children and Families at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/index.htm#can. For additional copies of the report and other information about
child maltreatment, contact the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information
at 1-800-394-3366, or http://nccanch.acf.hhs.gov.
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Sincerely,
Susan Orr, Ph.D.
Associate Commissioner
Children's Bureau |
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