Summary
Child Maltreatment 2003
Overview
For Federal fiscal year 2003, an estimated 2.9 million referrals alleging child abuse or neglect were accepted by State and local child protective services (CPS) agencies for investigation or assessment. During 2003 approximately 906,000 children were determined to be victims of child abuse or neglect by the CPS agencies.
What is the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS)?
NCANDS is a federally sponsored effort that collects and analyzes annual data on child abuse and neglect. The data are submitted voluntarily by the States and the District of Columbia. The first report from NCANDS was based on data for 1990; the report on data for 2003 is the 14th issuance of this annual report.
The 1988 amendments to the Child Abuse and Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) directed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to establish a national data collection and analysis program. The Children’s Bureau in the Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, collects and analyzes the data from these States.
How are the data used?
Data from the States are used for the annual report, Child Maltreatment. In addition, data from the States are used systematically to measure the impact and effectiveness of CPS through performance outcome measures.
What data are collected?
The NCANDS collects case-level data on all children who received an investigation or assessment by a CPS agency. States that are unable to provide case-level data submit aggregated counts of key indicators.
Case-level data include information on the characteristics of the referral of abuse or neglect that are made to CPS agencies, the characteristics of the alleged child abuse or neglect victims, the disposition (or finding) and the alleged maltreatments, the risk factors of the child and the caregivers, the services that are provided, and the characteristics of the perpetrators.
Where are the data available?
Aggregated counts by State are available for 1990–2003 from the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect at Cornell University. In addition, restricted usage files of case-level data for certain States are available for researchers.
The Child Maltreatment reports are available on the Internet at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/index.htm#can.
Victims
An estimated 906,000 children were determined to be victims of child abuse or neglect for 2003. The rate of victimization per 1,000 children in the national population has dropped from 13.4 children in 1990 to 12.4 children in 2003.
What types of maltreatment were found?
More than 60 percent of child victims were neglected by their parents or other caregivers. Almost 20 percent were physically abused, 10 percent were sexually abused, and 5 percent were emotionally maltreated. In addition, 17 percent were associated with "other" types of maltreatment based on specific State laws and policies. A child could be a victim of more than one type of maltreatment.
What were the characteristics of victims?
Children in the age group of birth to 3 years had the highest rate of victimization at 16.4 per 1,000 children in the national population (figure S–1). Girls were slightly more likely to be victims than boys.
Pacific Islander children, American Indian or Alaska Native children, and African-American children had the highest rates of victimization. While the rate of White victims of child abuse or neglect was 11.0 per 1,000 children of the same race or ethnicity, the rate for Pacific Islanders was 21.4 per 1,000 children, for American Indian or Alaska Natives the rate was 21.3 per 1,000 children, and for African-American children the rate was 20.4 per 1,000 children.
Reports
Approximately two-thirds of referrals were accepted for investigation or assessment during 2003. One-third of referrals were not accepted.
Who made the reports?
More than one-half of all reports of alleged child abuse or neglect were made by such professionals as educators, law enforcement and legal personnel, social services personnel, medical personnel, mental health personnel, child daycare providers, and foster care providers. Educators made 16.3 percent of all reports, while law enforcement and legal personnel made 16.0 percent, and social services personnel made 11.6 percent. Friends, neighbors, and relatives submitted approximately 43.2 percent of reports (figure S-2).
What were the results of the investigations and assessments?
After conducting interviews with family members, the alleged child victim, and sometimes other people familiar with the family, the CPS agency makes a determination concerning whether the child is a victim of abuse or neglect, or is at risk of abuse or neglect. This determination is often called a disposition.
Approximately 30 percent of the reports included at least one child who was found to be a victim of abuse or neglect. About 58 percent of the reports were found to be unsubstantiated; the remaining reports were closed for additional reasons (figure S–3).
Fatalities
Child fatalities are the most tragic consequence of maltreatment. For 2003, an estimated 1,500 children died due to child abuse or neglect.
What were the characteristics of these children?
More than three-quarters of children who were killed were younger than 4 years old; 10 percent were 4–7 years old; 5 percent were 8–11 years old, and 6 percent were 12–17 years old (figure S–4).
Infant boys (younger than 1 year old) had the highest rate of fatalities, nearly 18 deaths per 100,000 boys of the same age in the national population. Infant girls had a rate of 14 deaths per 100,000 girls of the same age. The overall rate of child fatalities was 2 deaths per 100,000 children. More than one-third of child fatalities were attributed to neglect; physical abuse also was a major contributor to child fatalities (figure S–5).
Perpetrators
Approximately 80 percent of perpetrators were parents. Other relatives accounted for 6 percent and unmarried partners of parents and "other" each accounted for 4 percent of perpetrators. The remaining perpetrator relationship types accounted for less than 1 percent (figure S–6).
What were the characteristics of perpetrators?
Female perpetrators, mostly mothers, were typically younger than male perpetrators, mostly fathers. Women also comprised a larger percentage of all perpetrators than men, 58 percent compared to 42 percent (figure S–7).
Nearly 76 percent of all perpetrators of sexual abuse were friends or neighbors and 30 percent were other relatives. In addition, less than 3 percent of all parental perpetrators were associated with sexual abuse.
Services
CPS agencies provide services to some families and their children during, and as a result of, an investigation or assessment.
Who received services?
Approximately 57 percent of victims and 25 percent of nonvictims received services as a result of an investigation or assessment. Additional analyses indicated that children who were prior victims of maltreatment were 52 percent more likely to receive services than first time victims. Additionally, children with multiple types of maltreatment were almost 73 percent more likely to receive services than children who were physically abused.
What services were provided?
Services included both in-home and foster care services. Approximately 15 percent of child victims were placed in foster care. About 3 percent of nonvictims also experienced a removal—usually a short-term placement during the course of the investigation (figure S–8).
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