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Chapter 5
Fatalities
Child Maltreatment 2001

Child fatalities are the most tragic consequence of maltreatment. In this chapter, national estimates of the number and rate of child maltreatment fatalities per 100,000 children are provided. The characteristics of child fatality victims, and relationships of the victims to their perpetrators, are discussed.

Number of Child Fatalities

For 2001, a national estimate of 1,300 child deaths at a rate of 1.81 children of every 100,000 children in the population died from abuse or neglect. Many States were able to supplement the automated data from the child welfare agency with statistics from other agencies in their States. Included in the reported 1,300 fatalities were 150 fatalities reported from such agencies as health departments and fatality review boards.¹

Deaths that occur while a child is under the custody or supervision of the child welfare agency are especially egregious. Child protective services (CPS) in 48 States reported 18 deaths that occurred in foster care. Of these, six deaths were reported by other agencies such as the coroner's office. Approximately 1.5 percent of child fatalities reported by the States occurred in some type of out-of-home placement setting.²

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Fatalities by Age and Sex (Child File)

Fatality victims were typically very young (figure 5-1). Children younger than 1 year accounted for 40.9 percent of fatalities and 84.5 percent were younger than 6 years of age. The risk of a child being a fatality victim declined consistently through age 4. Male children accounted for 56.0 percent and female children accounted for 44.0 percent of all fatalities.³

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Parental Status of Perpetrators (Child File)

Most child fatalities, 82.8 percent, were maltreated by their parent or parents (figure 5-2).⁴ Almost one-third (32.4%) of fatalities were perpetrated just by their mother.⁵ These percentages are consistent with the findings reported in previous years.

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Fatalities by Type of Maltreatment (Child File)

Almost all fatalities (92.9%) were associated with physical abuse or neglect. More than one-third (35.6%) of maltreatment deaths was associated with just neglect (figure 5-3). "Physical Abuse Only" was identified in more than one-quarter of reported deaths (26.3%).⁶

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Fatalities by Prior Contact with CPS

Less than 10 percent (8.8%) of the families of 2001 child fatality victims had received family preservation services in the 5 years prior to the death of victims. Less than 1 percent (0.9%) of child fatality victims had been returned to their families prior to their deaths.⁷ For 2000, those percentages were 14.9 and 2.6, respectively.

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Supplementary Tables

The following pages contain the tables referenced in Chapter 5. Unless otherwise explained, a blank indicates that the State did not submit usable data, and a number in bold indicates either a total or an estimate.

Chapter Five: Figures and Tables

Notes

¹ Supporting data are provided in supplementary table 5-1, which is located at the end of this chapter. Back
² See supplementary table 5-2. Back
³ See supplementary table 5-3. Back
⁴ This could include "Mother Only," "Father Only," "Mother and Father," "Mother with Other," and "Father with Other." Back
⁵ See supplementary table 5-4. Back
⁶ See supplementary table 5-5. Back
⁷ See supplementary table 5-6. Back

 

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