Chapter 4
Fatalities
Child Maltreatment 2003
Child fatalities are the most tragic consequence of maltreatment. In this chapter, national estimates of the number and rate of child maltreatment deaths per 100,000 children are provided. The characteristics of these fatality victims also are discussed.
Number of Child Fatalities
During 2003, an estimated 1,500 children died from abuse or neglect—a rate of 2.00 deaths per 100,000 children. During 2002, an estimated 1,400 children died from abuse or neglect.1 The national estimate was based on data from State child welfare information systems, as well as other data sources available to the States. The rate of 2.00 children per 100,000 in the national population is comparable to the rate of 1.98 children per 100,000 in the national population for 2002.2
While most fatality data were from State child welfare agencies, many of these agencies also received data from additional sources. For example, statistics on approximately 13 percent (12.7%) of fatalities were from health departments and fatality review boards for 2003. The coordination of data collection with other agencies contributes to a greater understanding of the size of the phenomenon as well as to better estimation.
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Fatalities by Age and Sex
More than three-quarters (78.7%) of children who were killed were younger than 4 years of age; 10.2 percent were 4-7 years of age; 5.4 percent were 8-11 years of age; and 5.7 percent were 12-17 years of age (figure 4-1).
The youngest children experienced the highest rates of fatalities. Based on case-level data from 34 States, infant boys (younger than 1 year old) had a fatality rate of 17.7 deaths per 100,000 boys of the same age.3 Infant girls (younger than 1 year old) had a fatality rate of 14.1 deaths per 100,000 girls of the same age. Fatality rates for both boys and girls decreased with the age of the children.
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Fatalities by Race and Ethnicity
White children accounted for 43.1 percent of all child fatalities.4 African-American children accounted for 30.9 percent and Hispanic children accounted for 14.8 percent of fatalities. Children of American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Pacific Islander, "other," or multiple race descent accounted for less than 2 percent of fatalities for each race or ethnicity. The race or ethnicity was missing or not able to be determined for 6.3 percent of the children.
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Parental Status of Perpetrators
Three-quarters (78.2%) of child fatalities were caused by one or more parents (figure 4-2).5 Almost one-third (30.5%) of fatalities were perpetrated by the mother acting alone.6 Nonparental perpetrators (e.g., other relative, foster parent, residential facility staff, other, legal guardian, etc.) were responsible for 17.7 percent of fatalities.
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Fatalities by Type of Maltreatment
The three main categories of maltreatment related to fatalities were neglect (35.6%), combinations of maltreatment types (28.9%), and physical abuse (28.4%), (figure 4-3).7
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Fatalities by Prior Contact with CPS
Some children who died were already known to the child welfare agencies. Children whose families had received family preservation services in the past 5 years accounted for 10.7 percent of child fatalities. Nearly 3 percent (2.8%) had been in foster care and reunited with their families in the past 5 years.8
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Tables
The following pages contain the tables referenced in Chapter 4. Unless otherwise explained, a blank indicates that the State did not submit usable data. Specific information about State submissions can be found in Appendix D.
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Table Notes
Additional information regarding methodologies that were used to create the tables are provided below.
Table 4-1
- A 2003 national estimate of 1,500 fatalities was derived by multiplying the national weighted rate of 2.00 by the national child population (73,043,506) and dividing by 100,000. The estimate was then rounded to the nearest 100.
Table 4-2
- Fatality rates were computed by dividing the number of child fatalities by the population of reporting States and multiplying by 100,000.
- Estimated child fatalities were computed by multiplying the fatality rate by the national child population and dividing by 100,000. The estimate was then rounded to the nearest 100.
Table 4-3
- These are fatalities reported only in the Child Files and are, therefore, a subset of total fatalities.
- If a State did not include the age or sex of a child fatality victim, that fatality was not included in this analysis.
Table 4-4
- The category multiple race includes a combination of two or more race categories other than Hispanic.
Table 4-5
- If a State did not report the perpetrator relationship of a child fatality, that fatality was not included in this analysis.
- The categories "mother and other" and "father and other" include victims with one perpetrator identified as a mother or father and a second perpetrator identified as a nonparent.
- The category of nonparental perpetrator is defined as a perpetrator who was not identified as a parent and includes other relative, foster parent, residential facility staff, etc.
Table 4-6
- The category multiple maltreatment types includes a combination of any two or more types of maltreatment.
Chapter Four: Figures and Tables
Notes
1 Supporting data are provided in table 4-1, which is located at the end of this chapter. back
2 See table 4-2. back
3 See table 4-3. back
4 See table 4-4. back
5 Includes the following categories: Mother only, Father only, Mother and Father, Mother with other, and Father with other. back
6 See table 4-5. back
7 See table 4-6. back
8 See table 4-7. back
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