Child Maltreatment 2004 : Chapter One: Introduction

Administration for Children and Families

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Chapter 1
Introduction
Child Maltreatment 2004

This report presents national data about child abuse and neglect known to child protective services (CPS) agencies in the United States during Federal fiscal year (FFY) 2004. The data were collected and analyzed through the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) by the Children's Bureau, Administration on Children, Youth and Families in the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This chapter discusses the background and continuing development of NCANDS and describes the annual data collection process.

Background of NCANDS

The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) was amended in 1988 to direct the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a national data collection and analysis program that would make available State child abuse and neglect reporting information.¹ HHS responded by establishing NCANDS as a voluntary, national reporting system. In 1992, HHS produced its first NCANDS report based on data from 1990. The Child Maltreatment report series has evolved from that initial report.

During the early years, States provided aggregated data on key indicators of CPS provision. Starting with the 1993 data year, States voluntarily began to submit case-level data. For a number of years, States provided both data sets, but starting with data year 2000, the case-level data set became the primary source of data for the annual report. The aggregated data file, the Summary Data Component (SDC), is gradually being phased out, as States are increasingly able to provide automated case-level data.

In 1996, CAPTA was amended to require all States that receive funds from the Basic State Grant program to work with the Secretary of the Department to provide specific data, to the extent practicable, on children who had been maltreated. ² The NCANDS data elements were revised to meet these requirements beginning with the submission of 1998 data. The required CAPTA data items are provided in appendix A. An NCANDS glossary of terms is provided as appendix B.

A State Advisory Group, comprising State CPS program administrators and information systems managers, assists with the identification and resolution of issues related to child protective services data. This group suggests strategies for improving the quality of data submitted by the States and reviews proposed modifications to NCANDS. The Children's Bureau convenes the State Advisory Group annually. The 2004 State Advisory Group members are listed below:

Pamela K. Ward, California
Shelley Cyphers, Georgia
Sandra A. Lock, Indiana
Walter G. Fahr, Louisiana
Robert N. Pronovost, Maine
Rosalind Walter, Massachusetts
Jean Swanson Broberg, Minnesota
Kathryn S. Sapp, Missouri

Lois Branic, District of Columbia
Susan K. Chase, Florida
Lillian S. Denton, New York
Johnna L. Lynch, Oklahoma
Maria Duryea, Oregon
Susan Stockwell, Pennsylvania
Rebecca Connors (retired), Rhode Island
John W. Tuohy, Wisconsin

In addition to an annual meeting of the State Advisory Group, a technical assistance meeting for all States is held each year. This technical assistance meeting serves as a forum for providing guidance to the States for their annual data submissions and discussing data utilization and training needs.

Data collected by NCANDS are a critical source of information for many publications, reports, and activities of the Federal Government and other groups. NCANDS data have been incorporated into the Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSR), which ensures conformity with State plan requirements in titles IV-B and IV-E of the Social Security Act. NCANDS data on the recurrence of maltreatment and the occurrence of maltreatment in foster care are the basis for two of the standards for the CFSR.

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The NCANDS data also are used in the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART), which is "a systematic method of assessing the performance of program activities across the Federal government." ³ Children's Bureau programs funded under the CAPTA Basic State Grant and the Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP) State Grants use data from NCANDS as a component of their PART assessments. Each government program is being assessed in terms of its performance. Critical components of the assessment include the identification of performance measures, setting baselines for improvements, and tracking improvement for each measure. The following measures are included.

CAPTA Measure #1– Improve States' average response time between maltreatment report and investigation. This measure is based on a national average of States' reported response time, in hours, from screened-in reports to the initiation of the investigation as reported in the NCANDS Agency File. The objective is to reduce the risk of maltreatment to potential victims.
CAPTA Measure #2– Reduce the percentage of children who are repeat victims of maltreatment within 6 months. This measure is based on analysis of the annual NCANDS Child File. The goal is to reduce maltreatment.
CBCAP Measure #1– Decrease the rate of first-time victims per 1,000 children. This measure is based on analysis of the NCANDS Child File and the prior victim field. The focus is on primary prevention of child abuse and neglect.

The Children's Bureau is working with the Office of Management and Budget on developing additional performance measures.

An annual report on child welfare outcomes includes context and outcome data on safety, based on State submissions to NCANDS.⁴ Data on the characteristics of children who have been maltreated, as well as data on the two safety outcomes– recurrence of maltreatment and maltreatment in foster care– are reported there as well.

Annual Data Collection Process

States that submit case-level data construct a child-specific record for each report of alleged child abuse or neglect that received a disposition as a result of an investigation or an assessment during the reporting period.⁵ The reporting period for Child Maltreatment 2004 was from October 1, 2003 through September 30, 2004. This was the second year that data were submitted for a Federal fiscal year timeframe. In prior years, data submissions were for the calendar year. The reporting period was changed to be consistent with the data requirements of CFSR.

The case-level data are reported in the Child File. Data fields include the demographics of the children and their perpetrators, types of maltreatment, investigation or assessment dispositions, risk factors, and services provided as a result of the investigation or assessment. Forty-five States submitted the Child File; almost all of them also reported aggregate-level data in the Agency File for items that were not obtainable at the child level, such as the number of CPS workers. Five States reported aggregate statistics through the SDC; four of these States are in the process of developing the Child File.⁶

Upon receipt of data from each State, a technical validation review was conducted to assess the internal consistency of the data and to identify probable causes for missing data. In many instances, the review concluded that corrections were necessary and the States were requested to resubmit their data. Once a State's case-level data were finalized, aggregate counts were computed and shared with the State. The final step in the data collection process was to develop a composite file of aggregate (CAF) statistics for all States regardless of the original data source. (See appendix C, Data Submissions and Data Elements, for additional information regarding data submissions.)

The population of the States that submitted the Child File accounts for approximately 67 million children or 92 percent of the Nation's child population younger than 18 years (table 1-1).⁷ Trend data in this report are based upon the most recent population estimates and data resubmissions from the States. Data were accepted through September, 2005.⁸

Structure of the Report

This report contains the additional chapters listed below. Throughout the report, tables with supporting data are located at the end of each chapter:

Chapter 2, Reports- referrals and reports of child maltreatment
Chapter 3, Victims- characteristics of child maltreatment alleged victims and nonvictims
Chapter 4, Fatalities- fatalities that occurred as a result of maltreatment
Chapter 5, Perpetrators- perpetrators of maltreatment
Chapter 6, Services- services to prevent maltreatment and to assist victims
Chapter 7, Additional Research Activities Related to NCANDS-research activities that use NCANDS data

Commentary for State data and contact information for State representatives are presented in appendix D. The commentary section of this report provides valuable insights into policies and conditions that might affect State data. Additional information on specific State policies or practices can be obtained from the State contact listed in the commentary section. A reader survey is included to solicit advice for future reports (appendix E). Please take a few minutes to complete and return the survey using the instructions at the end of the form. Survey respondents will be placed on a priority mailing list to receive future copies of Child Maltreatment.

Table and Notes

The following page contains the table referenced in Chapter 1. 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. Additional information regarding methodologies that were used to create the tables is provided below.

Table 1-1

Alaska was not able to submit 2004 data prior to publication of this report due to technicalities with the State's conversion from a legacy child welfare information system to a Statewide Automated Child Welfare System. However, the State's child population number was included on this table as a reference.

Chapter One: Table

Notes

¹ 42 U.S.C. 5101 et seq.; 42 U.S.C. 5116 et seq., Public Law 100-294 passed April 25, 1988. back
² In this report, "States" includes the District of Columbia. back
³ Office of Management and Budget. Guidance for Completing the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART). March 2005. back
⁴ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Child Welfare Outcomes 2002: Annual Report (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2005). back
⁵ CPS agencies assign a finding, known as a disposition, to a report alleging maltreatment after the circumstances are investigated or assessed. back
⁶ Alaska was not able to submit 2004 data prior to publication of this report due to technicalities with the State's conversion from a legacy child welfare information system to a Statewide Automated Child Welfare System. back
⁷ U.S. Census Bureau file SC-EST2003-Rce6: State Characteristics Population Estimates with 6 Race Groups http://www.census.gov/popest/states/asrh/files/SC-EST2003-race6.csv (accessed 9/30/04). Here and throughout the report, the term "child population" refers to all people in the U.S. population younger than 18 years. Supporting data are provided in table 1-1 , which is located at the end of this chapter. back
⁸ Four States–California, Delaware, Florida, and Maryland–resubmitted FFY 2003 data subsequent to the publication of Child Maltreatment 2003. Trend data reported in Child Maltreatment 2004 reflect those resubmissions. back