Chapter 4
Fatalities
Child Maltreatment 2005
Child fatalities are the most tragic consequence of maltreatment. The collection of accurate data regarding fatalities attributed to child abuse and neglect is challenging and requires coordination among many agencies. According to a recent article, "the ambiguity involved in investigation and determining the cause of a child's death often prevents accurate estimates of death from maltreatment."1 The NCANDS case-level data are from public child protective services (CPS) agencies and, therefore, do not include information for deaths that are not investigated by a CPS agency. Recognizing that the data from CPS agencies may be underestimated, NCANDS also recommends to States that they work with their health departments, vital statistics departments, medical examiners offices, and their fatality review teams to obtain information about other deaths and report these data in the Agency File.2 During Federal fiscal year (FFY) 2005:
- There were an estimated 1,460 child fatality victims;
- Approximately one-fifth (18.5%) of child fatality data were reported from agencies other than child welfare; and
- More than three-quarters (76.6%) of child fatality victims were younger than 4 years.
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.
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Number of Child Fatalities
During FFY 2005, an estimated 1,460 children (compared to 1,490 children for FFY 2004) died from abuse or neglect—at a rate of 1.96 deaths per 100,000 children.3 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 1.96 is a decrease from the rate for FFY 2004 of 2.03 per 100,000 children.4 Whether this decrease in the rate of child abuse fatalities will continue cannot be determined at this point, but the rate will be monitored closely.
While most fatality data were obtained from State child welfare agencies, many of these agencies also received data from additional sources. For FFY 2005, nearly one-fifth (18.5%) of fatalities were reported through the Agency File, which includes fatalities reported by health departments and fatality review boards. The coordination of data collection with other agencies contributes to a fuller understanding of the size of the phenomenon, as well as to better estimation.
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Age and Sex of Child Fatalities
More than three-quarters (76.6%) of children who were killed were younger than 4 years of age, 13.4 percent were 4-7 years of age, 4.0 percent were 8-11 years of age, and 6.1 percent were 12-17 years of age (figure 4-1).
The youngest children experienced the highest rates of fatalities. Infant boys (younger than 1 year) had a fatality rate of 17.3 deaths per 100,000 boys of the same age.5 Infant girls (younger than 1 year) had a fatality rate of 14.5 deaths per 100,000 girls of the same age. In general, fatality rates for both boys and girls decreased as the children get older.
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Race and Ethnicity of Child Fatalities
Nearly one-half (44.3 percent) of all fatalities were White children.6 One-quarter (26.0%) were African-American children, and nearly one-fifth (19.3 percent) were Hispanic children. Children of American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Pacific Islander, "other," and multiple race categories collectively accounted for 4.5 percent of fatalities.
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Perpetrator Relationships of Child Fatalities
Three-quarters (76.6%) of child fatalities were caused by one or more parents (figure 4-2).7 More than one-quarter (28.5%) of fatalities were perpetrated by the mother acting alone.8 Nonparental perpetrators (e.g., other relative, foster parent, residential facility staff, "other," and legal guardian) were responsible for 13.0 percent of fatalities.
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Maltreatment Types of Child Fatalities
The three main categories of maltreatment related to fatalities were neglect (42.2%), combinations of maltreatments (27.3%), and physical abuse (24.1%) (figure 4-3).9 Medical neglect accounted for 2.5 percent of fatalities.
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Prior CPS Contact of Child Fatalities
Some children who died from maltreatment were already known to CPS agencies. Children whose families had received family preservation services in the past 5 years accounted for 11.7 percent of child fatalities. Nearly 3 percent (2.7%) of the child fatalities had been in foster care and were reunited with their families in the past 5 years.10
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Tables and Notes
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. Additional information regarding methodologies that were used to create the tables are provided below.
Table 4-2
- This table reflects data resubmissions from States and, therefore, may display different numbers from prior Child Maltreatment reports.
- 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 10.
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.
Table 4-5
- 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.
Table 4-6
- The category multiple maltreatment types includes a combination of any two or more types of maltreatment.
Chapter Four: Figures and Tables
1 Hochstadt, N. "Child death review teams: A vital component of child protection." Child Welfare, Vol. LXXXV, No. 4, 653-670, 2006. back
2 Another issue is the lag in determining cause of death. Some deaths that appear suspicious may not be firmly determined to be caused by child abuse or neglect for several months or even years, if final determination is made through the court process. States report to NCANDS deaths that received dispositions in the reporting year, while the cause of death may have been determined by a different agency. back
3 Supporting data are provided in table 4-1, which is located at the end of this chapter. A FFY 2005 national estimate of 1,460 fatalities was derived by multiplying the national weighted rate of 1.96 by the national child population (74,502,089) and dividing by 100,000. The estimate was then rounded to the nearest 10. back
4 See table 4-2. back
5 See table 4-3. back
6 See table 4-4. back
7 Includes the following categories: mother; father; mother and father; "mother with other;" and "father with other." back
8 See table 4-5. back
9 See table 4-6. back
10 See table 4-7. back
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