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Chapter 3
Children¹
Child Maltreatment 2005

Each State has its own definitions of child abuse and neglect based on minimum standards set by Federal law. Federal legislation provides a foundation for States by identifying a minimum set of acts or behaviors that defines child abuse and neglect. The Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), (42 U.S.C.A. §5106g), as amended by the Keeping Children and Families Safe Act of 2003, defines child abuse and neglect as, at minimum:

• Any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation; or
• An act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm.

Child protective services (CPS) agencies respond to the needs of children who are alleged to have been maltreated and ensure that they are safe. National estimates for FFY 2005 are based on child populations for the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. FFY 2005 is the first year that Puerto Rico's data have been included in Child Maltreatment. During Federal fiscal year (FFY) 2005:

• An estimated 899,000 children were victims of maltreatment;
• The rate of victimization was 12.1 per 1,000 children in the population; and
• Nearly 3.6 million children received a CPS investigation or assessment.

This chapter discusses the 5-year trend of children who received an investigation or assessment and the 5-year trend of victimization rates. The remainder of the chapter provides more in-depth information about the characteristics of children who were abused or neglected.

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Children Who Were Subjects of an Investigation

Based on a rate of 48.3 per 1,000 children, an estimated 3.6 million children received an investigation by CPS agencies during FFY 2005.² The rate of all children who received an investigation or assessment increased from 43.2 per 1,000 children for 2001 to 48.3 per 1,000 children for FFY 2005.³ The increase of approximately 73,000 children who received an investigation in FFY 2005, compared to FFY 2004, is largely due to the inclusion of data from Alaska and Puerto Rico in FFY 2005. The national estimates are based upon counting a child each time he or she was the subject of a CPS investigation. Heightened public awareness of child maltreatment also may have played a factor (figure 3-1).

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Child Victims

Of the children who received an investigation, approximately one-quarter were determined to have been abused or neglected. Based on a victim rate of 12.1 per 1,000 children, an estimated 899,000 children were found to be victims in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The increase of approximately 20,000 victims in FFY 2005, compared to FFY 2004, is largely due to the inclusion of data from Alaska and Puerto Rico.⁴ The victimization rates by individual State are illustrated in figure 3-2.

The rate of victimization decreased from 12.5 per 1,000 during 2001, to 12.1 per 1,000 children during FFY 2005, which is a 3.2 percent decrease (if data from Alaska and Puerto Rico were not included, the rate would be 12.0 or the same as FFY 2004.) State-specific 5-year trends illustrate similar proportions of States increased their rate as States decreased their rate.⁵

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First-Time Victims

Three-quarters of victims (75.3%) had no history of prior victimization.⁶ Information regarding first-time victims is a Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) measure. The Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention Program reports this PART measure to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) each year as an average of all States. Individual State data are not reported to OMB.

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Types of Maltreatment

During FFY 2005, 62.8 percent of victims experienced neglect, 16.6 percent were physically abused, 9.3 percent were sexually abused, 7.1 percent were psychologically maltreated, and 2.0 percent were medically neglected.⁷ In addition, 14.3 percent of victims experienced such "other" types of maltreatment as "abandonment," "threats of harm to the child," or "congenital drug addiction." States may code any condition that does not fall into one of the main categories—physical abuse, neglect, medical neglect, sexual abuse, and psychological or emotional maltreatment—as "other." These maltreatment type percentages total more than 100 percent because children who were victims of more than one type of maltreatment were counted for each maltreatment.

The data for victims of specific types of maltreatment were analyzed in terms of the report sources. Of victims of physical abuse, 24.3 percent were reported by teachers, 23.0 percent were reported by police officers or lawyers, and 11.6 percent were reported by medical staff.⁸ Overall, 74.8 percent were reported by professionals and 25.2 percent were reported by nonprofessionals. The patterns of reporting of neglect and sexual abuse victims were similar—police officers or lawyers accounted for the largest report source percentage of neglect victims (26.6%) and the largest percentage of sexual abuse victims (28.3%).

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Sex and Age of Victims

For FFY 2005, 47.3 percent of child victims were boys, and 50.7 percent of the victims were girls.⁹ The youngest children had the highest rate of victimization. The rate of child victimization for the age group of birth to 3 years was 16.5 per 1,000 children of the same age group. The victimization rate for children in the age group of 4-7 years was 13.5 per 1,000 children in the same age group.¹⁰ Overall, the rate of victimization was inversely related to the age group of the child (figure 3-3).

Nearly three-quarters of child victims (73.1%) ages birth to 3 years were neglected compared with 52.7 percent of victims ages 16 years and older. For victims in the age group of 4-7 years 15.6 percent were physically abused and 8.9 percent were sexually abused, compared with 21.3 percent and 17.3 percent, respectively, for victims in the age group of 12-15 years old.¹¹

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Race and Ethnicity of Victims

African-American children, American Indian or Alaska Native children, and Pacific Islander children had the highest rates of victimization at 19.5, 16.5, and 16.1 per 1,000 children of the same race or ethnicity, respectively (figure 3-4). White children and Hispanic children had rates of approximately 10.8 and 10.7 per 1,000 children of the same race or ethnicity, respectively. Asian children had the lowest rate of 2.5 per 1,000 children of the same race or ethnicity.¹²

One-half of all victims were White (49.7%); one-quarter (23.1%) were African-American; and 17.4 percent were Hispanic. For all racial categories, the largest percentage of victims suffered from neglect.¹³

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Living Arrangement of Victims

Data are incomplete for the living arrangement of victims. Only one-half of the States were able to report on living arrangement and among these States, nearly 40 percent of the victims (37.2%) had unknown or missing data on living arrangement. ¹⁴ Approximately 12 percent of victims (12.2%) were reported as living with married parents or married parent and stepparent. Approximately 13 percent (13.4%) of victims were living with both parents, but the marital status of the parents was unknown. More than 20 percent (23.0%) were living with a single parent. Less than 3 percent (2.9%) were reported as living with unmarried parents. It is hoped that reporting will improve in the coming years.

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Reported Disability of Victims

Children who were reported with the following risk factors were considered as having a disability: mental retardation, emotional disturbance, visual or hearing impairment, learning disability, physical disability, behavioral problems, or another medical problem. In general, children with such risk factors are undercounted, as not every child receives a clinical diagnostic assessment from CPS agency staff. Nearly 8 percent (7.7%) of victims had a reported disability. More than 3 percent (3.2%) of victims had behavior problems and 1.9 percent of victims were emotionally disturbed. A victim could have been reported with more than one type of disability.¹⁵

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Recurrence

For many victims who have experienced repeat maltreatment, the efforts of the CPS system have not been successful in preventing subsequent victimization. Through the Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSR), the Children's Bureau has established the current national standard for recurrence as 94.6 percent, defined as:

"Absence of Maltreatment Recurrence. Of all children who were victims of substantiated or indicated abuse or neglect during the first 6 months of the reporting year, what percent did not experience another incident of substantiated or indicated abuse or neglect within a 6-month period?"¹⁶

The number of States in compliance has increased from 17 States for FFY 2004 to 19 States for FFY 2005.¹⁷ During FFY 2005, three States were unable to provide the data needed to compute this measure using the Child File.

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Perpetrators of Maltreatment

Nearly 84 percent (83.4%) of victims were abused by a parent acting alone or with another person. Approximately, forty percent (40.4%) of child victims were maltreated by their mothers acting alone; another 18.3 percent were maltreated by their fathers acting alone; and 17.3 percent were abused by both parents.¹⁸ Victims abused by nonparental perpetrators accounted for 10.7 percent (figure 3-5). A nonparental perpetrator is defined as a caregiver who is not a parent and can include foster parent, child daycare staff, unmarried partner of parent, legal guardian, and residential facility staff.

The data for victims of specific maltreatment types were analyzed in terms of perpetrator relationship to the victim. Of the victims who experienced neglect, 86.6 percent were neglected by a parent. Of the victims who were sexually abused, 28.7 percent were abused by a relative other than a parent.¹⁹

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Maltreatment in Foster Care

Through the CFSR, the Children's Bureau established a national standard for the incidence of child abuse or neglect in foster care as 99.68 percent, defined as:

"Absence of Maltreatment in Foster Care. Of all children in foster care during the reporting period, what percent were not victims of a substantiated or indicated maltreatment by foster parents or facility staff members?"²⁰

The number of States in compliance has decreased from 16 States that met this standard for FFY 2004 to 15 States for FFY 2005.²¹ During FFY 2005, 9 States were unable to provide the data needed to compute this measure using the Child File.

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Tables and Notes

The following pages contain the tables referenced in Chapter 3. 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 3-1

• The child disposition rate was computed by dividing the total count of children who were the subjects of an investigation (3,529,172) by the child population for the 51 States that reported these data (73,099,128) and multiplying by 1,000.
• Maryland counts are excluded from this table due to incomplete reporting.
• Most States investigate all children in the family. Siblings who were not the subject of an allegation and were not found as victims of maltreatment are categorized as no alleged maltreatment.

Table 3-2

• For 2005, the three data points—national population, the total estimated children subjects of an investigation, and the total estimated victims—include all States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Prior years do not include Puerto Rico.
• In 2005, Puerto Rico and Alaska provided data, which they were not able to provide in 2004. If data for Alaska and Puerto Rico were not included in computations for 2005, the disposition rate would remain at 48.3. The estimated total children subject of an investigation for 50 jurisdictions in 2005 would be 3,540,000, rather than 3,598,000. Controlling for both population growth and data submissions, the increase between 2004 and 2005 would be about 16,700 children or .5%.
• If data for Alaska and Puerto Rico were not included in computations for 2005, the victimization rate would change from 12.1 to 12.0, which is the same rate as was reported for 2004. The estimated total victims would be 881,000 for 50 jurisdictions rather than 899,000. Controlling for both population growth and data submissions, the increase between 2004 and 2005 would be approximately 1,700 children or .2%.
• The disposition rate and the victim rate were computed by dividing the respective counts of children by the population and multiplying by 1,000.
• The numbers of total estimated children who were subjects of an investigation and total estimated victims are rounded to the nearest 1,000. Prior to FFY 2005, if fewer than 51 States reported data, the total is an estimate based on multiplying the rate by the national child population for that year. Beginning with FFY 2005, if fewer than 52 States reported data, the total is an estimate based on multiplying the rate by the national child population for that year.

Table 3-3

• The rate of victims for each State was based on their number of victims divided by the State's child population, multiplied by 1,000.

Table 3-4

• States must have reported at least 15 percent of nonvictim data to be included in this analysis.

Table 3-5

• Only children with substantiated, indicated, or alternative response victim dispositions or a maltreatment death are included in this table.

Table 3-6

• A child may have been the victim of more than one type of maltreatment, and therefore, the total percent may equal more than 100.0.

Table 3-8

• Rates were based on the number of boy or girl victims divided by the boy or girl population, respectively, and multiplied by 1,000.

Table 3-9

• As this table does not contain data of children with unknown or missing age, the sum in the total column is not the total number of reported victims, but a sum of the data from the table by State.

Table 3-10

• A child may have been the victim of more than one type of maltreatment, and therefore, the total percent may equal more than 100.0.

Table 3-11

• Counts associated with specific racial groups, (e.g.,White) do not include Hispanic children.
• Rates were computed by dividing the victim count by the population count and multiplying by 1,000.
• States for which more than 50 percent of records were missing race or ethnicity data were excluded.

Table 3-12

• The category of multiple maltreatment types includes children who were the victims of any two or more types of maltreatment.

Table 3-13

• States that categorize more than 90 percent of data as unknown or missing were not included in this analysis.

Table 3-14

• Each victim is counted only once for each applicable disability category regardless of how many reports the child had. The column total victims with one or more disabilities counts each child only once regardless of how many disabilities were reported.

Table 3-15

• Reports within 24 hours of the initial report are not counted as recurrence. However, recurrence rates may be influenced by reports alleging the same maltreatment from additional sources if the State information system counts these as separate reports.
• The national average percent was taken from the national Child and Family Services Reviews and is not a calculation from the data in the table.

Table 3-16

• 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 "other" can include more than one person.
• The category of nonparental perpetrator is defined as a perpetrator who was not identified as a parent and includes other relative, foster parent, and residential facility staff, foster care staff, and legal guardian.
• States are included in this analysis only if they can link more than 74 percent of substantiated victims to perpetrators, report perpetrator relationship for more than 74 percent of perpetrators, and report data for multiple perpetrators per report.

Table 3-18

• States are included in this analysis only if they can link more than 74 percent of substantiated victims to perpetrators and report perpetrator relationship for more than 74 percent of perpetrators. The national average percent was taken from the national Child and Family Services Reviews and is not a calculation from the data in the table.

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Chapter Three: Figures and Tables

Notes

¹ This chapter is primarily about child victims, but includes some information about nonvictims and, therefore, has been renamed. This chapter is comparable to the chapter titled "Victims" in previous editions of Child Maltreatment. back
² Supporting data are provided in table 3-1, which is located at the end of this chapter. The child disposition rate was computed by dividing the total count of children who were the subjects of an investigation (3,529,172) by the child population for the 51 States that reported these data (73,099,128) and multiplying by 1,000. A national estimate of 3,598,000 children who were the subjects of an investigation was calculated by multiplying the child investigation rate (48.3) by the national child population (74,502,089) and dividing by 1,000. The total was rounded to the nearest 100,000. back
³ See table 3-2. back
⁴ See table 3-3. The victimization rate was computed by multiplying the number of total victims (899,454) by the child population for the 52 States that reported these data (74,502,089) and multiplying by 1,000. A national estimate of 899,000 child victims was calculated by rounding the number of total victims (899,454) to the nearest 1,000. back
⁵ See table 3-4. back
⁶ See table 3-5. back
⁷ See table 3-6. back
⁸ See table 3-7. back
⁹ See table 3-8. back
¹⁰ See table 3-9. back
¹¹ See table 3-10. Children may have been the victims of more than one type of maltreatment. back
¹² See table 3-11. back
¹³ See table 3-12. back
¹⁴ See table 3-13. Any State that categorized more than 90 percent of data as unknown or missing was removed. Analyses were based on data from 28 States. back
¹⁵ See table 3-14. back
¹⁶ The Data Measures, Data Composites, and National Standards to be Used in the Child and Family Services Reviews, 71 Fed. Reg. 109, 32973 (June 7, 2006). back
¹⁷ See table 3-15. back
¹⁸ See table 3-16. back
¹⁹ See table 3-17. back
²⁰ See footnote 16. back
²¹ See table 3-18. back

 

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