Letter from the Associate Commissioner:
Child Maltreatment 2006
Administration for Children and Families |
Letter from the Associate Commissioner:
I am pleased to present Child Maltreatment 2006. This 17th annual report of data collected via the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) is for Federal fiscal year 2006. It reflects our commitment to provide the most complete national information about child maltreatment known to the States' child protective services (CPS) agencies. Key findings in this report include the following.
- The rate and number of children who were victims of child abuse or neglect is lower for FFY 2006 than it was five years ago. During 2002, children were abused or neglected at a rate of 12.3 per thousand children in the population resulting in an estimated 910,000 victims; for 2006, the rate was 12.1, resulting in an estimated 905,000 victims.
- The rate and number of all children who received an investigation or assessment increased since 2002. For 2002, the rate was 43.8 children per thousand in the population, resulting in an estimated 3,240,000 children who received an investigation or assessment; for 2006, the rate was 47.8 resulting in an estimated 3,573,000 children.
- Nationally, 64.2 percent of child victims experienced neglect, 16.0 percent were physically abused, 8.8 percent were sexually abused, and 6.6 percent were emotionally or psychologically maltreated. Rates of victimization by maltreatment type have fluctuated only slightly during the past several years.
- For 2006, a nationally estimated 1,530 children died of abuse or neglect at a rate of 2.04 children per 100,000 in the national population.
Included in this report are additional national- and State-level findings about perpetrators of maltreatment, CPS workload, and preventive and postinvestigation services.
I hope that you find this report to be a useful reference. The document is posted on the Web site of the Administration for Children and Families at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/index.htm#can. Due to the availability of the Child Maltreatment reports on the Internet and the yearly increased usage of the Internet for accessing information contained in these reports, the 2006 report will be the last year that the Child Maltreatment report will be available in print format. For additional copies of the report and other information about child maltreatment, contact the Child Welfare Information Gateway at 1–800–394–3366 or http://www.childwelfare.gov/.
Sincerely, Christine M. Calpin |
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