Appendix C: Highlights of Findings From Child Maltreatment 2001

Highlights of Findings¹

The following is a list of key findings from Child Maltreatment 2001.

Reports

Each week CPS agencies receive more than 50,000 referrals alleging that children have been abused or neglected. More than two-thirds of referrals were screened in by CPS agencies because they were deemed appropriate for investigation or assessment.

Nationally, 67.4 percent of all referrals (approximately 1,802,000) were screened in (also called reports) and 32.5 percent (approximately 870,000) were screened out.
Professionals submitted more than half (56.5%) of the screened-in referrals. Nonprofessional report sources, which include family and community members, submitted the remaining 43.5 percent of screened-in referrals.
Most States have established time standards for initiating the investigation of reports. The average response time from submission of the report to investigation was 50 hours.
More than one-quarter of investigations or assessments resulted in a "Substantiated" (27.5%), "Indicated" (4.4%), or "Alternative Response Victim" (0.4%) disposition, meaning that at least one child involved in an investigation was determined to be a victim. More than half (59.2%) of investigations led to a finding that the alleged maltreatment was "Unsubstantiated."²
The average number of investigations per investigation/assessment worker was 69 per year.

Victims

Victims of maltreatment are defined as children who experienced or who were at risk of experiencing abuse or neglect.

Nationally, an estimated 903,000 children were victims of abuse and neglect in 2001. Statistically, the 2001 victimization rate of 12.4 is comparable to the 2000 rate of 12.2 per 1,000 children. This is especially true as the 2001 child population base numbers were estimated. Both the 2000 and 2001 rates are lower than the 1998 rate. The 1999 rate is considered an outlier (extreme value) that was unduly influenced by the census population estimates.
During 2001, 57.2 percent of victims suffered neglect (including medical neglect), 18.6 percent were physically abused, and 9.6 percent were sexually abused; 26.6 percent of victims were associated with additional types of maltreatment.
Percentages were similar for male and female victims (48.0% and 51.5% respectively).The sex for 0.5 percent of child victims was unknown or not reported.
Children in the age group of birth to 3 years accounted for 27.7 percent of victims. Victimization percentages declined as age increased.
More than half of all victims were White (50.2%); one-quarter (25.0%) were African American; and one-sixth (14.5%) were Hispanic. American Indians and Alaska Natives accounted for 2.0 percent of victims, and Asian-Pacific Islanders accounted for 1.3 percent of victims.
Children who had been victimized in a prior year were more than twice as likely to experience recurrence compared to children without a history of victimization.

Perpetrators

A perpetrator of child abuse or neglect is defined as a parent or caretaker who has maltreated a child.

Women comprised 59.3 percent of all perpetrators, while men comprised 40.7 percent. Female perpetrators were typically younger than male perpetrators —42.3 percent of females compared to 31.9 percent of males were younger than 30 years old.
A child was most likely to be victimized by his or her mother (40.5%). One "Parent," acting alone, accounted for 80.9 percent of all perpetrators.³
For almost every type of perpetrator, neglect was the most common type of maltreatment.
Almost one-third (31.5%) of perpetrators with a relationship code of "Other Relative" were associated with sexual abuse. Only 4.7% perpetrators coded as "Parent" were associated with sexual abuse.

Fatalities

Child fatality estimates are based on data recorded by CPS agencies or other agencies, such as a coroner's office or fatality review boards.

Nationally, an estimated 1,300 children died of abuse or neglect —a rate of 1.81 children per 100,000 children in the population.
Approximately 1.5 percent of child fatalities occurred in foster care.
Children younger than 1 year old accounted for 40.9 percent of fatalities, and 84.5 percent of fatalities were younger than 6 years of age.
Maltreatment deaths were more often associated with neglect alone (35.6%) than with any other type of abuse.
Less than 10 percent (8.8%) of the families of child fatality victims had received family preservation services in the 5 years prior to the deaths, while less than 1 percent (0.9%) of child fatality victims had been in foster care and returned to their families within 5 years prior to their deaths.

Services

CPS agencies provide services to prevent future instances of child abuse or neglect and to remedy conditions that have come to the attention of the child welfare agency. Preventive services are provided to parents whose children are at risk of abuse or neglect. Postinvestigation services are offered to families on a voluntary basis by child welfare agencies or are ordered by the courts to ensure the safety of children. Data on postinvestigation services are reported if the services were provided within 90 days of the disposition of the report.

Nationally, an estimated two million children were recipients of preventive services.
The weighted average time from the start of an investigation to provision of service was 48 days.
More than half, 58.4 percent, of the child victims (an estimated 528,000), received postinvestigation services, while more than one-quarter, 28.8 percent, of nonvictims (an estimated 629,000 children), received postinvestigation services.
About a fifth of victims (19.0%) were removed from their homes as a result of investigations or assessments. In addition, 4.7 percent of nonvictims were placed in foster care. Nationally it is estimated that more than 275,000 children were placed in foster care as a result of child abuse investigations or assessments.
Court actions were initiated for 17.5 percent (an estimated 90,000) of victims. Nearly one-fifth of victims (18.3%) were reported as having court-appointed representatives.

¹ Highlights denoted with an asterisk (*) designate data elements required by CAPTA. back
² Terms that are capitalized and in quotation marks refer to data values used in NCANDS. Terms that are not capitalized and in quotation marks refer to data values that are State specific. back
³ In this report, the terms "Parent,""Mother," and "Father" include biological parent, adoptive parent, and stepparent. back

Children's Bureau Administration on Children, Youth and Families

National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS)
Summary of Key Findings from Calendar Year 2000
April 2002

The National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) was developed by the Children's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Human Services in partnership with the States to collect annual statistics on child maltreatment from State child protective services agencies. This summary of key findings presents highlights based on data submissions by the States for calendar year 2000.

Investigations of Child Abuse and Neglect

In 2000, three million referrals concerning the welfare of approximately five million children were made to CPS agencies throughout the United States. Of these, approximately two-thirds (62%) were screened in; one-third (38%) were screened out. Screened-in referrals alleging that a child was being abused or neglected received investigations or assessments to determine whether the allegations of maltreatment could be substantiated. Some of the screened-out reports were referred to the attention of other service agencies.
Professionals, including teachers, law enforcement officers, social services workers, and physicians, made more than half (56%) of the screened-in reports. Others, including family members, neighbors, and other members of the community, made the remaining 44 percent of screened-in referrals.
Almost one-third of investigations or assessments (32%) resulted in a finding that the child was maltreated or at risk of maltreatment. The remaining investigations resulted in a finding that the maltreatment did not occur, the child was not at risk of maltreatment, or there was insufficient information to make a determination.

Victims of Maltreatment

Approximately 879,000 children were found to be victims of child maltreatment. Maltreatment categories typically include neglect, medical neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and psychological maltreatment. Almost two-thirds of child victims (63%) suffered neglect (including medical neglect); 19 percent were physically abused; 10 percent were sexually abused; and 8 percent were psychologically maltreated.
The rate of child victims per 1,000 children in the population had been decreasing steadily from 15.3 victims per 1,000 children in the population in 1993 to 11.8 victims per 1,000 children in the population in 1999. The victimization rate increased slightly to 12.2 per 1,000 children in the year 2000. Whether or not this is a trend cannot be determined until additional data are collected. Victimization rates declined as age increased. The rate of victimization for children in the age group of birth to 3 years old was 15.7 victims per 1,000 children of the same age. The rate of victimization for children ages 16 and 17 was 5.7 victims per 1,000 children of the same age in the population.
Victimization rates were similar for male and female victims (11.2 and 12.8 per 1,000 children respectively) except for victims of sexual abuse. The rate for sexual abuse was 1.7 victims per 1,000 female children compared to 0.4 victims per 1,000 male children. More than half of all victims were White (51%); a quarter (25%) were African American; 15 percent were Hispanic. American Indian/Alaska Natives accounted for 2 percent of victims, and Asian/Pacific Islanders accounted for 1 percent of victims.¹

Perpetrators

Most States define perpetrators of child abuse or neglect as parents and other caretakers, such as relatives, babysitters, and foster parents, who have maltreated a child. Sixty percent of perpetrators were females and 40 percent were males. The median age of female perpetrators was 31 years; the median age of male perpetrators was 34 years.
More than 80 percent of victims (84%) were abused by a parent or parents. Mothers acting alone were responsible for 47 percent of neglect victims and 32 percent of physical abuse victims. Nonrelatives, fathers acting alone, and other relatives were responsible for 29 percent, 22 percent and 19 percent, respectively, of sexual abuse victims.

Fatalities

Child fatalities are the most tragic consequence of maltreatment. Approximately 1,200 children died of abuse or neglect in the year 2000-a rate of 1.71 children per 100,000 children in the population. The increase in the rate of fatalities compared to earlier years is hypothesized to be largely attributable to improved reporting.²
Youngest children were the most vulnerable. Children younger than one year old accounted for 44 percent of child fatalities and 85 percent of child fatalities were younger than 6 years of age.

Services

Services to prevent the abuse or neglect of children were provided by various State and local agencies to an estimated three million children. Because of the difficulties in collecting these data, this may be an undercount.
More than half of the child victims (55% or an estimated 478,000) received services-including about one-fifth of all victims who were removed from their homes and placed in foster care-as a result of the investigation or assessment conducted by the child protective services agency. In addition, approximately one-fifth of children who were not found to be victims of maltreatment (19% or an estimated 385,000 children) also received services.

Summary

Child abuse and neglect continues to be a significant problem in the United States. These statistics can help us understand the scope of the problem, who is affected, and what type of services are being provided by State and local agencies.

¹ The percentages do not add to 100% due to missing data. back
² Child fatality estimates are based on data recorded by CPS agencies or such other agencies as the coroner's office or fatality review boards as to factors leading to the death of a child. Reported deaths may have not yet been the subject of court proceedings to determine the cause of death. back

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