Appendix C Technical Notes
In this section, notes are provided on the data validation and analytic procedures used in this report.
Calculation of Rates
Unless otherwise noted, rates were calculated using the number per 1,000 children younger than age 18 in the reporting States. Population data on children younger than 18 years of age by State were supplied by the U.S. Bureau of the Census. 1996 Census population estimates were downloaded from the Internet at http://www.census.gov/population/estimates/state/96agesex.txt.
Comparisons of 1990 Data to 1996 Data
In comparing data from 1990 and 1996, only those States able to report an item for both 1990 and 1996 are used. Thus the number of States included in the comparisons of various data items may differ from the total number of States reporting in 1996.
Data Tables
An italicized number in the data tables indicates that it has been estimated. Columns referring to data type use "D" to specify duplicated counts and "U" to specify unduplicated counts.
Number of Reports (Item 1)
The number of reports alleging child maltreatment was estimated for Wyoming based on the most recent data submission from the State. In 1993, Wyoming submitted data on 3,908 reports received and referred for investigation. The 1993 estimated child population for the State was 136,308, resulting in a rate of 28.67 reports per 1,000 children. The 1996 State population of children under 18 years of age was multiplied by 28.67 to estimate 3,821 reports in 1996.
Number of Children Subject of a Report (Item 2)
The number of children who were the subject of a report was estimated for Colorado, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada, Oregon, West Virginia, and Wyoming. The mean ratio of children to incident-based reports was calculated using data from all States able to report on item 1 and
item 2. With the exception of the Virgin Islands, the duplicated counts of children were used. The Tukey biweight estimator was applied to reduce the effect of outliers. The resulting multiplier of 1.6107 was used to calculate the number of children in reports for each of the remaining States.
Report Dispositions by Source of Report, DCDC (Table 2-1)
The distribution of report dispositions by report source is based upon Detailed Case Data Component (DCDC) data from 11 States. The DCDC category "Child Day Care Providers" includes both child day care providers and substitute care providers.
Two-tier and Three-tier States (Item 6)
The 1996 rate of victimization for the two-tier States is based on the number of child victims per 1,000 children under the age of 18 years in 36 States. The three-tier rate is based on the number of children with substantiated or indicated dispositions per 1,000 children under the age of 18 years in 13 States, including the Virgin Islands.
Children by Disposition, 1990 and 1996 (Figure 2-3)
The comparison of dispositions is based on the 33 States that provided data on all dispositional categories in both 1990 and 1996.
Child Victims by State, 1990 and 1996 (Table 2-2)
Table 2-2 uses data from the 44 States that provided data on children for whom the disposition was substantiated or indicated in both years. States that were unable to provide counts on children with unsubstantiated allegations of maltreatment were not excluded from this comparison, as they were in Figure 2-3.
Victims by Maltreatment Type
The discussion of percentages of victims by type of maltreatment reports on the 48 States that provided data for item 6, "Children by Disposition," and item 7, "Number of Victims by Maltreatment Type." (North Dakota is excluded from these calculations because the State provided a count of victims, but did not report on types of maltreatment.) For example, in calculating the percentage of child victims of physical abuse, the number of physical abuse maltreatments was used as the numerator, and the number of substantiated and indicated child victims was used as the denominator. The result was multiplied by 100.
Types of Maltreatment, 1990 and 1996 (Figure 2-4)
The comparison of maltreatments suffered by victims in 1990 and 1996 is based on the 31 States that provided data on substantiated and unsubstantiated dispositions and on types of maltreatment in both years. Percentages are based on the number of maltreatments suffered by 558,234 victims in 1990 and 572,943 victims in 1996.
Age of Victims (Item 8)
Most States provided age data in 1-year increments, but some States reported data by age groups (e.g., ages 0-2, ages 3-5). For these States the number of victims was estimated for each age by dividing the grouped figure by the number of years included in that group.
Type of Maltreatment by Age of Victim, DCDC (Table 2-3)
In analyzing data from the DCDC, each type of maltreatment is counted only once for each uniquely identified victim. For example, a victim whose records include two incidents of physical abuse and one incident of sexual abuse is counted once for physical abuse and once for sexual abuse. This also applies to table 2-4 and table 2-5.
Race/Ethnicity of Victims
Population of children under the age of 18 years of age by race is based on 1994 Census population estimates downloaded from the Internet at: http://www.census.gov/ population/estimates/state/sasrh/sasrh94.txt. In figure 2-6, percentages of victims by race/ethnicity do not include children reported to be of "Unknown" or "Other" race.
Victim Outcomes (Items 11 and 12)
For some States, the number of victims removed from the home or for whom court action was reported also includes the siblings of these victims. The column on data type indicates whether each State has reported these numbers based on counts of only victims (V) or based on counts of victims and siblings (S).
Victims and Families Receiving Additional Services (Item 13)
For most States, the numbers of victims and families receiving additional services do not include information on services that are not captured on the State child protective services information system.
Fatality Rates (Item 14)
For a national estimate, a ratio of fatalities to the child population in the States providing fatality data was computed. (The Virgin Islands was excluded from the national estimate.) The Tukey biweight estimator was computed on the mean rate. The resulting multiplier of 1.454 was used on the population of the remaining States and the District of Columbia. The sum of these figures is used as an estimate of the national number of child fatalities.
Relationship of Perpetrator to Victim (Item 15)
States that count perpetrators by incident may count fewer perpetrator relationships than States that use victim-based reporting, because an incident may include more than one child victim. States that use victim-based reporting are noted in the column labeled "Data Type" with a "V." States that collect data on perpetrators by incident are noted with an "I."
Type of Maltreatment by Sex of Perpetrator, DCDC (Table 2-8)
In analyzing data from the DCDC, each type of maltreatment is counted only once for each uniquely identified perpetrator. For example, a perpetrator who is associated with two incidents of physical abuse and one incident of sexual abuse is counted once for physical abuse and once for sexual abuse. Perpetrators with missing data are not included in this table.
Armed Services Victims by Maltreatment Type
The percentages of victims by maltreatment type are calculated using the number of victims (7,961) as the denominator.
