NUMBERS
AND TRENDS
March 2017
Child Maltreatment 2015:
Summary of Key Findings
This factsheet presents excerpts from Child
Maltreatment 2015, a report based on data
submissions by State child protective services (CPS)
agencies for Federal fiscal year (FFY) 2015. The full
WHAT’S INSIDE
Howmanyallegations
ofmaltreatment
werereportedand
investigated?
Child Maltreatment 2015 report is available on the
Whoreportedchild
maltreatment?
gov/programs/cb/resource/child-maltreatment-2015.
Whowerethechild
victims?
Children’s Bureau website at http://www.acf.hhs.
The report includes comparison statistics for the
last 5 years. These statistics indicate a decrease in
the overall rates of child victimization as well as an
increase in the overall rates of children who received
a response from a CPS agency.
States voluntarily provide statistics on child abuse
and neglect to the National Child Abuse and Neglect
Data System (NCANDS). Data from NCANDS are used
for the annual Child Maltreatment report. States have
their own definitions of child abuse and neglect based
on standards set by Federal law.1 States’ screening
policies and responses to maltreatment may differ, as
does what each State reports to NCANDS.
FormoreinformationaboutStatedefinitions,refertoChildWelfareInformation
Gateway’sDefinitions of Child Abuse and Neglectathttps://www.childwelfare.gov/
pubPDFs/define.pdf.
1
Children’sBureau/ACYF/ACF/HHS
800.394.3366|Email:[email protected]|https://www.childwelfare.gov
Whatwerethemost
commontypesof
maltreatment?
Howmanychildrendied
fromabuseorneglect?
Whoabusedand
neglectedchildren?
Whoreceivedservices,
andwhatdidthey
include?
Child Maltreatment 2015: Summary of Key Findings
How Many Allegations of Maltreatment
Were Reported and Investigated?
DuringFFY2015,CPSagenciesreceivedanestimated
4.0millionreferralsinvolvingtheallegedmaltreatment
ofapproximately7.2millionchildren.Thisestimateis
basedonanationalreferralrateof53.2referralsper1,000
childreninthepopulation.
Ofthesereferrals,approximately2.2millionreports
concerningapproximately4.1millionchildren(duplicate
count)werescreenedinas“appropriate”forCPS
response.2
ƒ Almostthree-fifths(58.2percent)ofreferralswere
screenedinforinvestigationorassessmentbyCPS
agenciesinthe44Statesthatreportedstatisticsfor
bothscreened-inandscreened-outreports.
ƒ Approximately3.4millionchildrenreceivedeitheran
investigationoralternativeresponse,withanational
rateof45.1childrenper1,000inthepopulation.
ƒ Approximatelyone-fifth(18.0percent)ofthechildren
investigatedwerefoundtobevictimsofabuse
orneglect—arateof9.2per1,000childreninthe
population.Theremainderofthechildreninvestigated
(82.0percent)werefoundtobenonvictimsof
maltreatment.Thefollowingarethedispositions
oftheinvestigations(duplicatecount):17.3percent
substantiated,0.7percentindicated,55.9percent
unsubstantiated,10.5percentnoallegedmaltreatment,
13.2percentalternative-responsenonvictim,3
1.6percentclosedwithnofinding,0.6percent“other,”
and0.1percentunknown.
Overtime,theChild Maltreatmentreportserieshastransitionedfrom
usingduplicatecountstouniquecountsformostanalyses.A“duplicate”
countofchildvictimscountsachildeachtimeheorshewasfoundtobe
avictim,whilea“unique”countofchildvictimscountsachildonlyonce,
regardlessofthenumberoftimesheorshewasfoundtobeavictim
duringthereportingyear.Allnumbersprovidedhereareuniquecounts
unlessnotedotherwise.
3
BeginningwithChild Maltreatment 2015,childrenreportedtoNCANDS
asalternative-responsevictimsoralternative-responsenonvictimswillbe
presentedinonecategory,regardlessofvictimstatus.
2
https://www.childwelfare.gov
Who Reported Child Maltreatment?
ForFFY2015,morethanthree-fifths(63.4percent)ofall
reportsofallegedchildabuseorneglectweremadeby
professionals.Theterm“professional”meansthatthe
personwhowasthesourceofthereporthadcontact
withtheallegedchildmaltreatmentvictimaspartof
theirjob.Themostcommonprofessionalreportsources
wereeducationpersonnel(18.4percent),legalandlaw
enforcementpersonnel(18.2percent),socialservices
staff(10.9percent),andmedicalpersonnel(9.1percent).
Professionalshavesubmittedmorethanone-halfofall
reportsforthepast5years.
Theremainingreportsweremadebynonprofessionals
(18.2percent),suchasfriends,neighbors,andrelatives,
orbyunclassifiedreporters(18.3percent),acategorythat
includesanonymousandunknownreporters.
Who Were the Child Victims?
InFFY2015,anestimated683,000childrenwerevictims
ofabuseandneglectnationwide,whichisarateof9.2
victimsper1,000childreninthepopulation.Thefollowing
isadditionalinformationaboutchildrenconfirmedas
victimsbyCPSagenciesinFFY2015:
ƒ Childrenintheagegroupofbirthto1yearhadthe
highestrateofvictimizationat24.2per1,000children
ofthesameagegroupinthenationalpopulation.
Theyoungestchildrenarethemostvulnerableto
maltreatment.
ƒ Slightlymorethanone-half(50.9percent)ofthechild
victimsweregirls,and48.6percentwereboys.The
genderwasunknownfor0.5percentofvictims.
ƒ Mostvictims(88.2percent)werefromthreeraces
orethnicities:African-American(21.4percent),
Hispanic(23.6percent),andWhite(43.2percent).
African-Americanchildrenhadthehighestrates
ofvictimizationat14.5per1,000childreninthe
populationofthesameraceorethnicity,andAmerican
IndianorAlaskaNativechildrenhadthesecondhighestrateat13.8per1,000children.
Thismaterialmaybefreelyreproducedanddistributed.However,whendoingso,pleasecreditChildWelfareInformationGateway.
Thispublicationisavailableonlineathttps://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/canstats/.
2
Child Maltreatment 2015: Summary of Key Findings
What Were the Most Common Types
of Maltreatment?
Asinpreviousyears,neglectwasoverwhelmingly
themostcommonformofchildmaltreatment.CPS
investigationsdeterminedthefollowing:4
ƒ 75.3 percent of victims suffered neglect.
ƒ 17.2 percent of victims suffered physical abuse.
ƒ 8.4 percent of victims suffered sexual abuse.
ƒ 6.2percentofvictimssufferedpsychological
maltreatment.
ƒ 2.2 percent of victims suffered medical neglect.
ƒ 6.9percentofvictimsexperienced“other”
maltreatment,whichmayincludethreatenedabuse
orparents’substanceabuse.Statesdefine“other”
differently,butitgenerallyreferstoanymaltreatment
thatdoesnotfitinoneofNCANDS’scategories.
Researchindicatesthatthereareriskfactorsfor
maltreatment,includingcaregiveralcoholabuseand
caregiverdrugabuse.AlthoughnotallStatesreportedon
allfactors,FFY2015NCANDSdatashowthefollowing:
ƒ 10.3percentofvictimsand5.5percentofnonvictims
werereportedwiththecaregiveralcoholabuserisk
factor.
ƒ 25.4percentofvictimsand8.1percentofnonvictims
werereportedwiththecaregiverdrugabuserisk
factor.
How Many Children Died From Abuse
or Neglect?
NCANDSdefines“childfatality”asthedeathofachild
causedbyaninjuryresultingfromabuseorneglector
whereabuseorneglectwasacontributingfactor.The
followingaredataregardingchildfatalitiesduetochild
maltreatmentduringFFY2015:
ƒ Anestimated1,670childrendiedduetoabuseor
neglect.
ƒ Theoverallrateofchildfatalitieswas2.25deathsper
100,000childreninthenationalpopulation.
4
https://www.childwelfare.gov
ƒƒ Closetothree-quarters(74.8percent)ofthechildren
whodiedduetochildabuseorneglectwereyounger
than3yearsold.
ƒ Nearlythree-quarters(72.9percent)ofchildfatalities
wereattributedtoneglectonlyoracombinationof
neglectandanothermaltreatmenttype,and43.9
percentofthechildrendiedexclusivelyfromphysical
abuseorfromphysicalabuseincombinationwith
anothermaltreatmenttype.
ƒ Boyshadaslightlyhigherchildfatalityratethan
girlsat2.42boysper100,000boysinthepopulation
comparedwith2.09girlsper100,000girlsinthe
population.
Formoreinformationaboutchildmaltreatmentfatalities,
includinginformationaboutwhatStatesandcommunities
aredoingtopreventfatalities,readInformationGateway’s
Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities 2015: Statistics and
Interventionsathttps://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/
factsheets/fatality.
Who Abused and Neglected Children?
NCANDStrackschildmaltreatmentbycaregivers,
includingparentsandotherhouseholdmemberswho
areresponsibleforchildren’swell-being.Thesecases
aregenerallyhandledbychildwelfareagencies.Cases
ofchildmaltreatmentbyout-of-homeperpetratorsare
consideredcriminalcasesandaregenerallyhandledby
lawenforcement.
InFFY2015,51Statesreportedatotalof522,476
perpetratorsofchildmaltreatment(eachperpetrator
countedonce,regardlessofthenumberofchildrenor
reportsinvolved).Thefollowingdatadescribethose
perpetrators:
ƒ Morethanfour-fifths(83.4percent)ofallperpetrators
werebetweentheagesof18and44years.
ƒ Morethanone-half(54.1percent)ofperpetratorswere
women,45.0percentofperpetratorsweremen,and
0.9percentwereofunknownsex.
Eachvictimcouldbecountedformultipleformsofmaltreatment.
This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Child Welfare Information Gateway.
This publication is available online at https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/canstats/.
3
https://www.childwelfare.gov
Child Maltreatment 2015: Summary of Key Findings
ƒ Thethreelargestcategoriesforperpetratorraceor
ethnicitywereWhite(48.7percent),African-American
(20.0percent),andHispanic(19.5percent).
ƒ Morethanthree-fifths(61.9percent)ofvictimsand
nearlyone-third(29.7percent)ofnonvictimsreceived
postresponseservices.
ƒ Thegreatmajorityofperpetratorswereparents—one
orbothparentsmaltreated91.6percentofvictims.
ƒ AmongtheStatesreportingabreakdownofservice
type,morethanone-fifth(22.9percent)ofvictimswho
receivedservicesand2.1percentofnonvictimswho
receivedserviceswereremovedfromtheirhomes
andreceivedfostercareservices.Theremaining
victimsandnonvictimswhoreceivedservicesreceived
in-homeservicesonly.
ƒ Approximately13.3percentofvictimsweremaltreated
byaperpetratorwhowasnotthechild’sparentand
whosometimesactedaloneandsometimeswithother
perpetrators.Thelargestcategoriesinthenonparent
groupweremalerelatives,malepartnerofparent,
and“other,”butthecategoryalsoincludedother
options,suchasdaycareproviders,fosterparents,and
unknown.
ƒ Morethanthree-fifths(61.5percent)ofperpetrators
maltreatedonevictim,morethanone-fifth(21.5
percent)maltreatedtwovictims,andtheremaining
10.3percentmaltreatedthreeormorevictims.
ƒ Sevenpercentofperpetratorswereinvolvedinmore
thanonereport.
Who Received Services, and What Did
They Include?
Asaresultofaninvestigationoralternativeresponse5,
CPSagenciesprovideservicestochildrenandtheir
families,bothinthehomeandinfostercare.The
followingdescribesservicesprovidedtochildren
(duplicatecount)inFFY2015:
ƒ Forty-sevenStatesreportedthatapproximately2.3
millionchildrenreceivedpreventionservices.
ƒ Approximately1.3millionchildrenreceived
postresponseservicesfromaCPSagency.
The statistics in the Child Maltreatment reports are
based on data submitted to NCANDS by the 50 States,
the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. NCANDS is a
voluntary reporting system that was developed by the
Children’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services to collect and analyze annual statistics
on child maltreatment from State CPS agencies. The
NCANDS Child File includes all children with an allegation
of maltreatment who are involved in investigations or
assessed and reach disposition during the year. The Child
File may include assessments that began in a previous
year but were completed in the current year, but it does
not include screened-in reports that have not yet reached
disposition.
Suggested citation:
ChildWelfareInformationGateway.(2017.)Child
maltreatment 2015: Summary of key findings. Washington,
DC:U.S.DepartmentofHealthandHumanServices,
Children’sBureau.
Alternativeresponseistheprovisionofaresponseotherthanan
investigationthatdetermineswhetherachildorfamilyneedsservices.
Adeterminationofmaltreatmentisnotmade,andaperpetratorisnot
determined.Postresponseservices,asmentionedinthesecondandthird
bullets,areactivitiesprovidedorarrangedbytheCPSagency,social
servicesagency,orthechildwelfareagencyforthechildorfamilyafter
needsarediscoveredduringaninvestigation.
5
U.S.DepartmentofHealthandHumanServices
AdministrationforChildrenandFamilies
AdministrationonChildren,YouthandFamilies
Children’sBureau