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The National Child Abuse and Neglect Data
System (NCANDS) is a federally sponsored effort that collects
and analyzes annual data on child abuse and neglect. The data
are submitted voluntarily by the States, the District of Columbia
and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. State laws determine
what is considered abuse, maltreatment or neglect in each
state and these laws can vary from state to state. The information
that is collected in each state also varies.
The reader is requested to remember that
the data presented here are provided voluntarily by each state
and compiled by NCANDS. The first report from NCANDS was based
on data for 1990; the most recent report, Child Maltreatment
2006, published in 2008, reports on data collected
from October 1, 2005 through September 30, 2006. Most of the
statistics in this course come from the US Department of Health
and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families'
Child Maltreatment 2006 (USDHHS-ACF, 2008).
The National Picture
For Federal fiscal year 2006, an estimated
3.6 million referrals alleging child abuse or neglect were
made to State and local child protective services (CPS) agencies
for investigation or assessment. Of the children who received
an investigation, approximately one-quarter (25.2%) were determined
to have been abused or neglected. In 2006, 905,000 children
were determined to have been victims of child abuse or maltreatment
in the US (USDHHS-ACF, 2008).
The rate of all children who received a disposition
increased from 43.8 per 1,000 children in 2002 to 47.8 per
1,000 children in 2006. The national estimates are based upon
counting a child each time he or she was the subject of a
CPS investigation. While almost a million children were determined
to be victims of child maltreatment, the rate of victimization
has decreased slightly since 1990. The rate of victimization
per 1,000 children in the national population has dropped
from 13.4 children in 1990 to 12.3 per 1,000 children in 2002
to 12.1 per 1,000 children in 2006 (USDHHS-ACF, 2008).
During 2006, 64.1 percent of victims experienced
neglect, 16.0 percent were physically abused, 8.8 percent
were sexually abused, 6.6 percent were psychologically maltreated,
and 2.2 percent were medically neglected. In addition, 15.1
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 (USDHHS-ACYF, 2008).
Child fatalities are the most tragic consequence
of maltreatment.For 2006, an estimated 1,530 children died
due to child abuse or neglect (USDHHS-ACF, 2008). This is
a 4.8 percent increase from the 1,460 fatalities that occurred
the previous year (PCA-NY, n.d.). The overall rate of child
fatalities was 2.04 deaths per 100,000 children. The rate
of 2.04 is an increase from the rate for 2005 of 1.96 per
100,000 children. This increase can be attributed to better
reporting practices and is not necessarily an increase in
the number of fatalities (USDHHS-ACF, 2008). Neglect was the
cause in 41.1% of fatalities; combinations of maltreatments
accounted for 31.4%, and physical abuse was the cause in 22.4%
of cases. Medical neglect accounted for 1.9% of fatalities
(USDHHS-ACF, 2008).
Ken Howard, USDA
Characteristics
of Child Victims
Generally, the rate of victimization was
inversely related to the age group of the child; the youngest
children had the highest rate of victimization. Children younger
than 4 years are the most vulnerable for many reasons, including
their dependency, small size, and inability to defend themselves
(USDHHS-ACF, 2005). The rate of child victimization for the
age group of birth to 1 year was 24.4 per 1,000 children of
the same age group. The victimization rate for children in
the age group of 1-3 years was 14.2 per 1,000 children in
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 (USDHHS-ACF, 2008).
Nearly three-quarters of child victims (72.2%)
ages birth to 1 year and age group of 1-3 (72.9%) were neglected
compared with 55.0 percent of victims ages 16 years and older.
For victims in the age group of 4-7 years 15.3 percent were
physically abused and 8.2 percent were sexually abused, compared
with 20.1 percent and 16.5 percent, respectively, for victims
in the age group of 12-15 years old (USDHHS-ACF, 2008).
More than three-quarters (78.0%) of children
who were killed were younger than 4 years of age, 11.9 percent
were 4-7 years of age, 4.8 percent were 8-11 years of age,
and 5.4 percent were 12-17 years of age (USDHHS-ACF, 2008).
In 2006, girls were more likely than boys
to be maltreated; 48.2 percent of child victims were boys,
and 51.5 percent of the victims were girls (USDHHS-ACF, 2008).
However, infant boys (younger than 1 year old) had the highest
rate of fatalities, 18.5 deaths per 100,000 boys of the same
age in the national population. Infant girls had a rate of
14.7 deaths per 100,000 girls of the same age (USDDHS-ACF,
2008).
Of the children maltreated in 2006, almost
one-half of all victims were White (48.8%); almost one-quarter
(22.8%) were African-American; and 18.4 percent were Hispanic.
For all racial categories, the largest percentage of victims
suffered from neglect (USDDH-ACF, 2008).
African-American children, American Indian
or Alaska Native children, and Pacific Islander children had
the highest rates of victimization at 19.8, 15.9, and 15.4
per 1,000 children of the same race or ethnicity, respectively.
White children and Hispanic children had rates of approximately
10.7 and 10.8 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 (USDDH-ACF, 2008).
Child victims who were reported with a disability
accounted for 7.7 percent of all victims. Children with the
following risk factors were considered as having a disability:
mental retardation, emotional disturbance, visual impairment,
learning disability, physical disability, behavioral problems,
or another medical problem. In general, children with such
conditions are undercounted as not every child receives a
clinical diagnostic assessment by CPS. Three percent of victims
had behavior problems; 1.9 percent of victims were emotionally
disturbed. A victim could have been reported with more than
one type of disability (USDHHS-ACF, 2008).
Reporters
of Child Maltreatment
Professionals submitted more than one-half
(56.3%) of the reports. "Professional" indicates that the
person encountered the alleged victim as part of the report
source's occupation. State laws require most professionals
to notify CPS agencies of suspected maltreatment. The categories
of professionals include teachers, legal staff or police officers,
social services staff, medical staff, mental health workers,
child daycare workers, and foster care providers. The three
most common sources of reports in 2006 were from professionals-teachers
(16.5%), lawyers or police officers (15.8%), and social services
staff (10.0%) (USDHHS-ACF, 2008).
Non-professionals submitted almost 44% of
reports. These reports were made by parents, relatives, friends
and neighbors, alleged victims, alleged perpetrators, anonymous
callers, and "other" sources (which may include clergy members,
sports coaches, camp counselors, bystanders, volunteers, and
foster siblings). The three largest groups of nonprofessional
reporters were anonymous (8.2%), "other" (8.0%) and other
relatives (7.8%) (USDHHS-ACF, 2008).
The data for victims of specific types of
maltreatment were analyzed in terms of the report sources.
Of victims of physical abuse, 24.2 percent were reported by
teachers, 23.1 percent were reported by police officers or
lawyers, and 12.1 percent were reported by medical staff.
In physical abuse cases, 74.9 percent were reported by professionals
and 25.1 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 (27.1%) and the largest percentage
of sexual abuse victims (28.1%) (USDHHS-ACF, 2008).
In the State of
Iowa
The same NCANDS data that provided information
for Child Maltreatment 2006 also provided state-specific information
related to certain categories of information. Much of the
following information has been obtained for Iowa from the
same document.
In 2006, 14,589 Iowa children were abused
or neglected (USDHHS-ACF, 2008). There were 42,457 reports
of child abuse or neglect in 2006. Of the 25,029 reports that
were accepted, involving 38,767 children, 15,619 reports were
unsubstantiated as situations of child abuse, while 9,410
reports were substantiated. Those reports of substantiated
abuse involved 14,589 children. There are more victims than
reports because some reports involve more than one child.
The rate of child victimization in Iowa in 2006 was 20.5,
while the national rate was 12.1, indicating that Iowa has
a higher rate of child abuse than the national rate. Additionally,
Iowa's rate of victimization has been rising since 2002, when
the victimization rate was 16.9; in 2003, the rate increased
to 18.6; in 2004 it increased to 19.4; in 2005 the victimization
rate was 19.7. It is not clear why the rate is increasing.
It may be due to an increase in actual victimization, however
it may also be related to better reporting and investigation.
In Iowa, of the 14,589 children who were
maltreated in 2006 (USDHHS-ACF, 2008):
- 11,581 children, or 79.4% were neglected;
- 1,888 children, or 12.9% were physically abused;
- 146 children, or 1% were medically neglected;
- 789 children, or 5.4% were sexually abused;
- 97 children, or 0.7% were psychologically abused;
- 1,524 children, or 10.4 endured other types of maltreatment.
The "other" types of maltreatment include, for example, abandonment,
threats of harm, or congenital drug addiction. Totals are
more than 100% because a child may be the victim of more than
one type of maltreatment. In Iowa in 2006, 6 children died
as a result of abuse or neglect, a fatality rate of 0.84 per
100,000 children. This is a decrease from 2005 when 9 children
died in Iowa as a result of maltreatment (USDHHS-ACF, 2008).
Continue to Legal
Definitions Related to Child Maltreatment
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