Earlier this week, the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families and Children’s Bureau released the 2014 edition of their annual Child Maltreatment report.
The report summarizes and analyzes data provided by the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), a federally sponsored data collection effort that prompts analysis of state child abuse and neglect information. According to the report, NCANDS has amassed data yearly since 1991; this is its 25th edition.
Since 1992, the Child Maltreatment report series has evolved into an important document influencing policy-makers, researchers and child welfare advocates. It covers the four types of child maltreatment recognized by most states: neglect, physical abuse, psychological maltreatment and sexual abuse.
During 2014, Child Protective Services received reports involving approximately 6.6 million children. These came from professionals (62.7% of reports), non-professionals (18.6%) and unclassified sources (18.7%). The report provides profiles of each state’s 2014 child maltreatment statistics, including contact information of each state’s analyst.
Key findings of the report, as described in the report’s opening letter from Acting Assistant Secretary Mark Greenberg and Commissioner Rafael J. López, are as follows:
- The national estimates of children who received an investigation or alternative response increased 7.4 percent from 2010 (3,023,000) to 2014 (3,248,000).
- The number and rate of victims of maltreatment have fluctuated during the past five years. Comparing the national estimate of victims from 2010 (698,000) to 2014 (702,000) show an increase of less than 1 percent.
- Three-quarters (75.0 percent) of victims were neglected, 17.0 percent were physically abused, and 8.3 percent were sexually abused.
- For 2014, a nationally estimated 1,580 children died of abuse and neglect at a rate of 2.13 per 100,000 children in the national population.
The full report can be found here.