This factsheet presents
excerpts from Child Maltreatment 2003,
a report based on data submissions by
the States for Federal Fiscal Year 2003.
The National Child Abuse and Neglect
Data System was developed by the
Children's Bureau of the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services in
partnership with the States to collect
annual statistics on child maltreatment
from State child protective services
(CPS) agencies.1
The press release announcing these data
is available on the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services website at
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2005.html.
The full Child Maltreatment 2003
report is available on the Children's
Bureau website at
http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/cb/publications/cmreports.htm.
Limited print copies are available from
the National Clearinghouse on Child
Abuse and Neglect Information.
Victims
An estimated 906,000 children were
determined to be victims of child abuse
or neglect in 2003. The rate of
victimization per 1,000 children in the
national population has dropped from
13.4 children in 1990 to 12.4 children
in 2003.
More than 60 percent of child victims
experienced neglect. Almost 19 percent
were physically abused, 10 percent were
sexually abused, and 5 percent were
emotionally maltreated. In addition, 17
percent were associated with "other"
types of maltreatment, based on specific
State laws and policies.
2
Children ages birth to 3 years had
the highest rates of victimization at
16.4 per 1,000 children of the same age
group. Girls were slightly more likely
to be victims than boys.
Pacific Islander, American Indian or
Alaska Native, and African-American
children had the highest rates of
victimization when compared to their
national population. While the rate of
White victims of child abuse or neglect
was 11.0 per 1,000 children of the same
race, the rate for Pacific Islanders was
21.4 per 1,000 children, the rate for
American Indian or Alaska Natives was
21.3 per 1,000 children, and the rate
for African-Americans was 20.4 per 1,000
children.
Reports of Child Abuse and Neglect
In 2003, an estimated 2.9 million
referrals concerning the welfare of
approximately 5.5 million children were
made to CPS agencies throughout the
United States. Of these, approximately
two-thirds (an estimated 1.9 million)
were accepted for investigation or
assessment; one-third were not accepted.
More than one-half (57 percent) of
all reports that alleged child abuse or
neglect were made by such professionals
as educators, law enforcement and legal
personnel, social services personnel,
medical personnel, mental health
personnel, child daycare providers, and
foster care providers. Such
nonprofessionals as friends, neighbors,
and relatives submitted approximately 43
percent of reports.
Approximately 30 percent of the
reports that were investigated included
at least one child who was found to be a
victim of abuse or neglect. Fifty-eight
percent of the reports were found to be
unsubstantiated (including those that
were intentionally false); the remaining
reports were closed for additional
reasons.
Fatalities
Child fatalities are the most tragic
consequence of maltreatment. For 2003,
an estimated 1,500 children died due to
abuse or neglect. More than
three-quarters (79 percent) of children
who were killed were younger than 4
years old; 10 percent were 4 to 7 years
old; 5 percent were 8 to 11 years old;
and 6 percent were 12 to 17 years old.
Infant boys (younger than 1 year) had
the highest rate of fatalities, with
nearly 18 deaths per 100,000 boys of the
same age in the national population.
Infant girls (younger than 1 year) had a
rate of 14 deaths per 100,000. The
overall rate of child fatalities was 2
deaths per 100,000 children. More than
one-third of child fatalities were
attributed to neglect. Physical abuse
also was a major contributor to
fatalities.
Perpetrators
Approximately 80 percent of
perpetrators were parents. Other
relatives accounted for 6 percent, and
unmarried partners of parents accounted
for 4 percent of perpetrators. The
remaining perpetrators included persons
with other (camp counselor, school
employee, etc.) or unknown relationships
to the child victims.
Female perpetrators, who were mostly
mothers, were typically younger than
male perpetrators, who were mostly
fathers. Women also comprised a larger
percentage of all perpetrators than men:
58 percent compared to 42 percent.
Of all parents who were perpetrators,
fewer than 3 percent were associated
with sexual abuse. More than
three-quarters of perpetrators who were
friends or neighbors committed sexual
abuse.
Services
Approximately 57 percent of victims
and 25 percent of nonvictims received
services as a result of an investigation
or assessment. Additional analyses
indicated that children who were prior
victims of maltreatment were 52 percent
more likely to receive services than
first-time victims. Additionally,
children with multiple types of
maltreatment were 73 percent more likely
to receive services than children who
were victims of physically abuse only.
Services included both in-home and
foster care services. Approximately 15
percent of child victims were placed in
foster care. About 3 percent of
nonvictims also experienced a
removal-usually a short-term placement
during the course of the investigation.
1 CPS agencies respond to
referrals regarding harm to children
caused by parents or primary caregivers.
Incidents of harm to children caused by
other people, such as acquaintances and
strangers, are not included in these
data. back
2 These numbers add up to
more than 100 percent because some
children were victims of more than one
type of maltreatment.
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