Child Abuse Facts
We Never Forget that behind every statistic is a real person who needs our help.
In the US:
- Over 2.5 million reports of child maltreatment (involving 3.7 million children) were received and of those, nearly 1.6 million had an investigation or assessment.
- Approximately 763,000 children (duplicate confirmations for same child) and 702,000 (unique children) were confirmed cases of child abuse or neglect. Of the unique children:
- 51.1% were girls, 48.2% were boys, 0.6% not reported
- 44.0% were White, 22.3% were African-American, 20.7% were Hispanic, 7.5% were unknown, 3.2% were multiple race, 1.1% were American Indian or Alaska Native, 0.9% were Asian, and 0.2% were Pacific Islander
- 1,770 children died at the hand of their abusers.
- More than 79% of the children killed were under four years of age.
- Approximately 80% of all child abuse is perpetrated by parents.
US Department of Health & Human Services FFY2009 Child Maltreatment Report
In Colorado:
- Over 52,000 reports of child abuse and neglect were received and of those, nearly 34,000 cases reported were investigated for child abuse and neglect.
- 11,339 children were confirmed cases of abuse or neglect in Colorado.
- 36 died from child abuse or neglect (32 in 2008, 27 in 2007, 24 in 2006, 20 in 2005, 35 in 2004 and 27 in 2003)
- Nearly 2/3 of all maltreated children in Colorado (62%) live in the Denver metropolitan area.
2009 statistics from the State of Colorado: Division of Child Welfare, CO Department of Human Services
4th National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS-4)
Fourth National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS-4) executive summary and full NIS-4 report:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/abuse_neglect/natl_incid/index.html
Other discussions about the decline can be found here:
http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/Trends/index.html
