Fourth National Incidence Study Shows Overall Decrease in Maltreatment
[from the Child Welfare League of America, Children's Monitor Online 2/08/10]
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released the Fourth National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS-4). The last NIS was published in 1996, and, like that one, this congressionally mandated study surveys professionals from dozens of U.S. counties. The analysis includes children who were investigated by CPS agencies, but it also obtains data on children seen by community professionals who were not reported to CPS or who were screened out by CPS without investigation. This means NIS estimates provide a more comprehensive measure of the scope of child abuse and neglect known to community professionals, including abused and neglected children who are in the official statistics and those who are not.
The study indicated that the incidence of maltreatment between this and the 1996 study went down by 19%, compared to an increase of 56% between the second and third studies. Overall 1.256 million children experienced maltreatment during the study year, 2005-2006. Of that total 44% (553,000 children) were abused, 61% (771,000 children) were neglected. Of the abused children 58% (323,000 children) experienced physical abuse and 24% (135,300 children) were sexually abused. Of the children that were neglected, 47% (360,000 children) experienced educational neglect, 38% (295,000 children) experienced physical neglect and 25% (193,400 children) were subjected to emotional neglect. All the figures represent higher numbers then the annual National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) data released every spring. The last NCANDS report, based on 2007 information, indicated that just fewer than 800,000 children were substantiated as abused or neglected.
The full NIS-4 is more than 400 pages. To download a PDF of the full report, read an executive summary, or choose access other related materials, visit the study’s website.
Related posts:
- New Study Examines Trends in CPS Practice
- Interviewing Immigrant Children and Families for Suspected Child Maltreatment
- Primary Prevention Programs for Child Maltreatment
- HHS Releases Study of National Child Abuse Registry
- Board of Supervisors Budget & Finance Committee Hearing on HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: Feb 17, 2010
