| Child
Abuse Prevention Month | Children's Bureau Home Page |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Friday, April 17, 1998
Contact: Michael Kharfen, (202) 401-9215
HHS REPORT SHOWS CONTINUED RECORD HIGH CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT LEVELS
HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala today released new data showing
continued record high levels of child abuse and neglect in the
United States. According to the new report, "Child Maltreatment
1996: Reports from the States to the National Child Abuse and
Neglect Data System," almost 1 million children were identified
as victims of abuse or neglect in 1996, and an estimated 1,077
children died in 1996 as a result of abuse or neglect.
April is National Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Month.
The results although slightly down from 1995, continue a long-term
trend, with total child abuse and neglect cases remaining in the
record-high range of 1 million for five years.
"Last year, Congress passed and President Clinton signed
into law the historic Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997,
which makes protecting the safety of children the paramount concern
in adoption and foster care," Secretary Shalala said. "This
month -- and every month of the year -- states, caseworkers, and
the courts should rededicate themselves to making sure that we
achieve the intent of this critical law child abuse cannot be
tolerated."
The new law, enacted in November 1997, requires that child safety
be the highest priority when making service provision, placement,
and permanency planning decisions for children. The law reaffirms
the importance of making reasonable efforts to preserve and reunify
families, but -+ for the first time -- also specifies instances
when states are not required to make efforts to keep children
with their parents, such as when doing so places a child's safety
in jeopardy. These new provisions give states important new tools
in their efforts to break the cycle of abuse within families.
"This new law represents a real step forward and gives us
an unprecedented opportunity to reform the child welfare system,"
emphasized Olivia Golden, HHS Assistant Secretary for Children
and Families.
HHS is consulting with states this spring on necessary regulations
under the new law. Beginning in 1999, HHS will issue annual reports
evaluating the performance of all 50 states.
The Clinton Administration is committed to promoting and supporting
policies and innovative programs that work to increase
children's safety and reduce children's risk of harm. In addition
to the new law, HHS has granted child welfare waivers to 10 states
to pursue innovative strategies for improving state child welfare
systems: California, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan,
New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Oregon. As part of the new
law, HHS has authority to approve up to 10 additional waivers
for FY 1998 through 2002.
To supplement these efforts, Secretary Shalala today also announced
a new campaign by the HHS Children's Bureau to encourage community
prevention efforts and to provide help to those who work with
children and families. The "Prevention in Action" campaign
features a new web site which includes information and resources
about the problem of child abuse and how to help prevent it. The
web site can be reached through www.acf.dhhs.gov/news. Hard copies
are available upon request from the National Clearinghouse on
Child Abuse and Neglect at 1-800-FYI-3366.
According to the report released today:
- Parents are the chief perpetrators of child abuse and neglect.
Nearly 80 percent of the cases involved abuse and neglect by parents,
with an additional 11 percent involving other relatives.
- Among children who died due to abuse or neglect, very young
children were most likely be killed, with children aged 3 and
under accounting for three-quarters of all deaths.
- Fifty-two percent of maltreated children suffered neglect, 24
percent physical abuse, 12 percent sexual abuse, 6 percent emotional
abuse, 3 percent medical neglect and 16 percent other forms of
maltreatment. Some children suffered more than one type of maltreatment.
- More than half of the children were under 8 years old, while
28 percent were younger than 4 years old. Younger children were
more likely than older children to be neglected, while older children
were more likely than younger children to be physically, sexually
or emotionally abused.
- Fifty-two percent of victims were girls and 48 percent were
boys.
- Fifty-three percent of all victims were white, 27 percent African-American,
11 percent Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander 4 percent and 2 percent
Native American. African American and Native American children
were abused and neglected at a rate almost twice their proportions
in the national child population.
The total number of children identified as victims of abuse or
neglect, based on validated case data, and the total number of
states reporting data for the last five years are as follows:
| Year | Number | States Reporting |
|---|
| 1992 | 992,617 | 48 |
| 1993 | 1,018,692 | 47 |
| 1994 | 1,011,628 | 48 |
| 1995 | 1,000,402 | 49 |
| 1996 | 969,018 | 47 |
Copies of "Child Maltreatment 1996" will be available
in mid-April and can be obtained by calling the National Clearinghouse
on Child Abuse and Neglect Information at 1-800-FYI-3366
###
Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are
available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.
Back to Top