Child abuse and neglect: fact sheet

Children Today,  March-April, 1992  

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In recent years, experts have declared the child abuse and neglect problem an epidemic; cases have overflowed our hospitals, foster care homes, social worker case loads and court dockets. The Bush Administration has issued a national call to arms, and responding to that call, the Department of Health and Human Services has developed an initiative that will involve local communities, businesses, schools, parents and children. The Extent of the Problem * Child abuse was formally recognized by

the medical profession in 1961 as the

battered-child syndrome. * An estimated 2.4 million cases of

suspected child abuse, child sexual abuse

and child neglect are reported to child protective

agencies each year. Since 1980,

reports of child abuse have quadrupled. * Investigations confirmed over 1.5 million

cases of child abuse and neglect in 1990.

And more than three children die each day

in the United States from abuse and

neglect. * The link between substance abuse and

child abuse has strengthened over the

years. Parental abuse of alcohol and use of

other drugs has been identified as a major

factor contributing to child maltreatment

and death. It is estimated that nearly 10

million children under age 18 are affected

in some way by the substance abuse of

their parents. * Child maltreatment often has negative

short and long term effects on children's

mental health and development. For example,

abused and neglected children frequently

suffer drops in IQ and an increase

in learning disabilities, depression and

drug use. * The effects of child abuse are sometimes

obvious even decades later. The effects are

often pervasive: mental, physical and

social in nature. Suicide, violence, delinquency,

drug and alcohol abuse and other

forms of criminality are frequently child-abuse

related. * Studies of adults show that 15 percent to

38 percent of women report experiences

of various types of sexual victimization

during childhood and adolescence, and

about 10 percent of men report sexual

abuse during childhood and adolescence. * Although child abuse occurs in all racial,

ethnic, cultural and socioeconomic

groups, physical abuse and neglect are

more likely among people in poverty.

Reflecting the high rates of poverty among

ethnic minorities,' minority children enter

the child protection system in disproportionately

large numbers.

The Administration's Plan to Fight Child Abuse

Secretary Sullivan challenges all Americans to take personal responsibility to curb the skyrocketing number of cases. The HHS four-part initiative: * Call national attention to the problem and

provide ways we can all make a difference

through the Show You Care?" campaign. * Involve local government and civic leaders

in the effort-through national and

regional meetings - to build coalitions and

local strategies for preventing abuse and

neglect and helping vulnerable children

and families. * Integrate services between HHS and other

federal agencies to increase the effectiveness

of services related to child abuse. * Streamline the department's ability to respond

to the needs of vulnerable children

and those serving them.

President Bush and Secretary Sullivan are providing better coordination of programs to improve service to families, increased funding for research, improved treatment services, better financing for treatment services for families, improved collection of child welfare and child health data that has bearing on child abuse and neglect, improve recruitment and training of child protection workers and increased public awareness o child abuse and neglect.

The Department of Health and Human Services takes the position it is not enough to treat the results of child abuse and neglect, instead the root causes and societal trends need to be addressed. * HHS is supporting prevention programs to

stop child abuse before it occurs. For

example, an average case of child abuse

costs at least 2,000 for an investigation

and short-term treatment. And the costs

increase significantly when a child must

be hospitalized or put in foster care. * The National Center on Child Abuse and

Neglect (NCCAN), the federal authority

on child abuse and neglect, issued more

than $65 million in grants to states and

organizations for research, demonstration

projects in prevention, intervention and

treatment programs in 1990. * One $19.5 million grant program, the

Emergency Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention

Services Program, addresses the

problem of child abuse and neglect by

substance-abusing parents. * The Department works with 31 Federal

programs for prevention and treatment of

child abuse and neglect through the Inter-Agency

Task Force on Child Abuse and

Neglect. * The Department has a wide range of pro

grams that address aspects of the child

abuse and neglect problem. They include

research programs in the Administration

for Children and Families, the Centers for

Disease Control, the Office of Substance