In 2023, 62,685 duplicate victims of child abuse experienced physical abuse only in the United States, while 44,355 experienced sexual abuse only. The most common type of child abuse reported in that year was neglect, totaling 377,742 duplicate victims of neglect nationwide. However, not all U.S. states reported child abuse data in 2023, meaning figures may be incomplete.

In 2023, there were about 546,159 victims of child abuse in the United States. In that year, about 260,144 boys were abused across the country. Additionally, 284,061 girls were the victims of child abuse in that same year.

The National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) Child File data set consists of child-specific data of all reports of maltreatment to State child protective service agencies that received an investigation or assessment response. NCANDS is a Federally-sponsored national data collection effort created for the purpose of tracking the volume and nature of child maltreatment reporting each year within the United States. The Child File is the case-level component of the NCANDS. Child File data are collected annually through the voluntary participation of States. Participating States submit their data after going through a process in which the State's administrative system is mapped to the NCANDS data structure. Data elements include the demographics of children and their perpetrators, types of maltreatment, investigation or assessment dispositions, risk factors, and services provided as a result of the investigation or assessment.

In 2023, the child abuse rate for children of Hispanic origin was at 6.7, indicating 6.7 out of every 1,000 Hispanic children in the United States suffered from some sort of abuse. This rate was highest among American Indian or Alaska Native children, with 13.8 children out of every 1,000 experiencing some form of abuse. Child abuse in the U.S. The child abuse rate in the United States is highest among American Indian or Alaska Native victims, followed by African-American victims. It is most common among children between two to five years of age. While child abuse cases are fairly evenly distributed between girls and boys, more boys than girls are victims of abuse resulting in death. The most common type of maltreatment is neglect, followed by physical abuse. Risk factors Child abuse is often reported by teachers, law enforcement officers, or social service providers. In the large majority of cases, the perpetrators of abuse were a parent of the victim. Risk factors, such as teen pregnancy, violent crime, and poverty that are associated with abuse and neglect have been found to be quite high in the United States in comparison to other countries.

This is historical data. The update frequency has been set to "Static Data" and is here for historic value. Updated on 8/14/2024 Child maltreatment rate - This indicator shows the rate of children who are maltreated per 1,000 population under the age of 18. Child abuse or neglect can result in physical harm, developmental delays, behavioral problems, or death. Abused and neglected children are at greater risk than other children for delinquency and mistreatment of their own children. Link to Data Details

In the United States, perpetrators of child abuse are more likely to be parents of the child than a non-parent. In 2023, about 189,635 children in the United States were abused by their mother. Furthermore, 125,493 children were abused by their father in that year.

These data examine the relationships between childhood abuse and/or neglect and later criminal and violent criminal behavior. In particular, the data focus on whether being a victim of violence and/or neglect in early childhood leads to being a criminal offender in adolescence or early adulthood and whether a relationship exists between childhood abuse or neglect and arrests as a juvenile, arrests as an adult, and arrests for violent offenses. For this data collection, adult and juvenile criminal histories of sampled cases with backgrounds of abuse or neglect were compared to those of a matched control group with no official record of abuse or neglect. Variables contained in Part 1 include demographic information (age, race, sex, and date of birth). In Part 2, information is presented on the abuse/neglect incident (type of abuse or neglect, duration of the incident, whether the child was removed from the home and, if so, for how long, results of the placement, and whether the individual was still alive). Part 3 contains family information (with whom the child was living at the time of the incident, family disruptions, and who reported the abuse or neglect) and data on the perpetrator of the incident (relation to the victim, age, race, sex, and whether living in the home of the victim). Part 4 contains information on the charges filed within adult arrest incidents (occasion for arrest, multiple counts of the same type of charge, year and location of arrest, and type of offense or charge), and Part 5 includes information on the charges filed within juvenile arrest incidents (year of juvenile charge, number of arrests, and type of offense or charge). The unit of analysis for Parts 1 through 3 is the individual at age 11 or younger, for Part 4 the charge within the adult arrest incident, and for Part 5 the charge within the juvenile arrest incident.

Types of Abuse, Neglect and Financial Exploitation - A single APS case can have more than one allegation. Neglect is the failure to provide the protection, food, shelter, or care necessary to avoid emotional harm or physical injury. The alleged perpetrator of the neglect may be the victim or the victim's caregiver. There are three types of neglect allegations: Physical Neglect, Medical Neglect, and Mental Health Neglect. Other allegation types include: Financial Exploitation, Physical Abuse, Emotional or Verbal Abuse, or Sexual Abuse. The population totals do not match prior DFPS Data Books, printed or ontline. Past population estimates are adjusted based on the U.S. Census data as it becomes available. This is important to keep the data in line with current best practices, but will cause some past counts, such as Abuse/Neglect Victims per 1,000 Texas Children, to be recalculated. Population Data Source - Population Estimates and Projections Program, Texas State Data Center, Office of the State Demographer and the Institute for Demographic and Socioeconomic Research, The University of Texas at San Antonio. Current population estimates and projections for all years from 2014 to 2023 as of December 2023. Visit dfps.state.tx.us for information on all DFPS programs.

The numbers of single perpetrator relationships (unique count) are counted once for each relationship category. Perpetrators with two or more relationships are counted in the multiple relationship category. Numbers are for the most recent federal fiscal year for which data are available.

To view more National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) findings, click link to summary page below: https://healthdata.gov/stories/s/kaeg-w7jc

The National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) Child File data set consists of child-specific data of all reports of maltreatment to State child protective service agencies that received an investigation or assessment response. NCANDS is a Federally-sponsored national data collection effort created for the purpose of tracking the volume and nature of child maltreatment reporting each year within the United States. The Child File is the case-level component of the NCANDS. Child File data are collected annually through the voluntary participation of States. Participating States submit their data after going through a process in which the State's administrative system is mapped to the NCANDS data structure. Data elements include the demographics of children and their perpetrators, types of maltreatment, investigation or assessment dispositions, risk factors, and services provided as a result of the investigation or assessment.

Child Abuse and Neglect presents the total number of allegations, substantiated cases, and the substantiation rate by allegation type for a given town. These data are subsettable by type of allegation and status of the report. Substantiation rate is calculated as a percent of total allegations that are considered 'substantiated' based on independent evaluations. DCF collects and CTdata.org carries annual data. DCF also publishes town-level data online in town reports.

Financial overview and grant giving statistics of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Task Force

This research project was designed as a replication and extension of earlier research on how childhood victimization relates to delinquency, adult criminality, and violent criminal behavior (CHILD ABUSE, NEGLECT, AND VIOLENT CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR IN A MIDWEST METROPOLITAN AREA OF THE UNITED STATES, 1967-1988 (ICPSR 9480)). The study consisted of a sample of abused and neglected children who were made dependents of the Superior Court of a large urban county in the Northwest between 1980 and 1984, and a matched control group of children. Dependency records were obtained from the county court house. Control match criteria were collected from Department of Health birth records data. Type of abuse/neglect precipitating the dependency petition was collected and coded using a modified version of the Maltreatment Classification Coding Scheme (MCS). Data on juvenile arrests from juvenile court records, including both number and types, were collected for each abused and/or neglected youth and each matched control subject. Adult criminal arrests, excluding routine traffic offenses, for all abused and neglected subjects and matched controls were collected from local, county, state, and federal law enforcement sources. A subset of arrests consisting of violent crimes was developed as a key outcome of interest. Major types of variables included in this study are demographics, criminal records, dependency records (only for those subjects abused/neglected as children), including type and severity of child abuse/neglect, and census socioeconomic variables. Several derived variables were also included.

Data on child sexual abuse in England and Wales, bringing together a range of different data sources from across government and the voluntary sector.

The National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) Child File data set consists of child-specific data of all reports of maltreatment to State child protective service agencies that received an investigation or assessment response. NCANDS is a Federally-sponsored national data collection effort created for the purpose of tracking the volume and nature of child maltreatment reporting each year within the United States. The Child File is the case-level component of the NCANDS. Child File data are collected annually through the voluntary participation of States. Participating States submit their data after going through a process in which the State's administrative system is mapped to the NCANDS data structure. Data elements include the demographics of children and their perpetrators, types of maltreatment, investigation or assessment dispositions, risk factors, and services provided as a result of the investigation or assessment.

The purpose of this study was to examine whether the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Investigative Interview Protocol impacted child sexual abuse case outcomes within the justice system. The researchers coded information from child protection and police reports, Children's Justice Center (CJC) intake forms, and the CJC electronic database to create a dataset on 1,280 alleged child sexual abuse cases involving children interviewed in Salt Lake County, Utah, between 1994 and 2000. Specifically, the research team gathered case characteristics and case outcomes data on 551 alleged child sexual abuse cases in which investigative interviews were conducted from 1994 to mid-September 1997 before the NICHD protocol was implemented, and 729 alleged child sexual abuse cases in which investigative interviews were conducted from mid-September 1997 to 2000 after the implementation of the NICHD protocol, so that pre-NICHD protocol and NICHD protocol interview case outcomes could be compared. The same police detectives conducted both the pre-NICHD protocol interviews and the NICHD protocol interviews. The dataset contains a total of 116 variables pertaining to cases of suspected child abuse. The major categories of variables include demographic data on the suspected child victim and on the suspected perpetrator, on case characteristics, on case outcomes, and on time delays.

In the United States, more perpetrators of child abuse were women than men. In 2023, about 215,443 perpetrators of child abuse were women, compared to 197,690 male perpetrators.

The NCANDS is a federally-sponsored national data collection effort created for the purpose of tracking the volume and nature of child maltreatment reporting each year within the United States.

Units of Response: Report-Child Combination

Type of Data: Administrative

Tribal Data: Unavailable

Periodicity: Annual

Demographic Indicators: Disability;Ethnicity;Housing Status;Military;Race;Sex

SORN: Not Applicable

Data Use Agreement: https://www.ndacan.acf.hhs.gov/datasets/request-restricted-data.cfm

Data Use Agreement Location: https://www.ndacan.acf.hhs.gov/datasets/order_forms/termsofuseagreement.pdf

Granularity: Individual;State

Spatial: United States

Geocoding: FIPS Code;State

Financial overview and grant giving statistics of National Center for Child Abuse Statistics and Policy

Number and percentage of Canadians who experienced physical or sexual abuse before the age of 15, by selected demographic characteristics.