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February 2013Vol. 14, No. 1Child Maltreatment 2011

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has released Child Maltreatment 2011. This is the 22nd in a series of reports designed to provide State-level data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS). The annual reports include information on screened-in referrals (reports) of abuse and neglect made to child protective services (CPS) agencies, the children involved, types of maltreatment, CPS responses, child and caregiver risk factors, services, and perpetrators.

Highlights of Child Maltreatment 2011 show:

  • During Federal fiscal year (FFY) 2011, child protective service agencies received roughly 2.4 million referrals.
  • The national estimate of unique victims for FFY 2011 was 681,000, with 42 States reporting a decreased number of victims.
  • Children from birth to 1 year had the highest rate of victimization.
  • Boys accounted for 48.6 percent of the victimizations, and girls accounted for 51.1 percent of victimizations.
  • The most common type of maltreatment was neglect (more than 75 percent), followed by physical abuse (more than 15 percent), and sexual abuse (less than 10 percent).

The full report is available on the Children's Bureau website:

https://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/resource/child-maltreatment-2011(4 MB)