There are over 3 million reports of child abuse and neglect a year. Thousands of children are killed and severely injured. Abuse and neglect take a long-term physical and emotional toll on individual children, their families, and the communities in which they live.
In 2008, there were 758,289 victims of child abuse and neglect.
In 2008, there were 758,289 victims of child abuse and neglect.
- Child abuse and neglect costs America $109.1 billion a year and contributes to numerous social problems such as poverty, crime, and alcohol and drug abuse.
- For every dollar spent on treating child abuse, only 13 cents are spent on preventing it.
- From 2005 to 2009, Congress cut federal funding to states to treat and protect abused and neglected children by 17%.
- There are only 20,840 families enrolled in the Nurse Family Partnership program nationally, a program proven to help reduce child abuse and neglect, poverty, and dependence on public assistance.
- The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided $1 billion to states for child protection. This funding will end at the end of the year.
- Despite receiving federal support, 45 states made cuts to vital services for children and families, and laid off more than 200,000 employees nationwide.
The Solutions
- Home visits help reduce child abuse and helps the economy – Fifteen years of research on home visiting for at-risk mothers, beginning during pregnancy, resulted in less welfare, less child abuse and neglect, less maternal and juvenile arrests, and a longer time between subsequent pregnancies. Investment in 2½ years of home visits costs $7,000, while the estimated return to society is $28,000.
- Parent education programs have been shown to reduce child abuse – Parent training aimed at child-rearing competence and stress management have been proven to reduce risk factors associated with physical child abuse.
- Proven therapeutic treatments to abused and neglected children can minimize the long-term effects of abuse.
