Child Maltreatment

Child Maltreatment

 

Child maltreatment includes physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, as well as neglect. Actual

prevalence of maltreatment is unknown, but there are more than 3 million referrals for more than 6

million children to child protective agencies annually, with nearly a quarter of these cases

substantiated. An estimated 1570 children nationally died from abuse or neglect in 2011

(Administration on Children, Youth, and Families Children’s Bureau, 2011; U.S. Government

Accountability Office, 2011), a number that is believed to be undercounted. The estimated annual

cost of child abuse and neglect in the United States for 2008 was $124 billion (Fang et al. 2012). Child

maltreatment results in lifelong adverse physical and mental health consequences such as

posttraumatic stress disorder, increased risk of chronic disease, lasting impacts or disability from

physical injury, and reduced health-related quality of life (Corso et al.