This fact sheet initiates new public service from Prevent Child Abuse America that has been made possible through a grant from the Sigma Delta Tau Sorority. Fact sheets will be issued periodically on a variety of subjects as needs arise. Fact sheets may be reproduced without notice to NCPCA; however, we request that the author, if any, and Prevent Child Abuse America be credited as the source if reproduced in part or in whole in other publications or products.

Westat Associates recently released its third national child maltreatment incidence study. Unlike Prevent Child Abuse America's annual 50-state survey of current trends in child abuse reporting and fatalities, this study, funded by the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, applies standardized definitions of child abuse and neglect to all cases known to child welfare agencies as well as to local social service, health, and law enforcement professionals. As such, the study provides more reliable cases of maltreatment, relying solely upon cases known to friends or relatives or only to the victims themselves. The methodology applied in this recent study parallels a process undertaken by these same researchers in 1986, thereby making it possible to compare child abuse rates over time. The purpose of this fact sheet is to report the study's key findings and to interpret them in light of other information and issues of concern to the prevention field.

How Many Children Were Abused and Neglected in 2003?
The National Incidence Study employed two definitions of maltreatment. The more restrictive one, termed the Harm Standard, parallels the definitions used in the 1980 and 1986 studies. Under this standard, children were considered to be maltreated only if they had already experienced harm from abuse or neglect. The second definition, called the Endangerment Standard, was employed in the 1986 study to compensate for the stringency of the Harm Standard. This broadened the definition to include those children who experienced abuse or neglect that put them at risk of harm. More than 1.5 million children were estimated to be abused or neglected in the United States in 1993 under the Harm Standard. Using the Endangerment Standard yielded an estimate of nearly 3 million abused and neglected children in the United States.

Is Child Abuse On the Rise?
There were significant increases across all categories of abuse. The estimated increases under the Harm and Endangerment Standards respectively are as follows.