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Child Abuse and Neglect Cost Nation Over $100 Billion Per Year
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WASHINGTON, Jan. 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- An economic impact
analysis released today estimates the costs of child abuse and neglect to
society were nearly $104 billion last year, and a companion report
highlights the unavailability of federal child welfare funding for programs
and services known to be effective at reducing incidences of child abuse
and neglect.
Total Estimated Cost of Child Abuse and Neglect in the United States,
by Prevent Child Abuse America (PCAA) and Time for Reform: Investing in
Prevention, Keeping Children Safe At Home, by Kids Are Waiting (KAW), a
project of The Pew Charitable Trusts, show that while the economic costs
associated with child abuse and neglect rose to a staggering $103.8 billion
in 2007, merely ten percent of federal money dedicated for child welfare,
approximately $741.9 million, can currently be used to prevent child abuse
and neglect from occurring by strengthening families.
The PCAA report documents pervasive and long-lasting effects of child
abuse on children, their families, and society as a whole. The $103.8
billion cost of child abuse and neglect includes more than $33 billion in
direct costs for foster care services, hospitalization, mental health
treatment, and law enforcement. Indirect costs of over $70 billion include
loss of productivity, as well as expenditures related to chronic health
problems, special education, and the criminal justice system.
"Prevention of child abuse and neglect makes sense - and makes 'cents,'
too," said PCAA President & CEO Jim Hmurovich. "The data in these reports
show that a greater focus on prevention will decrease both the short and
long-term costs to society. But it is impossible to calculate the pain,
suffering, and reduced quality of life that victims of violence against
children experience throughout their lifetime."
The KAW report finds that the current federal child welfare financing
structure does not adequately support services and supports that could help
keep more children safely with their families. The report shows that the
majority of dedicated federal funding for child welfare is currently
reserved for placing and maintaining children in foster care and cannot be
used for prevention or reunification services or supports.
States may access dollars under Title IV-E, the principal source of
federal child welfare funding, only after children have been removed from
their home and enter foster care. Of the $7.2 billion federal funds
dedicated for child welfare in 2007, approximately 90 percent supported
children in foster care placements ($4.5 billion) and children adopted from
foster care ($2.0 billion). States can use about 10 percent of federal
dedicated child welfare funds flexibly for family services and supports,
including prevention or reunification services.
The report recommends specific policy options to keep children safe and
strengthen families:
-- Ensure a sufficient, flexible and reliable federal resource to help
support the continuum of services needed by at-risk children and families.
-- Reward states for safely reducing the number of children in foster
care and achieving all forms of permanence.
-- Make all abused and neglected children eligible for federal foster
care support.
The KAW report also shows that most children (54%) who leave foster
care reunite with their families, after having stayed in foster care for an
average of six months. In fact, safely reunifying foster children with
their parents is a primary goal of the child welfare system. States vary
widely in the percentage of children rejoining their families upon leaving
foster care, from 30 and 33 percent in DC and Virginia respectively to 76
percent in Idaho. (Top 15 and bottom 15 state reunification rates listed in
the table below.)
States with the highest and lowest rates of children reunified with
their families after foster care in 2005
Top 15 highest reunification rates
Rank State/District N %
1 Idaho 1,067 76%
2 Nebraska 2,507 73%
3 Iowa 3,425 72%
4 New Mexico 1,417 69%
5 Minnesota 4,903 67%
6 Delaware 448 66%
7 New Jersey 4,992 66%
8 Wyoming 663 66%
9 Wisconsin 3,759 65%
10 Indiana 3,910 63%
11 Rhode Island 856 63%
12 Nevada 1,989 63%
13 Oregon 3,150 63%
14 Connecticut 1,180 62%
15 Washington 3,770 62%
Bottom 15 lowest reunification rates
Rank State/District N %
37 Kentucky 1,727 46%
38 Montana 532 46%
39 Ohio 5,517 45%
40 South Carolina 1,381 45%
41 Alabama 1,461 45%
42 Arkansas 1,466 43%
43 North Carolina 2,313 42%
44 Illinois 2,517 41%
45 New Hampshire 219 40%
46 Maine 386 39%
47 Utah 680 34%
48 Texas 4,146 34%
49 Maryland 908 34%
50 Virginia 1,120 33%
51 District of Columbia 310 30%
Note: Percentages represent the number of children reunified of total
exits from foster care in 2005. Source: AFCARS 2005
Federal child welfare financing reform could help prevent child abuse
and neglect in the first place and reduce the current reliance on foster
care by lessening the need for some children to enter the foster care
system and helping others safely reunify with their families more quickly.
The Kids Are Waiting report highlights an array of services that have
been shown to be effective at:
1. Decreasing the incidence of abuse and neglect. The Nurse-Family
Partnership program, active in 20 states, resulted in a 48 percent lower
level of abuse and neglect for children whose families received home
visitation services compared with the control group. An evaluation of the
Healthy Families New Jersey program showed that 99 percent of the children
served were free from abuse and neglect.
2. Reducing short and long term trauma to children. In Tennessee,
Renewal House, a residential program for mothers who have an addiction and
their children, demonstrated that fewer infants born to mothers in the
program require neonatal intensive care.
3. Lessening the need to remove children from their families. Due to
increased investment in prevention services, Allegheny County,
Pennsylvania, was able to maintain more than 65 percent of children at home
for the entire time they were served by the child welfare system.
4. Lowering the costs of care per child. In Wisconsin, wraparound
Milwaukee decreased the number of children in foster care placement by
sixty percent and reduced the cost of care from $5,000 to less than $3,300.
"Taking children away from their families is a traumatic experience
that will stay with them forever," said Marci McCoy-Roth, program officer
with The Pew Charitable Trusts. "Foster care should not be the only option
available to keep children safe and help families in crisis. States and the
federal government must work in partnership to prevent child abuse and
neglect and ensure that all children have safe families. The importance of
family is a fundamental American value. How much longer must our children
wait for the permanent families they deserve?"
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