Child abuse and neglect prevention

Fact Sheet

Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention
Georgia Child Abuse and Neglect
Every day, over 40 children are the victims of confirmed abuse or neglect 220 incidents of child abuse and neglect are reported daily 59 children died from abuse and neglect in 2007 In state fiscal year 2009, about 16,300 children came through the foster care system Approximately 8% of the children discharged will re-enter foster care within 1 year
National Child Abuse and Neglect
Since 1990, more than 10,000 American children have died at the hands of their own parents or caretakers 1 in every 3 girls will be sexually molested before the age of 18 and 1 in every 6 boys will be sexually mo-
lested before the age of 19 Today up to 5 children will die from abuse or neglect. More than three out of four are under the age of 4 In 13 seconds, another child will be abused in the U.S. More children (age 4 and younger) die from child abuse and neglect than any other single, leading cause of
death for infants and young children Child abuse occurs at every socio-economic level, across ethnic and cultural lines, within all religions and at
all levels of education 85% of the 12 15 million runaways are fleeing abuse at home Children in mother-only households are 4 times more likely to be fatally abused Abused children are 25 times more likely to repeat a grade 75% of high school dropouts have a history of abuse in their families Online child pornography/child sex exploitation is one of the most significant crime problem confronting the
FBI that involves crimes against children The estimated annual cost resulting from child abuse and neglect in the United States for 2007 is $104 billion
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Abused children are 25% more likely to experience teen pregnancy Eighty percent of young adults who had been abused met the diag-
nostic criteria for at least 1 psychiatric disorder at the age of 21 (including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, & post-traumatic stress disorder) Abused teens are 3 times less likely to practice safe sex, putting them at greater risk for STDs Research suggests about one-third of all individuals who were abused or neglected as children will subject their children to maltreatment Research has consistently found that child abuse and neglect (maltreatment) increases the risk of lower academic achievement and problematic school performance Research suggests that adults who were maltreated as children show higher rates of many health problems not typically associated with abuse and neglect, such as heart disease, cancer, chronic lung disease, and liver disease
Safe Enhance Family Relationships

Child Abuse includes physical, psychological,
sexual, emotional abuse.
Child Neglect includes Failure to provide for educational, medical/ dental, and physical needs as well as ade-
quate supervision.
May 2010

The Link between Abuse as a Child & Criminal Behavior
Children who experience child abuse & neglect are 59% more likely to be arrested as a juvenile, 28% more likely to be arrested as an adult, and 30% more likely to commit violent crime
Fourteen percent of all men in prison in the USA were abused as children Thirty-six percent of all women in prison were abused as children Maltreated children are significantly more likely than non-maltreated children to become involved in delin-
quent behaviors The prevalence of childhood abuse or neglect among delinquent and criminal populations is substantially
greater than that in the general population or criminal behavior Delinquent youth with a history of abuse and neglect are at higher risk of continuing their delinquent behavior
than delinquents without such a history
The Link between Child Abuse & Substance Abuse
Children who have been sexually abused are 2.5 times more likely develop alcohol abuse Children who have been sexually abused are 3.8 times more likely develop drug addictions Nearly 2/3's of the people in treatment for drug abuse reported being abused as children 45% of abused children become adult alcoholics Over 60% of people in drug rehabilitation centers report being abused or neglected as a child
What can we do
Research highlights the first 3 years of life as an important intervention period for influencing a child's trajectory and the nature of the parent-child relationship (Shonkoff & Phillips 2000)
Longitudinal studies on early intervention efforts implemented in the 1960s and 1970s found marked improvements in educational outcomes and adult earnings among children exposed to high-quality early intervention programs (Campbell, et al., 2002; McCormick, et al., 2006; Reynolds, et al., 2001; Schweinhard, 2004; Seitz, et al., 1985)
Early intervention home visitation models demonstrate significant gains in parent-child attachment, access to preventive medical care, parental capacity and functioning, and early identification of developmental delays (Daro, 2000)
Toddlers who have participated in prevention programs specifically designed to prepare them for school are entering kindergarten demonstrating at least three factors correlated with later academic success social competency, parental involvement, and literacy skills (Levenstein, et al., 2002; Allen & Sethi, 2003; Pfannenstiel, et al., 2002).
Longitudinal studies of home visitation services that begin at the toddler stage have found positive effects on school performance and behaviors through sixth grade (Bradley & Gilkey, 2002) as well as lower high school dropout and higher graduation rates (Levenstein, et al., 1998)
Children participating in the Parents as Teachers program at age 3 were significantly more advanced than comparison children in language, social development, problem solving, and other cognitive abilities and parent knowledge of child development and parenting practices significantly increased
Long-term cost savings include: a reduction in the subsequent use of Medicaid and other entitlement programs as a result of women receiving the intervention entering and remaining in the workforce (Nurse Family Partnership) Stronger birth outcomes among families enrolled prenatally in a sample of Healthy Families New York programs (Mitchel-Herzfeld, et al., 2005) Higher monthly household earnings among those who access Early Head Start services (Love, et al., 2009)