Chapter 5
Fatalities
Child Maltreatment 2000
Child fatalities are the most tragic consequence of maltreatment. In this
chapter, national estimates of the number and rate of child maltreatment
fatalities per 100,000 children are provided. The characteristics of child
fatality victims, relationships of the victims to the perpetrator, and 5-year
trends are discussed.
NUMBER OF CHILD FATALITIES
In 2000, 1.71 children of every 100,000 children in the population died from abuse or neglect.1
This year's rate is based on more comprehensive reporting than in previous
years and yields a national estimate of 1,200 child deaths from abuse and
neglect. Many States supplemented the automated case data with data from
other agencies in their States, including health departments.2
Deaths that occur while a child
is under the custody or supervision of the child welfare agency
are especially egregious. Child protective
services (CPS) in 45 States reported 32 deaths that occurred
in foster care. Of these, 17 deaths were reported by other agencies
such as the coroner's office and fatality review boards. Approximately
2.7 percent of child fatalities reported by the States occurred
in some type of out-of-home placement setting.3
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FATALITY VICTIMS BY AGE AND SEX (DCDC, Child File)
Fatality victims were typically very young (figure 5-1).
Children younger than a year accounted for 43.7 percent of the fatalities,
and 85.1 percent were younger than 6 years of age. The risk of a child being
a fatality victim declined consistently through age 4. Male children accounted
for 56.7 percent and female children accounted for 43.3 percent of victims
in all age groups.4
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FATALITY PERPETRATORS (DCDC, Child File)
Most child fatality victims, 79.1 percent, were maltreated by their parent or parents (figure 5-2).5
This compares to 83.7 percent of all child victims who were maltreated by
their parent or parents. These percentages are consistent with the findings
reported in previous years. The most striking difference between maltreatment
fatalities and all types of maltreatment is that the "Mother Only" less frequently
perpetrated maltreatment fatalities than other perpetrators. Less than a
third (30.2%) of child fatalities were attributed to the "Mother Only," compared
to 40.0 percent for all victims of maltreatment.
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FATALITIES BY TYPE OF MALTREATMENT (DCDC, Child File)
Maltreatment deaths were more often associated with just neglect (34.9%) than with any other type of abuse (figure 5-3).
Physical abuse alone was identified in more than a quarter of reported deaths
(27.8%). A combination of physical abuse and neglect was associated with
22.2 percent of child fatalities.
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FATALITIES BY PRIOR CONTACT WITH CPS
About one-sixth of the families of child fatality victims (14.9%) had
received family preservation services in the 5 years prior to the death of
victims. Less than 3 percent (2.6%) of child fatality victims had been returned
to their families prior to their deaths.6 In 1999, those percentages were 12.5 and 2.7, respectively.
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SUPPLEMENTARY TABLES
The following pages contain the tables referenced in Chapter 5. Unless
otherwise explained, a blank indicates that the State did not submit useable
data and a number in bold indicates either a total or an estimate.
Chapter Five: Figures and Tables
Notes
1 An examination of the rate for the
past 5 years reveals that the increase is due to reporting from additional
sources. Supporting data are provided in supplementary table 5-1, which is located at the end of this chapter. Back
2 See supplementary table 5-2. Back
3 See supplementary table 5-3. Back
4 See supplementary table 5-4. Back
5 This could include "Female Parent Acting
Alone," "Male Parent Acting Alone," "Both Parents," "Female Parent with Other,"
and "Male Parent with Other." Back
6 See supplementary table 5-7. Back
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Updated on August 22, 2002 |
