> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://charity.childsafetyfund.org/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://charity.childsafetyfund.org/mission/reality.md).
# Reality
Source verification: 2026-10-04. The reporting periods and study dates below are part of each claim.
## National scale
Child maltreatment is a substantial child-safety problem. For federal fiscal year (FFY) 2024, the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) recorded 532,228 child victims, a rate of 7.2 per 1,000 children. The same report recorded 1,773 child fatalities attributed to abuse or neglect. These are administrative findings, not a count of every child who experienced maltreatment.[1](#reference-1)
FFY 2024 covers 2023-10-01 through 2024-09-30. Keep referrals, screened-in reports, and identified victims distinct when describing the system's workload.[1](#reference-1)
| Measure | FFY 2024 | Meaning |
| ------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Total referrals | 4,365,000, national estimate.[1](#reference-1) | Allegations received by child protective services (CPS), including referrals screened out. |
| Children included in referrals | Approximately 7,693,000, estimated.[1](#reference-1) | Children included across referrals; this is not a unique count of confirmed victims. |
| Child victims | 532,228; 7.2 per 1,000 children.[1](#reference-1) | Children identified as victims in the reporting system. |
| Child fatalities | 1,773, reported.[1](#reference-1) | Deaths attributed to abuse or neglect in reporting jurisdictions. |
A referral becomes a report when it is screened in for a CPS response. The estimated number of children in referrals uses the average number of children per screened-in report and the estimated total referrals; it is not a separately observed national census of unique children.[1](#reference-1)
### Historical baseline: FFY 2022
The earlier figures remain useful when explicitly dated: 558,899 reported victims, 7.7 victims per 1,000 children, an estimated 4,276,000 referrals involving approximately 7,530,000 children, and an estimated 1,990 fatalities. The 2022 fatality estimate and the 2024 reported fatality count have different estimation bases. Do not present these editions alone as proof that child safety or reporting quality improved.[2](#reference-2)[1](#reference-1)
The federal reports are also available in CSF's existing [Data section](/mission/data.md).
## Reporting knowledge and training
### Historical evidence of public misunderstanding
In a telephone survey conducted in New Hampshire during February 2015, 39% of 509 adult respondents did not know they were required to report suspected child maltreatment. In the same survey, 53% identified concern that nothing would be done to help as a key consideration in deciding whether to report. These findings describe that state's adult population at that time. They are not current national estimates or a study confined to trained professionals.[3](#reference-3)
### Curriculum gaps and limits of outcome evidence
A 2021 content analysis examined 44 U.S. state-sponsored online mandated-reporter curricula. The researchers found gaps in coverage of maltreatment definitions, indicators and examples, responses to a child's disclosure, and barriers to reporting. This was an assessment of the curricula inspected, not a test of every present-day training program or a measurement of reporters' actual performance.[4](#reference-4)
A 2022 Cochrane review included 11 trials with 1,484 participants and rated the evidence low to very low in certainty. Training may improve some knowledge measures, but the review did not establish effects on report quality or official reporting records. These findings do not establish that training alone reduces child maltreatment, nor do they verify results for a CSF program.[5](#reference-5)
National referral and fatality totals do not identify how many deaths were caused by late reports, incomplete documentation, or agency backlogs. Those mechanisms require their own evidence. An unsubstantiated allegation should not be described as a deliberately false report on the basis of its disposition alone.
## Economic burden: distinguish the measures
Two historical estimates illustrate the scale of economic burden using different methods. They should not be combined into a range of annual costs or treated as a trend.
| Analysis | Estimate | Scope and limitation |
| ----------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Gelles and Perlman, published 2012 | Approximately $80.3 billion in annual costs.[6](#reference-6) | The model uses a maltreatment incidence estimate from 2005–2006 and cost estimates from multiple sources. It is not a current expenditure total. |
| Peterson, Florence, and Klevens, published 2018 | Approximately $428 billion in lifetime burden, in 2015 U.S. dollars.[7](#reference-7) | Applies modeled lifetime costs to substantiated nonfatal cases and fatal cases occurring in 2015. It is not expenditure during 2015. |
The Peterson analysis includes monetary valuations of lost health and life, as well as service and productivity costs. Its total is not an amount an organization can claim as realizable budget savings. Neither estimate establishes CSF's impact or a return on investment for a proposed CSF intervention.[7](#reference-7)
## Implications for CSF
**CSF interpretation:** These sources identify questions for research and design: what people understand, what curricula cover, how reporting works, and which interventions improve safety. Knowledge gains, reporting volume, report quality, and child-safety outcomes are separate measures. A proposed intervention needs an evaluation suited to the outcome it claims.
This page establishes context for that work. It does not document an approved new program, an implemented reporting system, or verified CSF results.
## Works Cited
### Reference 1
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Children's Bureau. (2026). *Child maltreatment 2024*. [Original report, CSF-hosted copy](https://2590971346-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FDgi3pAhxJFyn19Z2Cb0J%2Fuploads%2FPyRV9OEus8FDIXyrUUd4%2FChild%20Maltreatment%20Report%20\(2024\).pdf?alt=media\&token=25f98e54-14b0-4543-95cd-e3b070ca6101). [Federal report series](https://acf.gov/cb/data-research/child-maltreatment).
Claim locators: Summary, pp. ix–xi; Chapter 1, reporting period; Chapter 2, total-referral estimation and Table 2–3; Chapter 3, unique victim counts.
### Reference 2
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Children's Bureau. (2024). *Child maltreatment 2022*. [Original report, CSF-hosted copy](https://2590971346-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FDgi3pAhxJFyn19Z2Cb0J%2Fuploads%2FFitQymJ9heFRwPKYsHiH%2FChild%20Maltreatment%20Report%20\(2022\).pdf?alt=media\&token=93c81249-f6e4-4259-8631-30aa531e0ca8). [Federal report series](https://acf.gov/cb/data-research/child-maltreatment).
Claim locators: Summary, pp. x–xii; Chapter 2, referral estimation; Chapter 4, fatality-estimation method.
### Reference 3
Walsh, W. A., & Jones, L. M. (2015, September). *A statewide study of the public's knowledge of child abuse reporting policies*. Crimes against Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire. [Original research brief](https://www.unh.edu/ccrc/sites/default/files/media/2022-03/a-statewide-study-of-the-publics-knowledge-of-child-abuse-reporting-policies.pdf).
Claim locators: pp. 2–3, sample and methods; p. 3, reporting knowledge; p. 5 and Figure 3, reporting considerations.
### Reference 4
Baker, A. J. L., LeBlanc, S., Adebayo, T., & Mathews, B. (2021). Training for mandated reporters of child abuse and neglect: Content analysis of state-sponsored curricula. *Child Abuse & Neglect, 113*, Article 104932.
Claim locator: Study abstract, methods and results. [The authors' original account and results tables are also available in CSF's APSAC Alert source file](https://2590971346-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FDgi3pAhxJFyn19Z2Cb0J%2Fuploads%2FZ816J0C8mdIqDvxD0uKs%2FAPSAC-Alert-12_3_.pdf?alt=media\&token=cf00fc46-25f2-4bb7-be21-71580e36a2ae), pp. 2–3.
### Reference 5
Walsh, K., Eggins, E., Hine, L., Mathews, B., Kenny, M. C., Howard, S., Ayling, N., Dallaston, E., Pink, E., & Vagenas, D. (2022). Child protection training for professionals to improve reporting of child abuse and neglect. *Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2022*(7), Article CD011775.
Claim locators: Main results and authors' conclusions. [Publisher-hosted abstract and evidence summary](https://www.cochrane.org/evidence/CD011775_child-protection-training-professionals-improve-reporting-child-abuse-and-neglect).
### Reference 6
Gelles, R. J., & Perlman, S. (2012, April). *Estimated annual cost of child abuse and neglect*. Prevent Child Abuse America. [Original report, APSAC-hosted copy](https://apsac.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Prevent-Childhood-Abuse.org-PDF-March-5-2019.pdf).
Claim locator: p. 2, methods, incidence period, annual-cost definition, and 2012 cost estimate.
### Reference 7
Peterson, C., Florence, C., & Klevens, J. (2018). The economic burden of child maltreatment in the United States, 2015. *Child Abuse & Neglect, 86*, 178–183.
Claim locators: Table 2; Sections 2–4, methods, results, and interpretation of mortality and morbidity valuations. [Full author manuscript](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6289633/).
---
# Agent Instructions
This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com.
## Querying This Documentation
If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation by asking a question.
Perform an HTTP GET request on the following URL with the `ask` and `goal` query parameters:
```
GET https://charity.childsafetyfund.org/mission/reality.md?ask=&goal=
```
`ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
`goal` is what the user is ultimately trying to achieve, the reason they need the answer. Sharing it helps GitBook give you a better, more relevant answer. A goal is most helpful when it describes the outcome the user wants rather than restating the question. For example, with `ask=how do I create an API token`, a goal like `automate deployments from our CI pipeline` lets GitBook tailor the answer to that use case.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.
Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.