Did you know that:Ongoing interest in understanding the outcomes of children and their families—as well as advances in State child welfare information systems—has resulted in the ability to assign a unique identifier, within the State, to each child who receives a CPS response. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Administration for Children and Families)

Did you know that:Each State defines the types of child abuse and neglect in State statute and policy. State statutes also establish the level of evidence needed to determine a disposition of substantiated or indicated. The local child protective services (CPS) agencies respond to the safety needs of the children who are the subjects of child maltreatment reports based on these State definitions and requirements for levels of evidence. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Administration for Children and Families)

Did you know that:All 52 States submitted data to NCANDS about the dispositions of children who received one or more CPS responses. For FFY 2010, more than 3.6 million (duplicate) children were the subjects of at least one report. One-fifth of these children were found to be victims with dispositions of substantiated (19.5%), indicated (1.0%), and alternative response victim (0.5%). The remaining four-fifths of the children were found to be nonvictims of maltreatment. The nonvictim dispositions with the three highest percentages are unsubstantiated (58.2%), no alleged maltreatment (9.1%), and alternative response nonvictim (8.7%). (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Administration for Children and Families)

Did you know that:Analyses of the number and rate of victimization for the past 5 years show an overall decrease regardless of whether the duplicate or unique analyses are examined. For FFY 2010, an estimated 754,000 duplicate and 695,000 unique children were victims of maltreatment. This year more than one-half of States (29) reported a decreased number of victims when compared to FFY 2009. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Administration for Children and Families)

Did you know that:In the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), a victim is defined as a child for whom the State determined at least one maltreatment was found to be substantiated or indicated; and a disposition of substantiated, indicated, or alternative response victim was assigned for a child in a specific report. It is important to note that a child may be a victim in one report and a nonvictim in another report. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Administration for Children and Families)

Did you know that:The decrease in the rate of victimization in 2010 from the previous year may be attributed to several factors, including a decrease in the number of children who received a CPS response and an increase in the number of States with alternative response dispositions. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Administration for Children and Families)

Did you know that:The duplicate count of child victims counts a child each time he or she was found to be a victim. The unique count of child victims counts a child only once regardless of the number of times he or she was found to be a victim during the reporting year. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Administration for Children and Families)

Did you know that:During an alternative response, safety and risk assessments are conducted, but the focus is on working with the family to address issues, as opposed to gathering evidence to substantiate or not substantiate the alleged maltreatment. If alternative response is an option, it is usually offered to families based on the alleged type of maltreatment and the initial assessment of risk to the child. Typically such responses do not result in a finding for each allegation of maltreatment. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Administration for Children and Families)

Did you know that:Once a referral is screened-in, the local CPS unit typically conducts an investigation response. The investigation includes an assessment of safety and risk, as well as a determination of service needs. At the conclusion of the investigation, a disposition is made as to whether or not the child was maltreated. In most jurisdictions, a disposition is made with regard to each specific allegation of maltreatment. For example, the allegation of neglect could be substantiated, while an allegation of physical abuse could be unsubstantiated. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Administration for Children and Families)

Did you know that:Three-quarters of unique victims had no history of prior victimization for each year from FFY 2006 through FFY 2010. Information regarding first-time victims is a Federal Performance measure. The Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention Program (CBCAP) reports this measure to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) each year as an average of all States. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Administration for Children and Families)