HOW PREVALENT is
CHILD ABUSE and NEGLECT?

All of the below statistics rely on the number of reported cases of abuse, which is often an underestimate of what actually occurs. All of the information gathered here is from a cumulative report of many different studies detailing the safety of children in the foster system.

​

• A study in Baltimore discovered that sexual abuse in the foster care system was four times more likely to occur than in the general population.  

• A study in Indiana discovered that the rate of physical abuse in foster care was three times higher than the general population, and sexual abuse was two times higher than the general population. The same study found that the rate of physical abuse in group homes was ten times higher and the rate of sexual abuse was 28 times higher than in the general population. The reason for the crazy amount of abuse in group homes: children in the homes often abuse each other.

• A study in Georgia discovered that 34 percent of children whose plan was adoption had undergone abuse or neglect. Fifteen percent of children who recently joined the system experience abuse or neglect within only one year.

​

States who have adopted family preservation tactics (doing everything they can to keep a family together rather than tearing the child apart and into foster care) have less children in the foster system, which allows caseworkers to spend more time with children who genuinely need to be in the system. Family preservation reform leads to safer conditions for children.