During FFY 2005, an estimated 899,000 children in the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico were determined to be victims of abuse or neglect. The increase of approximately 20,000 victims in FFY 2005, compared to FFY 2004, is largely due to the inclusion of data from Alaska and Puerto Rico for FFY 2005. Among the children confirmed as victims by CPS agencies in FFY 2005:

• Children in the age group of birth to 3 years had the highest rate of victimization at 16.5 per 1,000 children of the same age group in the national population;
• More than one-half of the victims were 7 years old or younger (54.5%);
• More than one-half of the child victims were girls (50.7%) and 47.3 percent were boys; and
• Approximately one-half of all victims were White (49.7%); one-quarter (23.1%) were African-American; and 17.4 percent were Hispanic.

What were the most common types of maltreatment?

• More than 60 percent (62.8%) of victims suffered neglect;
• More than 15 percent (16.6%) of the victims suffered physical abuse;
• Less than 10 percent (9.3%) of the victims suffered sexual abuse; and
• Less than 10 percent (7.1%) of the victims suffered from emotional maltreatment.

How many children died from abuse or neglect?Child fatalities are the most tragic consequence of maltreatment. Yet, each year children die from abuse and neglect. During FFY 2005:

• An estimated 1,460 children died due to child abuse or neglect;
• The overall rate of child fatalities was 1.96 deaths per 100,000 children;
• More than 40 percent (42.2%) of child fatalities were attributed to neglect; physical abuse also was a major contributor to child fatalities;
• More than three-quarters (76.6%) of the children who died due to child abuse and neglect were younger than 4 years old;
• Infant boys (younger than 1 year) had the highest rate of fatalities, at 17.3 deaths per 100,000 boys of the same age in the national population; and
• Infant girls had a rate of 14.5 deaths per 100,000 girls of the same age.