Citation

Klika JB, Rosenzweig J, Merrick M. Child Adolesc. Soc. Work J. 2020; 37(3): 227-234.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10560-020-00665-5

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Child abuse and neglect are a major public health problem with significant effects for individual victims and for society. Previous research has estimated the economic burden of child maltreatment at a national level but has not provided social work advocates with state-level estimates or provided information regarding the correct interpretation of these estimates. Using data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) from 2018 and per victim estimates of the economic burden of fatal and non-fatal cases of child maltreatment, this study calculates state-level estimates of the economic burden of known cases of child maltreatment from the year 2018. Rationale for estimating the economic burden of investigated versus substantiated cases is discussed, as is interpretation of study findings. The findings of this study provide social work and other advocates with state-level estimates of the economic burden of child maltreatment and facilitate the interpretation of the findings to be used in advocacy efforts. Limitations of NCANDS data and economic burden estimation are discussed.

Language: en