Kentucky, Indiana Are 1st, 2nd In Frequency Of Child Abuse Cases

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Pinwheels are placed at Newtown Park in Lawrenceburg, Indiana each April, which is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. File photo.

(Indianapolis, Ind.) - Indiana and Kentucky have the highest child abuse rates in the country, according to the Children’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The bureau’s new “Child Maltreatment” report uses 2017 data. The report can be found online at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/research-data-technology/statistics-research/child-maltreatment.

It found Kentucky’s 22 per 1,000 children abuse rate is the highest in the nation, and more than double the national average. The number of child victims in the commonwealth, 22,410, marked a 27.4 percent increase between 2013 and 2017.

Indiana was second in the nation with 18.6 per 1,000. Indiana’s child victim total of 29,918 was an increase of 34 percent from four years earlier.

Child abuse deaths totaled 78 in Indiana in 2017, making for the country’s third highest child abuse or neglect death rate at five per 1,000 children. Ten children died of abuse or neglect in Kentucky that year.

Nationally, it showed about 75 percent of victims are neglected, 18 percent are physically abused, and almost nine percent are sexually abused. An estimated 1,720 American children died of abuse and neglect.

The report also takes a look at the child welfare agency in each state and makes recommendations on improvements that can be made.

It noted that Indiana’s daily safety staffings between field workers and supervisors emphasizes ensuring the safety of children as quickly as possible. The change has resulted in a significant reduction in reported time to investigation, according to the report.

Last year, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb allocated $25 million to the Indiana Department of Child Services to improve welfare services. State lawmakers are looking to add hundreds millions more in new DCS funding in the biennial budget bill currently under consideration.

Kentucky does not collect in-depth information regarding the number of children who are screened out for referrals that do not meet criteria for abuse or neglect, the report states. No changes made in data collection would result in an increase in reports.

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