Common Neglect
Neglect is the most common type of child maltreatment.
Using data from a national survey, this brief links specific caregiver struggles to a higher incidence of out-of-home placements among neglected children. It closes with one clear recommendation: Offer integrated — and early — caregiver support services to help counter this trend and better aid America’s at-risk children and families.
Neglect is the most common type of child maltreatment.
In 2008, 69% of all maltreatment cases experienced neglect, more than 184,000 children.
If a caregiver is struggling with drug use, neglected children are three times more likely to be placed in out-of-home care.
Twenty-one percent of poor, neglected children are removed from the home, while only 8% of non-poor, neglected kids are.
Child neglect generally refers to a caregiver’s failure to provide age-appropriate care. Neglect comes in two forms— physical or supervisory.
Integrating services to help caregivers control their substance use and behavioral health issues before removing children is one way we could be doing more to support at-risk families.
Four separate caregiver issues — drug use, alcohol abuse, behavioral health problems and poverty — increase a child’s likelihood of being placed in out-of-home care following evidence of neglect.
