Presents and analyzes data on child abuse and neglect reported by child protective services (CPS) agencies throughout the United States in 2003. A project of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System gathers data annually from the states, in an effort to improve programs and establish new requirements. According to the survey, an estimated 2.9 million referrals of abuse or neglect concerning nearly 5.5 million children were received by CPS agencies. Chapters describe: (1) the annual data collection process; (2) the preparation and use of reports, including screening of referrals, report sources, response time from reporting to investigation, and CPS workforce and workload; (3) the characteristics of the victims, including victimization rates, types of maltreatment by age, sex, race, and ethnicity of victims, and the recurrence of maltreatment; (4) the characteristics of the perpetrators, including relationship to their victims; (5) fatalities, including the number of child fatalities by age, sex, type of maltreatment, and prior contact with CPS; (6) preventive and remedial services as well as factors influencing the receipt of services; and (7) additional research and guidelines for data submission.
