The decrease, the fifth in a row reported by the federal government, comes as the nation marks April as National Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Month. The Clinton administration is firmly committed not only to preventing child abuse and neglect before it occurs, but also to providing safe, permanent and loving homes for children who have been harmed. We must not tolerate this daily human tragedy in our children's lives. Based on data reported by states, HHS estimates that child protective service agencies received about 2,806,000 referrals of possible maltreatment in 1998. In a trend which began five years ago, the number of children abused and neglected has decreased approximately 11 percent from a record 1,018,692 in 1993.
Parents continue to be the main perpetrators of child maltreatment.
More than 80 percent of all victims were maltreated by one or both parents. Victims of physical and sexual abuse, compared to victims of neglect and medical neglect, were more likely to be maltreated by a male parent acting alone. Nearly 12 percent of the victims were sexually abused. The number of child fatalities caused by maltreatment remained unchanged at about 1,100. But with the landmark Adoption and Safe Families Act as well as community-based child abuse prevention programs, there is more hope than ever for a stronger web of protection for children.