Problem

While some 2023 data is available, this section uses 2022 figures to maintain consistency with previously published national reports and ensure comparability across datasets.

Child abuse is widespread, yet the reporting process is dangerously inefficient. In 2022 alone, approximately 558,899 U.S. children were confirmed victims of abuse or neglect – about 8 out of every 1,000 children (1). Child Protective Services (CPS) agencies receive around 4.4 million reports each year involving 7.9 million children (2). Challenges in the current system include:

• Underreporting and Delays: Many cases are never reported or are reported late. Surveys show 39% of adults in a state with universal mandatory reporting didn’t even know they must report suspected abuse (3, 4). Fear and misconceptions abound – over half worry that reporting “won’t help” the child (5). This lack of awareness and clarity means warning signs are too often overlooked until it’s too late.

• Incomplete & Subjective Reports: Even when concerned teachers, doctors, or neighbors do report, the quality of reports can be poor. Incident descriptions may be missing key details or filled with subjective language. Overworked reporters might leave out critical information like dates, descriptions, or context, forcing investigators to spend precious time following up. Each gap or delay in a report is a potential child slipping through the cracks.

• Overwhelmed Systems: Paradoxically, when reporting does increase, agencies can be flooded with unfounded or low-quality reports. For example, Pennsylvania expanded mandatory reporting after a high-profile abuse scandal (6). In the five years that followed, the state’s hotline was inundated with over 1 million maltreatment reports, yet roughly 90% of the resulting investigations were dismissed as unfounded (7, 8). This flood of reports strained caseworkers and made it harder to spot the children truly in danger (9, 10). An overwhelmed system means slower responses and higher risk that serious cases are missed.

• Real-World Consequences: The price of these reporting failures is measured in children’s lives. Nearly 2,000 children died from abuse or neglect in the U.S. in 2022 (11). Each tragedy often reveals missed opportunities – warning signs not properly reported or assessed. When reports are late, incomplete, or lost in a backlog, children remain in harm’s way. The human and social costs are incalculable, and even financially child maltreatment imposes huge costs on healthcare, law enforcement, and foster care systems (12). Bottom line: today’s child abuse reporting is fragmented and inefficient, leaving vulnerable children at risk. There is an urgent need for a better way to report and act on signs of abuse.