In the year 2000 about 3 million American families (5 million kids) were referred to child protection agencies.  Less than 2 million of those referrals resulted in investigations.  Findings of abuse/neglect were made on about 1/2 million of those families (879,000 kids).  Out of 3 million referrals, 2 1/2 million were unfounded.  In other words, while 879,000 kids were found to be in need of services, about 4 million kids had to endure strip searches, interrogations and home inspections for nothing.  How many innocent families were needlessly traumatized?  How much of the budget did these mistakes take away from children in need? 

A finding of abuse can be based on anything from real abuse to the bruise your child got while playing, but most findings are based on neglect.  Neglect can be anything from the definition of neglect to whatever caseworkers want to write in their reports.  How many cases of neglect could be remedied by helping poor families find access to daycare, decent housing, food, clothing, medical and dental care?  Wouldn't it cost less to provide these services to the poor than to take away their children, place them in foster care, process them through the courts for months on end, terminate the parents rights, put the children up for adoption?  How much funding is wasted on cases where neglect is really poverty? 

Most referrals come from mandated reporters, i.e. school teachers, principals, counselors, doctor's, nurses, anyone who is a licensed professional dealing with parents and children.  Mandated reporters are pressured to report or lose their license.  But they are wrong more than half the time according to the statistics.  Are they reporting to protect themselves or the children?  How much funding are they wasting filing false reports?  How much damage are they causing the innocent families they are accusing?

Precious funds for child protection in America are being misappropriated from referral to finding.  Families are clashing with social services, law enforcement, school personnel, medical professionals.  Innocent families are being blacklisted, terrorized and torn apart.  Is this the honorable and compassionate system of child protection we want for our country?  Is the current system conducive to focusing on the real cases and truly helping those children in need?

See: National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) for statistics for the year 2000 and other years.

Also see National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect (NDACAN)