	Overview

Child abuse and neglect is a significant social concern. Children who experience abuse or neglect are more likely to have developmental delays and impaired language or cognitive skills; be identified as "problem" children (with attention difficulties or challenging behaviors); be arrested for delinquency, adult criminality, and violent criminal behavior; experience depression, anxiety, or other mental health problems as adults; engage in more health-risk behaviors as adults; and have poorer health outcomes as adults. In 1974, Congress passed the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA, P.L. Since its enactment 35 years ago, the law has been reauthorized and amended numerous times, most recently by the Keeping Children and Families Safe Act of 2003 ( P.L. 108-36 ). Currently, CAPTA authorizes: 
State Grants : Formula grants to states and territories to help improve their child protective service (CPS) systems, in exchange for which states must comply with various requirements related to the reporting, investigation, and treatment of child maltreatment cases. Community-Based Grants: Formula grants to each state and territory for support of community-based activities and services to prevent child abuse and neglect. Funding authorization for most grants or activities authorized under CAPTA expired with FY2008. 111-8 ) provided roughly $110 million out of the general treasury for CAPTA grants and activities in FY2009. In addition, as required by the Victims of Crime Act ( P.L. 93-247 , as amended), $20 million was set aside from the Crime Victims Fund for grants to improve the investigation, prosecution, and handling of child abuse and neglect cases (commonly referred to as "Children's Justice Act grants"). This first part of this report includes a discussion of definitions of child abuse and neglect and a description of how CPS agencies receive and respond to allegations of child abuse and neglect. Definition of Child Abuse and Neglect

Child abuse and neglect is defined in CAPTA as "at a minimum, any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker, which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation, or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm." Caseworkers reported that more than half of the families (54%) included in the nationally representative survey of children in families investigated for abuse or neglect had only one supportive caregiver in the home, close to one-third (31%) were assessed as having low social support, and nearly one-quarter had trouble paying for basic necessities. Risk Factors Among Children

Children in families investigated for abuse or neglect exhibit a greater risk for developmental delays and behavior problems than do children in the general population. Specifically, these data are (1) the number of children who were reported to the state during the year as abused or neglected and, of those children, the number for whom the report was substantiated, unsubstantiated, or determined to be false; (2) the number of children reported as abused or neglect who received services under CAPTA (or an equivalent state program) during the year, the number who did not, and the number who were removed from their families; (3) the number of children reunited with their families, or receiving family preservation services, that within five years were the subject of a subsequent substantiated report of child abuse or neglect (including death); (4) the number of deaths in the state during the year that were the result of child abuse or neglect and the number of those deaths that involved children in foster care; (5) the number of children for whom individuals were appointed by the court to represent the children's best interests and the average number of out-of-court contacts between the appointed representatives and these children; (6) the number of children "under the care of the state child protection system" whose custody is transferred to the state juvenile justice system; (7) the number of families that received preventive services during the year; (8) the number of CPS workers responsible for intake and screening of child abuse and neglect reports, and the number of those same CPS workers, as well as the number of CPS investigators, relative to the number of reports investigated; and (9) the agency response time with respect to initial investigation of child abuse or neglect and the response time with respect to the provision of services to families where an allegation of abuse or neglect has been made. Funding Authorized and Appropriated Under CAPTA

The final section of this report discusses funding authorized by CAPTA and includes a table showing a history of funding appropriated under that authority (beginning with FY1992). 111-8 ), and legislation pending in Congress ( H.R. 3293 ) would appropriate a similar amount for FY2010.
Child abuse and neglect is a significant social concern. Children who experience abuse and/or neglect are more likely to have developmental delays and impaired language or cognitive skills; be identified as "problem" children (with attention difficulties or challenging behaviors); be arrested for delinquency, adult criminality, and violent criminal behavior; experience depression, anxiety, or other mental health problems as adults; engage in more health-risk behaviors as adults; and have poorer health outcomes as adults. Further, data from a nationally representative sample of children in families investigated for abuse or neglect show that as a whole—and without regard to whether a child protective services (CPS) investigator determines that abuse or neglect has occurred—children in families who come into contact with CPS agencies are at higher risk for poor development and behavior outcomes than children in the general population. In addition, that survey shows that these children live in families that often face challenges to their ability to care for and nurture their children, including trouble paying for basic necessities, low social support, and only one supportive caregiver in the family. In FY2007, states reported an estimated 3.5 million children were in families investigated or assessed by CPS workers and some 794,000 were identified as victims of abuse or neglect.
In 1974, Congress enacted the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA, P.L. 93-247) to create a single federal focus for preventing and responding to child abuse and neglect. As a condition of receiving state grant funds under that act, states are required to have procedures in place for receiving and responding to allegations of abuse or neglect and for ensuring children's safety. Further, they must define child abuse and neglect in a way that is consistent with CAPTA, which defines the term as " at a minimum, any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker, which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation, or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm."
Since its enactment, CAPTA has been reauthorized numerous times, most recently by the Keeping Children and Families Safe Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-36). Currently, it authorizes formula grants to states to help improve their child protective services; competitive grants and contracts for research, demonstration, and other activities related to better identifying, preventing, and treating child abuse and neglect; and formula grants to states for support of community-based child abuse and neglect prevention services. Funding authorization for these CAPTA programs expired with FY2008. However, Congress appropriated $110 million for CAPTA in FY2009 (P.L. 111-8) and a similar amount has been proposed for FY2010 (H.R. 3293). In addition, CAPTA authorizes grants to improve the prosecution and handling of child abuse and neglect cases. These formula grants to states, commonly referred to as Children's Justice Act grants, are funded via an annual set-aside of up to $20 million from the Crime Victims fund.
This report begins with discussion of the issue and scope of child abuse and neglect, followed by a discussion of the manner and scope of the work of the CPS agency in receiving and responding to allegations of child abuse or neglect, and then looks at some identified risk factors for poor child and family outcomes among all children in families investigated for abuse or neglect. Finally, it provides a detailed description of the current programs and activities authorized under CAPTA and discusses funding authorized and provided under CAPTA. This report will be updated as warranted.