The Cost of Abuse

There's pressure to make the prevention of child maltreatment a priority in the US – but it's not because of the government report about the estimated 695,000 victims of child mistreatment in 2010.

Instead, it's due to the economic burden of dealing with the long-term consequences of child abuse that makes a strong case for devoting public resources to the prevention of child maltreatment.

A study published in Child Abuse & Neglect (2012) calculated the public financial cost of child abuse at about $124 billion each year. When broken down, the "productivity loss" plus the expense to the country's criminal justice, education, health care, and welfare systems adds up to a lifetime cost of $210,012 per victim.

The annual price tag of child abuse is comparable to health problems like stroke and type 2 diabetes, leading researchers to conclude that "Child Maltreatment is a serious and prevalent public health problem in the United States, responsible for substantial morbidity and mortality."

So, if the human cost wasn't enough to make child abuse prevention and treatment services a priority, now we also know that we cannot afford the financial costs of failing to fund these critical services.

Child Victims of the Recession

While the recession's unemployment numbers climbed in 2008-2009, pediatricians saw a significant increase in another troubling statistic: the number of cases of abusive head trauma from child abuse. A study reported in the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics concludes that "these results are concerning and suggest that prevention efforts might need to be increased significantly during times of economic hardship."

Unfortunately, prevention efforts have suffered in these times of severe budget cuts. For example, $91 million was cut from the budget for Arizona's Department of Economic Security that oversees Child Protective Services (CPS) at a time when five reports to CPS did not save a six-year-old Phoenix boy who died after suffering a brain bruise and other injuries. His parents have been charged with child abuse.

Dr. Mary Rimsza oversees the agency responsible for investigating child fatalities in Arizona. She points out that, in addition to the decreased budget and increased demand for CPS during bad economic times, CPS experiences a job turnover rate of 25% each year due to the stressful nature of the work.

With CPS resources stretched thin, Dr. Rimsza says, "You really shouldn't turn the other direction and say 'well somebody else will take care of this kid' or 'it's none of my business' because it is your business. Everybody in the community has a role in trying to keep our kids safe."