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House Explores Plan for Reducing Child Abuse, Neglect Fatalities in US

A congressional hearing held on July 12 about child deaths due to maltreatment called on national experts to explain why the number of child deaths has been undercounted. The hearing coincided with the release of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on child abuse and neglect deaths associated with the child welfare system.

Congressman Dave Camp (R-MI), Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, called for the hearing when he was presented with a petition including more than 8,000 signatures during a congressional briefing on child abuse deaths hosted by the National Coalition to End Child Abuse Deaths (NCECAD) in April.

Human Resources Subcommittee Chairman Geoff Davis (R-KY) opened the hearing with remarks about the “transience of hype” that comes with high profile child abuse cases. He challenged committee members and the hearing speakers to consider gaps, but also to identify ways that better information in the system can help caregivers prevent future tragedies.    

Findings from the long-awaited GAO report were presented at the hearing. In addition, child welfare experts made recommendations for what can be done to reduce child fatalities.

Hearing witnesses included:

• Kay E. Brown – Director of Education, Workforce and Income Security for the U.S. Government Accountability Office
• Tamara Tunie – Actor  (Law & Order: SVU) and spokesperson for the National Coalition to End Child Abuse Deaths
• Carole Jenny, MD – Director of the Child Protection Program, Hasbro Children's Hospital, and internationally known expert in child abuse prevention and treatment
• Theresa Covington, MPH – Director for the National Center for Child Death Review and member of the National Coalition to End Child Abuse Deaths
• Michael Petit, MSW – President, Every Child Matters Education Fund and member of the National Coalition to End Child Abuse Deaths
• Jane McClure Burstain, PhD– Senior Policy Analyst, Texas Center on Public Policy Priorities
  

Kay E. Brown presented the GAO’s new report which focuses on the whether or not the federal National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) accurately or completely captures the number or circumstances of child abuse and neglect fatalities. Their conclusion: it does not.

NCANDS reported 1,770 child abuse and neglect related fatalities in 2009, but the GAO report cited a peer reviewed study of fatal maltreatment in three states and found that the deaths were undercounted by 55% to 76%. The more likely number of child abuse and neglect related fatalities is 2,500—an estimate provided by the National Coalition to End Child Abuse Deaths.

The GAO report further concludes that reducing preventable fatalities requires complete and reliable data based on commonly understood definitions of maltreatment and the systematic evaluation of the causes and circumstances of these deaths.

The hearing can be viewed on C-SPAN.org.  Full written testimony from the speakers can be found on the House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources website.  To learn how you can help with the campaign to end child abuse and neglect fatalities, visit EndChildAbuseDeaths.org.

— Source: Coalition to End Child Abuse Deaths