Data show drop in child abuse

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Fears that persisting economic woes would increase child abuse in the U.S. have proved unfounded, according to the latest federal data.

A comprehensive new report, to be formally unveiled Wednesday, shows overall abuse and neglect figures declining slightly between 2008 and 2010, and child fatalities dropping by 8.5 percent in that span.

The annual report from the Department of Health and Human Services said the estimated number of victimized children dropped from 716,000 in the 2008 fiscal year, when the recession began, to 695,000 in 2010. That’s down from 825,000 in 2006.

The rate of abuse — factoring in cases where some children were abused more than once during the year — was 10 per 1,000 children, down from 10.3 in 2008, to reach the lowest level since the current tracking system began in 1990.