According to the State Court Guide to Statistical Reporting, abuse is "a subcategory of dependency cases alleging the hurting or injuring of a child by maltreatment."  The guide defines neglect as "a subcategory of dependency cases alleging failure by a parent or custodian to render appropriate care to a child; an act of omission by the person legally responsible for a child's care that threatens the child's well-being; or failure to provide a child with suitable food, shelter, clothing, hygiene, medical care, or parental supervision."

Every year, there are approximately 3 million children involved in child abuse and neglect cases.  Of those 3 million, about one-third are substantiated with 150,000 cases requiring court action.¹  According to the Definitions of Child Abuse and Neglect: State Statute Series, these cases include physical abuse, deprivation of necessities, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, emotional abuse, parental substance abuse, and abandonment.

[1] ABA Center on Children and the Law,  Building a Better Court ( Williamsburg, VA: National Center for State Courts, 2004): 1.  (KF505.5 B85 2004)

While the laws pertaining to mandatory reporting vary from state to state, all states require social workers, teachers, doctors, and law-enforcement personnel to report instances of suspected child abuse and neglect.² 

[2] Susan K. Smith,  "Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse and Neglect."  Last edited: 08/25/2007.

The National Assocation of Counsel for Children has created a set of recommendations for representing children in abuse and neglect cases.  The 2001 NACC Recommendations for Representation of Children in Abuse and Neglect Cases has information regarding policies for children's legal representation, checklists of advocacy duties and issues, and models of advocate-directed representation and client-directed representation.

For a child to be eligible for foster care, the following criteria must be met: (1) evidence of the child's removal by a court or the establishment of a voluntary placement agreement, (2) the acceptance of responsibility for the child's placement by a state or other public agency, (3) eligibility for AFDC, (4) placement in a licensed foster-care center or other child-welfare institution, and (5) verification the institution meets the necessary safety requirements.³

[3] Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, Title IV-E: Foster Care, Chapter 4: "Eligibility Requirements."

Child Maltreatment 2005 reports that it takes an average of 46 days from the commencement of an investigation of child abuse and neglect until the provision of services.  The average number of days for processing these cases varies by state.  The range for processing time is quite large: from 6 days in Hawaii to 118 days in Mississippi.  Table 6-3 (page 85) of the report has processing-time information on most states.

The publication Building a Better Court lists the five performance measures used in cases of child abuse and neglect: safety, permanency, due process, timeliness, and well-being.⁴  Workload measures include case-processing times, the size of the courts, geographic diversity, the number of workdays per year, and the length of judges' days.⁵

[4] ABA Center on Children and the Law,  Building a Better Court ( Williamsburg, VA: National Center for State Courts, 2004): 14-20.  (KF505.5 B85 2004)

[5] Id., p. 36.  (KF505.5 B85 2004)

In May 2005, the Assocation of Family and Conciliation Courts published Exemplary Family Court Programs and Practices: Profiles of Innovative and Accountable Court-Connected Programs.  This publication has a section devoted to Children Services with ten exemplary programs.  The National Child Welfare Resource Center of Legal and Judicial Issues also has state information on new and innovative projects.

ASFA is the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997.  The federal legislation, signed by former President Bill Clinton, reformed the child-welfare system, reaffirmed the safety of children in child-welfare services, established the need for permanent placement of children, provided incentives for adoptions, and focused on greater accountability within the child-welfare system.