On July 12, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report entitled, “Child Maltreatment: Strengthening National Data on Child Fatalities Could Aid in Prevention,” which was the same day that the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources held a hearing on the topic. Speaking at the hearing was Kay Brown, GAO official who oversaw the review. The review consisted of multiple interviews with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), a national survey to all child welfare agencies and on-site review in California, Michigan and Rhode Island. The participants in the hearing before Congress reported that as much as 50 percent of child deaths from abuse and neglect go unreported. In 2009, the most current data available from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) reports 1,779 child fatalities. A concern of the panelists and the Human Resources Subcommittee is the wide range in the way each state investigates and reports child fatalities related to maltreatment, along with states’ varying laws.
GAO reported that HHS contracts with the National Center for Child Death Review (NCCDR) to collect detailed information on circumstances around child deaths in 39 states. However, the data collected, which could aid in the prevention of future fatalities, has not been analyzed or published. States reported limited resources to address child deaths or joint collaboration with other agencies within the state that may have jurisdiction over a child death.
As a part of the hearing, Rep. Doggett (D-TX) expressed his grave concern over the lack of federal funding to support states in the prevention and investigation of child deaths when the child welfare agency might not be involved with the family. He cited the current House Budget bill that cuts all of the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) funding totaling $1.7 billion for Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2012. SSBG is used in most states to pay for the administrative costs associated with child abuse investigations. SSBG has been reduced several times since being made a block grant in 1977. The funding for SSBG remained constant from 1977 to 1995 at the level of $ 2.8 billion. However since 1995, SSBG has taken reductions of 61 percent or $1.7 billion.
Panelists agreed that without adequate funding, the response to child fatalities will always be reactive rather than proactive. Funding for preventive measures will not be available for states to put in place. GAO was strong in its recommendations for HHS to: 1) identify ways to help states strengthen the completeness and reliability of data they report to NCANDS, and 2) expand ways of communicating the type and amount of information made public as a result of child fatalities from maltreatment.
