One of the most important studies for the field of child abuse and neglect prevention was the Fang study, published in Child Abuse & Neglect in 2012. That study aimed to examine the economic burden to society for one year’s worth of substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect. A new study from Dr. Elizabeth Letourneau from Johns Hopkins University has a similar aim, but a more specific focus: child sexual abuse. In this research review, Dr. Bart Klika, our Chief Research and Strategy Officer, looks at some of the findings of this latest study and its implications for the field as a whole.
This report was compiled to assist state leaders in evaluating the status of their legislative efforts to prevent child sexual abuse in schools, learning how other states are addressing the issue, and encouraging improvements in state policies based on the national trends identified and recommendations provided.
This study provides social work and other advocates with state-level estimates of the economic burden of child maltreatment and facilitates the interpretation of the findings to be used in advocacy efforts.
We examine a study on the economic impact of child maltreatment as well as another study that explores the association between report card release dates and verified cases of child physical abuse.
