Commission to Eliminate Child Abuseand Neglect Fatalities

CECANF Mission

Established by H.R. 6655 (112th): Protect Our Kids Act of 2012 to develop a national strategy and recommendations for reducing fatalities resulting from child abuse and neglect.

Goals and Objectives

• Congress and the President are keenly interested and have charged CECANF with studying the issues

• CECANF seeks to engage in a broad discussion among stakeholders and with the public

• Raise visibility and build awareness about the problems

• Look at data, best practice—what’s working and not working

• Help identify solutions• Report findings and make recommendations to

drive future policy

CECANF Commission Members

Six Presidential Appointments:

Dr. David Sanders, ChairpersonExecutive Vice President, Casey Family Programs Theresa Martha CovingtonDirector, National Center for the Review and Prevention of Child DeathsHon. Patricia M. MartinPresiding Judge, Child Protection Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois Michael R. PetitPresident and Founder, Every Child Matters Education FundJennifer RodriguezExecutive Director, Youth Law CenterDr. David RubinPediatrician/Associate Professor, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

CECANF Commission MembersSix Congressional Appointments:Amy Ayoub

Advocate, and presentations skills coach

Dr. Cassie Bevan

Lecturer, Graduate School of Social Policy and Practice, University of Pennsylvania

Bud Cramer

Former Member of Congress (D-AL) and founder of the National Children’s Advocacy Center

Susan N. Dreyfus

President and CEO of the Alliance for Children and Families

Dr. Wade Horn

Director, Deloitte Consulting and former assistant secretary for the Administration for Children and Families

Marilyn Bruguier Zimmerman

Director, National Native Children's Trauma Center

How Many Children Died from Abuse orNeglect in 2012?• An estimated 1,640 children died due to abuse and neglect. • The overall rate of child fatalities was 2.2 deaths per 100,000 children

in the national population. • Nearly 70 percent (69.9 %) of child fatalities were attributed to

neglect only or a combination of neglect and another maltreatment type.

• 44.3% of child fatalities were attributed exclusively to physical abuse or to physical abuse in combination with another maltreatment type.

• Nearly three-quarters (70.3 %) of the children who died due to child abuse and neglect were younger than 3 years old.

Source: Child Maltreatment 2012

Child Maltreatment Fatalities—5 Year Trends

~ 1,600 fatalities each year ~ 2.2 fatalities per 100,000 children (rate)

(number of states reporting)

1,720 1,740

1,5601,580

1,640

Source: Child Maltreatment 2012

Commission is charged with studying:• The use of child protective services and child welfare services funded

under title IV and subtitle A of title XX of the Social Security Act to reduce fatalities from child abuse and neglect.

• The effectiveness of the services funded under title IV and subtitle A of title XX

• Best practices in preventing child and youth fatalities• The effectiveness of Federal, State, and local policies and systems

within such services aimed at collecting accurate, uniform data on child fatalities in a coordinated fashion

Commission is charged with studying:• Barriers to preventing fatalities• Trends in demographic and other risk

factors that are predictive of or correlated with child maltreatment

• Methods of prioritizing child abuse and neglect prevention for families with the highest need

• Methods of improving data collection and utilization

Upcoming Public Meetings

• August 28—Detroit, Michigan• September 22-23—Denver, Colorado

• Previous meetings held in San Antonio, Texas on June 2-3 and Tampa Florida on July 10

• More meetings to follow through January, including one specifically with Tribes

Visit our new website:eliminatechildabusefatalities.sites.usa.gov

QUESTIONS?

Please direct further questions and suggestions to Patricia Brincefield, pjbrincefield@comcast.net