New data on Kids Count taken from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System from 2000 to 2009 report Alaska as having the second highest rate of child maltreatment in 2009: "In 2009, the United States saw its lowest rate of child maltreatment since 2004 with 690,869 children, or 9 per 1000 children experiencing maltreatment. Rates range from a low of 1 per 1,000 children in Pennsylvania to a high of 24 per 1,000 children in Massachusetts. Neglect (76 percent) followed by physical abuse (23 percent) were the most prominent types of maltreatment children experienced overall."
Alaska's rate is 19 per 1,000, defined as children "...who are the subject of at least one substantiated or indicated maltreatment report, and/or who were identified as alternative response victims. Rates of maltreated children are per 1,000 children less than 18 years old." From 2005 to 2009 Alaska's rates were 13, 17, 15, 21 and 19. Our ranking from 2005 to 2009 was 14, 6, 6, 2 and 2.
Part of it is the problem with small numbers. In 2009 Alaska's under 18 population was about 200,000, so a rate of 19 per 1,000 is a total of 3,800 cases. That's still 3,800 too many, but a difference of a couple hundred cases means we move up or down in the rankings by a place or two.
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