There were many things that stood out to me as I read through the different information on Child

Maltreatment. The thing that surprised me the most was how wide spread it still is and with how
many children it still effects. I thought it was really sad such a large number was found ill
treated. In the article Understanding Child Maltreatment It says that 686,000 children were
found to be victim to maltreatment by child protective services in 2012. That is such a big
number to think about. The article Child Maltreatment: consequences say that is about 14 percent
of children. 14 percent is and awfully big number but its a bit unsettling to think that all this data
was from the suffering children the child protective services found. Im sure there were a lot of
children missed meaning that the percentage most likely is much higher.
The second thing I thought was interesting and worth noting was the effects child maltreatment
has Physically, Psychologically and behaviorally. There seems to be a massive list of the possible
effects. One I thought interesting was improper brain development. There were a lot of things
that went along with this such as an impaired learning ability, emotional and social skills. While
all of the problems I just listed are all Psychological issues there are also many Physical heath
problems early in life as well as latter on. The World Report on violence and health brought up
an amazing perspective. The report states that ill health caused by child abuse forms a significant
portion of the global burden of disease. It continues to talk about how Childhood abuse causes
this ill health. It blames it all on behavioral risk factors. Things like smoking, drinking alcohol a
bad diet and a lack of exercise. These bad habits then lead to more dangerous consequences such
as cancer, heart disease fibromyalgia and many more things. I find this amazing because it gives
you a view of how big of an impact Child abuse has on a society.
The last thing I thought was really interesting was the cost to the individual as well as the
community or society. From reading all the different articles and power points its apparent that

Child maltreatment affects many areas of our communities. Some of the areas it affects include
criminal justice costs; child welfare costs and an interesting that didnt cross my mind at first,
productivity losses. There is so much money that is used in prevention or as a means to try to fix
problems that are caused. The estimated average lifetime cost per victim of nonfatal child
maltreatment is $210,012(Child Maltreatment: Consequences, pg3) Annalists have come to the
conclusion that so much money is used in maltreatment prevention that it likely could outweigh
the cost of fixing the problems after they happen. I think the whole moral of this assignment is
that there are a lot of problems in the world that could easily be prevented by proper child care.
The Abecedarian project and the head start program proved this point to be true. This is true in
the fact that it took children who would have very likely suffered from abuse and maltreatment.
I added this quote because it has some personal value for me and is something I have been able
to see firsthand. Of children entering foster care in 2010, 16 percent were younger than 1 year.
When infants and young children enter out-of-home care due to abuse or neglect, the trauma of a
primary caregiver change negatively affects their attachments (ACF/OPRE, 2012a). Nearly half
of infants in foster care who have experienced maltreatment exhibit some form of cognitive
delay and have lower IQ scores, language difficulties, and neonatal challenges compared to
children who have not been abused or neglected (ZERO TO THREE, 2011). My family had for
most of my life been involved in Foster care programs. It was sad to see the state of the children
that came into are home. Are family only ever watched very young children. However you could
see the issues mentioned above very clearly. It makes me sad to think that there life could have
been so different if they received that proper care they needed.