Statistics
Kent County Statistics of Child Abuse and Neglect for 2004-2005:
- In Kent County, 45,382 children are under the ages of 0 to 5, (Kids Count Data, 2007).
- Within the past year, there was a 46.2% increase in removals of children by Child Protective Services (CPS) from unsafe situations in Kent County.
- During 2005-2007, the numbers of child abuse and neglect reports in Kent County have nearly doubled.
- The rate of confirmed cases of abuse is higher among children ages 0 to 5 than among all children in Kent County.
- The rate of confirmed cases of neglect among children ages 0 to 5 is higher in Kent County compared to Michigan in the Fiscal Year of 2006.
- Research indicates young children (ages 3 and younger) are the most frequent victims of child fatalities.
- NCANDS data for 2004 demonstrated children younger than 1 year accounted for 36% of fatalities.
- Reported cases of fatalities caused by child abuse have increased by 44.3% in the past ten years (Broken Spirits Network, 2005).