The following is an item taken from Be The Voice facebook page. It gives some great information on the numbers involving Child Abuse. Feel free to visit the page for a State by State look as well. The info is listed in the Notes section.
In the United States:A child is abused or neglected every 42 seconds.
A child dies before his or her first birthday every 18 minutes.
A child or teen is killed by gunfire every 3 hours.
Child Poverty in United StatesNumber of poor children (and percent poor) 14,656,962 (18.97%)
Number of children living in extreme poverty (and percent in extreme poverty) 6,484,069 (8.5%)
Number of adults and children receiving cash assistance from Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) 4,250,934
Child Health in United StatesNumber of children without health insurance (and percent uninsured) 8,300,000 (10.4%)
Number of children enrolled in the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) 7,717,317
Number of children enrolled in Medicaid 28,716,633
Children as a percent of total Medicaid enrollment 49.1%
Medicaid and CHIP participation rate 81.8%
Medicaid expenditures on children as a percent of total Medicaid expenditures 25.4%
Percent of two-year-olds not fully immunized 30.1%
Child Hunger in United StatesNumber of children who receive food stamps 13,470,941
Percent of eligible persons who receive food stamps 66%
Number of children in the School Lunch Program (free and reduced price only) 18,187,514
Number of children in the Summer Food Service Program 2,125,820
Number of women and children receiving WIC (Supplemental Nutrition Program
for Women, Infants, and Children) 8,483,618
Early Childhood Development in United StatesPercent of children under age 6 with all parents in the labor force 64.4%
Number of children served by Head Start 1,056,789
Number of children served by the Child Care Development Fund/CCDBG 1,619,100
Percent of 3-year-olds enrolled in state pre-k, Head Start, or special
education programs 13.8%
Percent of 4-year-olds enrolled in state pre-k, Head Start, or special
education programs 38.9%
Education in United StatesAnnual expenditure per prisoner $24,354
Annual expenditure per public school pupil $9,154
Percent of public school fourth graders:
unable to read at grade level 68%
unable to do math at grade level 62%
Percent of public school eighth graders:
unable to read at grade level 70%
unable to do math at grade level 67%
Number of high school students who drop out of school annually 1,053,234
Child Welfare in United StatesNumber of children who are victims of abuse and neglect 751,049
Number of children in foster care 418,422
Number of children adopted from foster care 57,264
Number of grandparents raising grandchildren 2,541,364
Youth at Risk in United StatesPercent of 16- to 19-year-olds not enrolled in school and not high
school graduates 6.0%
Averaged freshman high school graduation rate 74.9%
Percent of 16- to 19-year-olds unemployed 24.3%
Number of juvenile arrests 1,621,391
Number of children and teens in juvenile residential facilities 86,814
Ratio of cost per prisoner to cost per public school pupil 2.7
Number of children and teens killed by firearms: 3,042
2,161 homicides; 683 suicides; 138 accidents; and 60 undetermined
Compiled from the most up-to-date data available as of January 2011. For data sources, please visitwww.childrensdefense.org/cits
*According to the Childrens Defense Fund
Children in the United States
As of January 2011:
74,548,215 children live in the United States:
951,329 are American Indian/Alaska Native
2,491,422 are two or more races
3,480,257 are Asian/Pacific Islander
11,280,366 are Black
16,750,075 are Hispanic
41,225,410 are White, non-Hispanic
Those are some pretty staggering numbers. But the sad part is... 90% of the abuse is preventable.
Won't you speak out against the violence? Will you Be The Voice?
Warmest,
LaVonda