Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse
and 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, Chairperson
Executive Vice President, Casey Family Programs
Theresa Martha Covington
Director, National Center for the Review and Prevention of Child Deaths
Hon. Patricia M. Martin
Presiding Judge, Child Protection Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois
Michael R. Petit
President and Founder, Every Child Matters Education Fund
Jennifer Rodriguez
Executive Director, Youth Law Center
Dr. David Rubin
Pediatrician/Associate Professor, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
CECANF Commission Members
Six 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 or
Neglect 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
1,720
~ 2.2 fatalities per 100,000 children (rate)
1,740
Reported
Estimated
~ 1,600 fatalities each year
1,640
1,560
1,580
(number of states reporting)
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