Note on calculations:

These numbers are based on national child abuse statistics published annually in the federal Children’s Bureau’s report, Child Maltreatment 2023.⁶ While the total number of children involved in a report is not published, the Children’s Bureau has calculated the average number of children in a report based on the number of children in a single investigation. Their working number for 2023, the most recent year, is 1.8⁷ (note that what are colloquially known as “reports” are called referrals by the Children’s Bureau).

To estimate the number of children reported, we multiplied the number of reports by 1.8 in every state.⁸ We then divided the known number of child victims by the estimated number of reported children to find the per state percentages.
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¹ https://heritagedefense.org/Percentage-of-CPS-Referrals-Screened-In
² https://heritagedefense.org/Is-CPS-investigating-innocent-families-
³ U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children and Families,
Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Children’s Bureau. (2025). Child Maltreatment
2023, at 19. Table 2–3 Total Referrals, 2019–2023. Available from https://acf.gov/sites/default/files/documents/cb/cm2023.pdf. Note that all of these numbers are based on a duplicate count, meaning that children involved in more than one referral are counted multiple times. This ensures an apples-to-apples comparison.
⁴ Id. at 7, note 6. Note that all of these numbers are based on a duplicate count, meaning that children involved in more than one referral are counted multiple times. This ensures an apples-to-apples comparison.
⁵ Id. at 36. Table 3–2 Children Who Received an Investigation or Alternative Response by Disposition, 2023. 589,515 is the sum of the national total of substantiated and indicated reports. Note that all of these numbers are based on a duplicate count, meaning that children involved in more than one referral are counted multiple times. This ensures an apples-to-apples comparison.
⁶ U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children and Families,
Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Children’s Bureau. (2025). Child Maltreatment
2023, at 19. Table 2–3 Total Referrals, 2019–2023. Available from https://acf.gov/sites/default/files/documents/cb/cm2023.pdf.
⁷ Child Maltreatment, at p. 7, n. 5. “Dividing the number of children with dispositions (3,728,421 from table 3–2) by the number of screened-in referrals (2,107,473, from table 2–3) results in the average number of children included in a screened-in referral (1.8 displayed as rounded).”
⁸ The Children’s Bureau did the same thing in estimating the total number of children in referrals. See id. at p. 7, n. 6. “The average number of children included in a screened-in referral (1.8) multiplied by the national estimate of total referrals (4,399,000 from table 2–3) results in an estimated 7,782,000 (rounded) children included in total referrals.”