Is CPS investigating innocent families?

CPS gets numerous referrals and conducts thousands of investigations a year in every state. But how many of these reports are substantiated? Do these investigations normally result in CPS finding abused children?

For 2022, the most recent year with available data, CPS agencies nationwide received a national estimate of 4,276,000 total referrals, involving an estimated 7,530,000 children.¹ Of these referrals, approximately 602,466 children or 8% were determined to be victims of abuse or neglect.²

This means about 92% of children reported as being suspected victims of abuse or neglect were determined by CPS not to be.

Though CPS hotline/intake units screened out some of these referrals, almost half were not. Approximately 3,732,871 children were in referrals screened in as reports and subjected to investigation.³ Of those reports investigated, around 16.1% were determined to be victims of abuse or neglect.⁴

This means over 83% of children reported as being suspected victims of abuse or neglect, and who were also screened in for an investigation, were determined by CPS not to be victims of abuse or neglect.

Clearly, CPS agencies nationwide overall are spending a large percentage of their investigative resources following up on unfounded referrals. But this is just the national picture. Similar statistics can be determined by state.

For researching the number of victims per state, we utilized data reported by the states to the federal government. The total number of referrals comes from the federal Department of Health and Human Services’ Children’s Bureau report, Child Maltreatment 2022, which compiles and analyzes data from the states regarding referrals, reports, abuser and victim demographics, and more. 

The number of victims per state was taken from Child Maltreatment 2022, Table 3–2 Children Who Received an Investigation or Alternative Response by Disposition, 2022. Victims are children who were subject to investigations which were found to be “substantiated” or “indicated.” The total number of children investigated was listed in the same table and the number of victims was divided by the number of children investigated.⁵ 

The state average is around 18% of children investigated being determined to be victims. This means that the vast majority of children who are both reported and investigated were found by CPS to not be victims of abuse or neglect.

This data is helpful for understanding to what extent CPS may over-investigate in your state and provides a more complete picture when combined with the percent of referrals screened-in and the rate of referrals per 1000 adults.

Many state CPS agencies point to an overwhelming case load as why they claim a need for more funding and power. Yet the problem is not that there are too many cases to handle, but that they are very often investigating innocent families who never needed to be investigated in the first place.

Regardless of how effective or well intentioned CPS might be, we are committed to defending our member families against investigations stemming from false reports of child abuse and neglect.

¹ U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Children’s Bureau. (2024). Child Maltreatment 2022, at 7-8. Available from https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/cb/cm2022.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.

² Id. at 32. Table 3–2 Children Who Received an Investigation or Alternative Response by Disposition, 2022. 602,466 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.

³ Id. at 19. 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 32. Table 3–2 Children Who Received an Investigation or Alternative Response by Disposition, 2022. 602,466 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.

⁵ Id. at 33. Table 3–2 Children Who Received an Investigation or Alternative Response by Disposition, 2022. 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.