Mixed Situation for Vulnerable Children

from The Urban Institute

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Some of the most significant challenges facing children in vulnerable families improved over the past decade, while others remain of concern. “Children in Vulnerable Families: Facts and Figures,” a new fact sheet from the Urban Institute, looks at child maltreatment, domestic violence, children’s disabilities, substance abuse, and parental mental illness. The fact sheet is available at http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=901016.

The number of children waiting to be adopted dropped from 132,000 in 2000 to 114,000 in 2005. The number of school-age children with disabilities receiving federally funded services rose from 4,500,000 in the 1991–92 school year to 5,800,000 by 2000–01.

But some trends are less encouraging. In 1990, 2.3 million children were investigated for abuse or neglect by child welfare agencies, a number that increased to 3.5 million in 2004. Rates of abuse and neglect are highest amongst infants and toddlers.

Many risks confronting children occur in tandem. Some are disproportionately frequent among low-income families. For instance, over a quarter of low-income children have parents reporting poor mental health, more than double the share of children in higher-income families.

More than 28.5 million children live in low-income households, which have annual incomes up to twice the federal poverty level, or about $40,000 in 2005 for a family of four.

The Urban Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan policy research and educational organization that examines the social, economic, and governance challenges facing the nation.