Outcomes of Reporting System in Monroe County
While 69% of our registered reports of suspected child abuse and neglect come from mandated reporters, 31% came from voluntary reporters including concerned citizens, neighbors, and relatives. This distribution of sources of reports further emphasizes that the protection of children depends on a shared responsibility by mandated reporters, concerned citizens and relatives, and us (CPS). We can take action only if you call with information that can be registered as a report. We want to build and maintain good relationships with you and share information about how well our reporting system is working in Monroe County. Table 1 shows the source of reports of suspected child abuse and neglect from Hotline calls. Table 2 shows the outcomes of all calls received by the Hotline in Monroe County. As you can see, more than half of all calls received can’t be registered as a report or investigated by us because they don’t meet the five criteria as specified by state law. In addition, after our investigation, only 21% of those registered reports actually result in a finding of child abuse and neglect (are indicated). The staff resources that we utilize to investigate all the reports that turn out to be unfounded result in decreased staff time and resources that would otherwise be used to focus on helping the children who are experiencing abuse and neglect.
We hope you find this web site and our training courses helpful in improving your skills in recognizing and reporting cases in which there is a reasonable suspicion that child abuse or neglect has occurred. We are working hard to improve this system so that we can use our resources to help the children and adolescents who need it most.
TABLE 1. Source of Reports of Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect from Hotline calls – Monroe County 2023
| Source of Calls | % of total reports received (8,649) |
|---|---|
| Mandated Reporters | 66% |
| A. Health Care Providers | 16% |
| B. Law Enforcement | 8% |
| C. Education Providers | 23% |
| D. Child Care Providers | 2% |
| E. Health and Human Services Providers | 17% |
| Voluntary Reporters – Concerned Citizens and Relatives | 34% |
Source: Monroe County Child Protective Services, Department of Health and Human Services—based on Year 2023 Reports. Total number of calls registered = 8,649
TABLE 2. Outcomes of All Reports Received by Monroe County Child Protective Services – 2023
| Reports Received | 8,649 |
|---|---|
| Reports where abuse or neglect was substantiated (indicated) of those registered | 21% of 8,649 |
| Reports where abuse or neglect was unsubstantiated (unfounded) | 79% of 8,649 |
Source: Monroe County Child Protective Services, Department of Human and Health Services
Table 3 shows another way to measure the accuracy of our reporting system (Hotline). That is, about 79% of the registered reports turn out to be False Positives – the case of suspected child abuse and neglect turns out to be unsubstantiated after our investigation. 21% of the reports can be considered True Positives in which the report of suspected child abuse and neglect turns out to be substantiated after our investigation. Through this website and on-going training of our mandated reporters, our goal is to increase the number of true positive reports and decrease the number of false positive reports and false negative reports.
TABLE 3. Accuracy (Sensitivity and Specificity) of the Monroe County Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting System (Hotline)–2023
| Reports not registered through Hotline | Reports registered through Hotline | |
|---|---|---|
| Abuse/ neglect NOT occurring |
True negatives Report IS NOT registered and abuse/neglect IS NOT occurring |
False positives Report IS registered and abuse/neglect IS NOT occurring=79% |
| Abuse/ neglect occurring |
False negatives Report IS NOT registered and abuse/neglect IS occurring |
True positives Report IS registered and abuse/neglect IS occurring=21% |
Our goal is to increase the number of true positive reports and reduce the number of false positive and false negative reports.
2022 NATIONALLY– KEY FACTS (Most Recent Data Available)
Types of Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect – United States
| Type | % of total reports to Hotline | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Physical Abuse | 17% | Fatalities, severe fractures, severe lacerations, sub-dural hematomas, internal injuries, severe burns, severe malnutrition/failure to thrive |
| Sexual Abuse | 10.6% | Sexual contact, sexual intercourse, deviate sexual intercourse, prostitution, incest, using a child in a sexual performance |
| Neglect | 74.3% | Fractures, lacerations, bruises, welts, burns, excessive corporal punishment, allowing or encouraging child’s drug/alcohol use, lack of medical care, malnutrition/failure to thrive, educational neglect, emotional neglect, lack of food/clothing/shelter, lack of supervision, abandonment |
| TOTAL | 3.1 million | |
| Total number of deaths | 1,990 | Children and adolescents |
· 66.1% of child fatalities are younger than 3 years. 44.7% of child fatalities are younger than 1 year, even though adolescents are abused twice as often as children.
· 81.8% of child fatalities involved one or more parents