NCANDS Child Victim Count (duplicate value). Vermont child population estimates, by year, used to calculate rate per 1,000. Current reporting period uses VDH 2019 population estimates (latest available).
Last updated: September 2021
Updated by: Department for Children and Families
We want to reduce the incidence of child abuse and neglect as part of our efforts to ensure that all Vermonters are healthy and safe.
In Vermont, the rate of substantiated child abuse and neglect per 1,000 children has decreased from 9.0 in 2018 to 4.9 in 2020. This is due to several factors including Vermont's sustained efforts to treat the opioid epidemic, increases to Family Services staffing and the work of our community partners. Our community partners have made key investments in child abuse prevention, early childhood services, and comprehensive family supports which is also having an impact.
AHS is currently using this tool to assess our agency contribution to reducing the rate of child abuse and neglect in Vermont. One Agency cannot turn the curve alone; there are many partners who have a role to play making a difference.
Child abuse and neglect in Vermont is a population-level problem. While the Agency of Human Services (AHS) and its Departments are responsible for intervening in, and working to reduce the rate of child abuse and neglect in Vermont, AHS recognizes that preventing abuse and neglect is something many other partners contribute to.
In the Agency strategic planning process for reviewing our strategic plan population-level results and indicators, each of the partners below was identified as having a contributing role to play in improving this population-level indicator for the state of Vermont.
Strengthening Families™ is a research-informed approach to increase family strengths, enhance child development and reduce the likelihood of child abuse and neglect. It is based on engaging families, programs and communities in building five protective factors:
Child abuse prevention initiatives across the Department for Children and Families and the Agency of Human Services draw on this evidence-informed approach.
The deaths of Dezirae Sheldon and Peighton Geraw in 2014 caused the entire child protection system to question what could have been done to prevent these tragedies. Vermont’s Child Protection System has undergone an unprecedented number of reviews and inquiries in an attempt to answer this question.
DCF has implemented significant improvements based on reviews conducted by Casey Family Programs and the Vermont Citizen’s Advisory Board. DCF also sought feedback from its staff, community partners, and the public to develop a plan to improve our policies and support our workforce. Implemented changes include:
Act 60 went into effect on July 1, 2015. This legislation makes several key changes possible:
For more information about ongoing efforts to strengthen Vermont's child protection system, please click here.