Funding of child abuse evaluations: survey of child abuse evaluation programs

This article delineates the current fiscal management and reimbursement for child abuse examinations. These financial issues are high priority for child abuse programs because most programs lack the revenues to meet the demands for service, education, advocacy and research. Programs may share medical protocols and standards but have yet to share management solutions. The authors present the administrative details of 75 child abuse evaluation programs and highlight innovative approaches to increase funding and stabilize the funding for the programs. They present information on billing, contracts, costs of care, and state-based initiatives that can be reproduced by other programs and states.