How much of a problem is resident mistreatment in child welfare institutions?

The purpose of this article is to provide information developed since 1980 by the Institutional Child Protection Project about the size and significance of the problem of mistreatment in child welfare residential institutions. In the 1,700 facilities surveyed, there are about 69,000 children and youths. Rates of utilization vary among Health and Human Services (H.H.S.) regions from 8 per 10,000 to 19 per 10,000 children and youths in the population. The average rate is 12 per 10,000. In 1961 this rate was estimated at 10 per 10,000. About 2,700 complaints were reported by facilities to the survey for 1979. Complaint rates range by H.H.S. region from 25 per 1,000 to 55 per 1,000 children and youth in care. The average complaint rate per 1,000 residents in care was 39. Observations of site visitors suggest that only one out of five complainable situations may be reported to child protection agencies. A list of complainable occurrences that came to the attention of site visitors is included to document the problem. An additional effort to assess the significance of this issue is made by comparing intrafamilial complaint rates with rates reported by child welfare facilities. The authors believe residential complaint rates may be twice as large as intrafamilial complaint rates.