Young people, especially young children, are dependent upon adults for their basic safety needs. Young people who are victims of abuse and/or neglect have difficulty developing through the passages of childhood and adolescence to being adults. In addition, sometimes victims of abuse or neglect perpetrate those same actions on others.

Where We Stand

The Maine Bureau of Child and Family Services received roughly 14,000 - 15,000 reports of possible child abuse or neglect annually from 1998 to 2000. Of these, just over half of the reports each year were judged to meet legal criteria allowing investigation by Child Protective Services. In about three-tenths of those, the investigation led to a conclusion that abuse or neglect had in fact occurred (that is, the report was "substantiated").