An 8% Increase In Behavioral Health Access For Parents Projected To Reduce Child Maltreatment Reports By 1%

Better access to mental health and addiction treatment reduces child maltreatment reports to child protective services (CPS). In particular, an 8% increase in the supply of treatment could reduce maltreatment reports by 1%, according to a recent county-by-county comparison of child maltreatment reports in relationship to the number of outpatient and residential behavioral health treatment centers.

During 2021, 4.3 million children were referred to CPS, according to federal data for the most recent year with complete data. The cost of each non-fatal CPS maltreatment referral was estimated at $830,928. The estimated annual cost of all . . .