Nursing professor receives funding to better estimate child fatalities due to abuse and neglect

August 22, 2013
Approximately 1,700 children die of maltreatment every year in the United States, according to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System; however, researchers estimate that the actual number of child fatalities due to abuse and neglect is nearly double that number. During a 13-month health policy fellowship at the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), an MU nursing researcher will investigate better ways to identify child maltreatment deaths on death certificates then use this data to estimate a more accurate number of child fatalities due to abuse and neglect nationally.