Fourth National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS–4)

neglected. That is, when school sentinels recognized a child who was also recognized bya source higher in the hierarchy, or when a school sentinel recognized a child reported toCPS by another source, the NIS identified that other agency as the recognition source,rather than the school.The remainder of the children came from sources that only enter the NISthrough CPS investigations. These include children who are recognized as maltreated byDSS/Welfare agencies (e.g., CPS agencies in other counties or other divisions of thecounty welfare agency such as food stamps or Medicaid), by other non-sentinelprofessionals or agencies (e.g., community health clinics not affiliated with a hospital,private practice pediatricians, physicians, therapists), and all other sources (primarily thegeneral public, such as neighbors, friends, family, anonymous callers, and the victimsthemselves). Taken together, these CPS-only sources recognized 8% of the total numberof children maltreated under the Harm Standard.Whereas the NIS estimates represent all maltreated children that sentinelsrecognize as maltreated, the NIS has no information on maltreated children that “Other(CPS-only) Sources” see beyond the ones CPS investigates. The uninvestigated childrenthat these other sources recognize remain unknown to NIS, in the deepest tier of theChapter 2 “iceberg” model.Changes since the NIS–3 in Recognition Sources of Harm StandardMaltreatmentTable 7–1 presents the contributions of different sources to the NIS–4 overallHarm Standard estimate of maltreated children, giving the total number and rate per1,000 children in the general population each source recognized. The table also providesthe NIS–3 recognition rates.Public housing and shelters for battered women and for runaway andhomeless youth are new sentinel agency categories in the NIS–4. The table gives the7-5