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

3. Purposive and Avoidable Acts/Omissions: For maltreatment to count,it must be nonaccidental and avoidable. 94. Time of Maltreatment: The maltreatment has to have occurred duringthe study reference period. 105. Severity of Harm: For each form of maltreatment, the Harm Standardspecifies a minimum level of harm that must be evident in order forthe child to be countable. 116. Person(s) Responsible for the Maltreatment: For each form ofmaltreatment, both definitional standards specify whether theperpetrator must be an adult and how they must be related to the child(parent or other caregiver) in order for NIS to count themaltreatment. 12 Evaluative coders also assess the degree of evidencefor holding the alleged perpetrator responsible for the maltreatment.Maltreatment forms and categories. Based on the nature of the abusiveacts or neglectful omissions, coders classify alleged maltreatment situations using the 60forms and eight major categories listed in Table 2–1. The NIS definitions specify themaltreatment acts or omissions included in each form and clarify important boundaryconditions.Countability assessment. Coders reviewed all information submitted onCPS Maltreatment Data Forms and Sentinel Data Forms, assessing the maltreatment of9 The NIS excludes problems or hazards that a parent or caregiver could not avoid, due to lack of financialmeans (where appropriate assistance was not available through public agencies), or the caregiver’s death,hospitalization, incarceration (where it was physically impossible to provide or arrange for adequate care).10 Study data are annualized using multipliers that assume a specific time period. The restriction on thetime of maltreatment ensures that the annualization multipliers apply to the correct basis. For CPS data,CPS has to receive the report during the study reference period and accept it for investigation; for sentinelagencies, the maltreatment itself has to occur during the study reference period.11 To count a child in the study estimates, the Harm Standard generally requires moderate harm from abusebut serious harm from neglect.12For maltreatment to count under the Harm Standard, the perpetrator of abuse must be a parent, parentsubstitute,or an adult caregiver; a neglect perpetrator must be a parent or parent-substitute. TheEndangerment Standard relaxes these criteria in several respects. It includes situations where adultcaregivers other than a parent or parent substitute permit sexual abuse and situations where nonparentalminor caregivers perpetrate or permit sexual abuse. In addition, it includes other adult caregivers (besidesparents and parent substitutes) as allowable perpetrators of two forms of neglect: inadequate supervisionand other physical neglect (such as inadequate food, clothing, shelter, disregard of physical hazards, andother inattention to child’s physical safety and well-being).2–12