Why is the research and prevention of childhood neglect important? The quantities of children who are being maltreated are staggering. In 2013 there were 679,000 cases child maltreatment in the United States. This equates to approximately 9.1 children out of 1000 nationwide (Department of Health & Human Services. , 2015 pg. ii). While there is overlap in the numbers, neglect is a factor is 70% of maltreatment cases (Wald, 2015, pg. 49). In 2013, in Oregon there were 5,330 cases of neglect. This accounted for slightly over 40% of the cases of maltreatment; in addition of there were 5,788 cases categorized as “threat of harm”. Within the “threat of harm group” 22% were classified as neglect cases. (Office of Business Intelligence Department
