This message comes to us from our friends at the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS's) Administration for Children and Families has published "Child Maltreatment 2008."

The report, the latest in an annual series issued each April in observance of National Child Abuse Prevention Month, indicates that 2008 saw the lowest child victimization rate in five years. An estimated 772,000 children were victims of child abuse and neglect, a rate of 10.3 per 1,000 children, with almost a third of the victims less than four years old.

Resources:

"Child Maltreatment 2008" is available online at www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cm08/.

For further information and resources related to National Child Abuse Prevention Month, visit www.ncjrs.gov/childabuse/.