A recently released report shows that there is a 1-in-8 chance a child in Tennessee will experience abuse before the age of 18, and the economic impact of that on the state is substantial.
The report was published Tuesday by the Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Tennessee, the Second Look Commission, and the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth.
The report, which only includes first-time substantiated accounts of abuse and not allegations, looked at numbers provided by the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services from 2019-2022. Those numbers include cases of drug exposure, neglect, physical abuse, and sexual abuse.
While consideration of the effect that abuse has on children is of utmost importance, the purpose of this particular report was to look at the economic impact of child abuse on the state.
