A January 2008 five-page brief released by Prevent Child Abuse America, and funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts, calculates that an investment in the prevention of child abuse and neglect can save the nation over $100 billion per year. The brief, titled Total Estimated Cost of Child Abuse and Neglect in the United States, updates an earlier publication that documented the nationwide costs that result because of child abuse and neglect (Fromm, 2001).

Direct costs associated with child abuse and neglect including foster care services, hospitalization, mental health treatment, and law enforcement total more than $33 billion. Indirect costs of over $70 billion include loss of productivity as well as expenditures related to chronic health problems, special education, and the criminal justice system. For many children, these effects extend far beyond childhood into adolescence and adulthood, potentially compromising the lifetime productivity of maltreatment victims (Daro, 1988). It is well documented that children who have been abused or neglected are more likely to experience adverse outcomes throughout their life span in a number of areas:
➢ Poor physical health (e.g., chronic fatigue, altered immune function, hypertension, sexually transmitted diseases, obesity)
➢ Poor emotional and mental health (e.g., depression, anxiety, eating disorders, suicidal thoughts and attempts, post-traumatic stress disorder)
➢ Social difficulties (e.g., insecure attachments with caregivers, which may lead to difficulties in developing trusting relationships with peers and adults later in life)
➢ Cognitive dysfunction (e.g., deficits in attention, abstract reasoning, language development, and problem-solving skills, which ultimately affect academic achievement and school performance)
➢ High-risk health behaviors (e.g., a higher number of lifetime sexual partners, younger age at first voluntary intercourse, teen pregnancy, alcohol and substance abuse)
➢ Behavioral problems (e.g., aggression, juvenile delinquency, adult criminality, abusive or violent behavior) (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2006; Goldman, Salus, Wolcott, & Kennedy, 2003; Hagele, 2005).