Rodger Williams
July 21, 2025
Public schools are commonly assumed to protect their students from child abuse because of mandatory reporters. We now have visible evidence showing that assumption to be false and the research explaining why.
85% of students are in the public schools. If these students are protected by the schools from child abuse then there should be a corresponding dip in abuse rates as they enter the school system.
Child Abuse by Age 2023
Graph reproduced from Child
Maltreatment 2023, p. 27
But national abuse rates continue a gradual decline as children are enrolled in the public schools. There is no visible indication in the data that these new students are suddenly being protected from child abuse.
How can this be?
Public schools detect and report possible child abuse to Child Protective Services. CPS then prevents further abuse. That is the theory.
But research does not show CPS preventing child abuse, on average.
Research using California data found that providing CPS services did not change the likelihood of future child abuse. Research using Illinois data found that in cases where CPS provided services there was an increased risk of future reports to CPS of suspected child abuse compared with matched cases that did not receive services.
An umbrella review of 44 publications about reducing child abuse in high-income countries found that results were not visible.
So now we understand why the graph above shows no visible change in the child abuse curve as children move into public schools. The schools may report suspected child abuse to CPS, but there is little evidence that CPS is effective in preventing further abuse. The system fails to visibly protect public school students from child abuse.
What about Connecticut? Does Connecticut do any better than the rest of the nation in protecting students from child abuse? The answer is No.
Connecticut Child Abuse Victims
by Age 2011-2023
Sources: Victims and Population
Connecticut has the same pattern as the national abuse rates: Gradually declining child abuse rates with no visible dip as children enter school.
There is no evidence in the data that the Connecticut Department of Children and Families is effective at preventing child abuse.
Connecticut public schools do not protect their students from child abuse.