Child Maltreatment Surveillance

Book excerpt: The purpose of the child maltreatment uniform definitions and recommended data elements is to present a definition of child maltreatment, its associated terms, and recommended data elements for voluntary use by individuals and organizations in the public health community. The definitions and data elements are intended to promote and improve consistency of child maltreatment surveillance for public health practices. It is designed to be used by state and local health department staff to assist in and provide a framework for the collection of public health surveillance data on child maltreatment. The definitions included in the document draw upon definitions that are currently in use in the literature and were adapted in collaboration with a panel of experts on child maltreatment and public health surveillance. The definitions and data elements are designed be flexible tools for developing an ongoing surveillance system. Agencies that use the document can modify data elements to fit their system. This document is the third in a series of Uniform Definitions and Recommended Data Elements which includes: Intimate Partner Violence Surveillance: Uniform Definitions and Recommended Data Elements and Sexual Violence Surveillance: Uniform Definitions and Recommended Data Elements.