Colorado's child abuse and neglect cases drop 40% in 4 years

DENVER — The number of children abused or neglected in Colorado dropped more than 40% in four years, meaning roughly 4,600 fewer kids experienced known maltreatment in 2025 than in 2021.

Last year, the Colorado Department of Human Services reported 6,116 children were victims of substantiated abuse or neglect, down from 10,779 in 2021, which itself had fewer reports than average because many schools remained remote.

Neglect consistently accounts for the vast majority of those cases, with about one in five involving abuse in each of the last five years. A few hundred children experience both abuse and neglect each year.

The state defines neglect as intentionally not meeting a child’s basic needs, such as adequate food or weather-appropriate clothing. When children go without meals because their parents can’t buy food, that isn’t considered neglect, but if a parent refused to feed a child, it would be. Some situations aren’t as clear-cut, with parents attempting to meet their children’s needs, but falling short because of mental health problems or substance use.

While the department can’t rule out changes in reporting, the number of calls about possible abuse or neglect has increased since 2021 and has held relatively steady since 2023.

But during that time, the share of calls flagged as meeting the standard to investigate child maltreatment dropped from about one-third to one-quarter. Counties can offer referrals to resources or abuse-prevention programs if a call suggests a family is struggling, but the problem hasn’t reached the level of abuse or neglect.

The state has tried to get upstream from abuse and neglect, raising awareness of resources and encouraging the general community to support families, said Thomas Miller, director of children, aging and community services at the Colorado Department of Human Services.

While a small share of people intend to hurt a child, the majority of abuse cases are avoidable if parents have the right coping skills, the material resources their families need and social support for the inevitable difficult times, he said.

“It’s always better to provide resources that equal prevention,” he said. “I believe that the data supports that we are making an impact.”

Nationwide, confirmed cases of child abuse generally declined from 2012 to 2023, except for sexual abuse cases, which happened at about the same rate throughout that period.

Ultimately, the best way to protect children is to strengthen families with five high-level strategies, Miller said:

—Increasing parents’ resilience during challenging times

—Offering help with concrete needs such as food and shelter

—Providing social support to families

—Educating parents about normal child development

—Helping children form bonds and regulate their feelings

The department has a list of 50 ways for neighbors, community organizations, businesses and faith groups to support families, including offering to babysit or run errands, pairing new parents with experienced mentors and donating gently used items. Even a small word of encouragement to a parent who is close to losing their patience with a fussy child can defuse that frustration before it boils over, Miller said.

“What you do, even if it seems like small things, can make a world of difference,” he said.

Families particularly need support during the first years of a child’s life, said Dr. Antonia Chiesa, a pediatrician on the child protection team at Children’s Hospital Colorado.

Over the last two years, 57% of the children the hospital treated for traumatic injuries attributed to abuse were under 1 year old, reflecting both how stressful that time is and that babies are particularly vulnerable to severe injuries, she said.

Studies are mixed on whether educating parents about the dangers of roughly handling a baby is an effective technique in preventing child abuse, Chiesa said.

“Upwards of 90% of people know that you have to be gentle with a baby and that it’s dangerous to shake them or slam them or throw them,” she said.

One of the best prevention tactics is to work with parents and others watching young children to develop a plan so they know what to do when their frustrations are rising, said Alicia Melven, an injury prevention and outreach specialist at Children’s.

That can include checking for possible reasons the child is crying, such as hunger or needing a diaper change; trying out a list of strategies to calm the baby; and designating a spot, such as a crib or playpen, to leave the child for a few minutes while the parent cools off.

“The No. 1 thing that I try to reinforce is that it’s always OK to put your baby down in a safe place,” she said.

Ideally, though, child abuse prevention will extend beyond parents, Chiesa said. Anything that communities can do to reduce families’ stress and isolation will decrease the odds of someone lashing out at a child or turning to a risky coping mechanism such as substance use, she said.

“This just isn’t a family or individual problem,” she said. “This isn’t about bad people. This is about normalizing how hard parenting can be.”

Nate Bustamante, a parent advocate who lives in Georgetown, said support for families struggling with poverty, addiction or mental health struggles can make a significant difference in a child’s life.

He went through more than 20 foster and residential facility placements after his mother lost her parental rights when he was 8, and had to fight to regain custody of two of his children as a young adult. Now, he and his wife have achieved stability for their three kids and are acting as kinship foster parents for a baby and an 11-year-old from their extended families.

Bustamante credited his family’s ability to break the cycle to relationships with caseworkers, staff at the juvenile facility where he stayed and others who believed in him and his wife. His mother, who recently died of complications of alcohol use disorder, didn’t have that help break her addiction and keep him and his brothers at home, he said.

“Along the way, people treated me like a human being. In the system, you can feel like a cog or a piece of paper,” he said. “I think it starts with connection and it starts in those really small moments.”

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