Indiana
What Indiana reported to the federal government about the children in its custody and the children it investigated. Where a year says not reported, that is the record.
The funnel, FFY 2024
Indiana vs. national
What happened to reports of child maltreatment in Indiana in federal fiscal year 2024, at each decision point. Rates are what make states comparable; raw counts mostly measure population.
| Stage | Indiana | Rate | National |
|---|---|---|---|
| Referrals to CPSCounts: referrals | 170,052 | 107.2per 1,000 children | 59.3 |
| Screened in (became reports)Counts: referrals | 99,13258.3% of referrals | — | 47.1% |
| Screened outCounts: referrals | 70,92041.7% of referrals | — | 52.9% |
| Children investigated or given an alternative responseCounts: children | 123,786 | 78per 1,000 children | 40.6 |
| Child victims (substantiated or indicated)Counts: children | 21,314 | 13.4per 1,000 children | 7.2 |
| Child fatalitiesCounts: children | 56 | 3.53per 100,000 children | 2.41 |
Referrals, reports, children, and victims are four different denominators and are not interchangeable. A referral may concern more than one child; a child may appear in more than one referral; a victim is a child with a substantiated or indicated disposition. National figures are the Children's Bureau's own estimates, not sums of the state rows.
Source: Child Maltreatment 2024 (NCANDS), Tables 2-3, 3-1, 3-3, 4-1
What Indiana does not report
For the measures on this page, Indiana reported a figure in every year covered. That is not the same as the figures being complete or comparable — see the methodology for what the federal record does not measure at all.
Maltreatment and fatalities over time (NCANDS)
Child fatalities reported to NCANDS, Indiana, FFY2020 to FFY2024
Source: Child Maltreatment 2024 (NCANDS)
KARA VerifiedChild Maltreatment 2024 (NCANDS)FFY 2024Counts: child fatalities
Child maltreatment victims, Indiana, FFY2020 to FFY2024
Source: Child Maltreatment 2024 (NCANDS)
KARA VerifiedChild Maltreatment 2024 (NCANDS)FFY 2024Counts: child victims (substantiated or indicated)
Foster care (AFCARS)
| Measure | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adopted with public agency involvement | 961 | 850 | 1,152 | 1,536 | 1,964 | 2,016 | 2,489 | 2,149 | 1,844 | 1,872 |
| Entered foster care | 7,893 | 9,107 | 11,175 | 12,785 | 12,826 | 10,441 | 9,180 | 8,426 | 7,291 | 6,212 |
| Exited foster care | 6,459 | 6,813 | 7,908 | 9,478 | 11,178 | 12,132 | 10,904 | 9,219 | 8,691 | 7,744 |
| In foster care on September 30 | 12,382 | 14,452 | 17,023 | 19,837 | 20,904 | 18,560 | 16,307 | 15,084 | 13,239 | 11,457 |
| Children served in foster care | 18,841 | 21,258 | 24,935 | 29,315 | 32,081 | 30,693 | 27,206 | 24,302 | 21,932 | 19,201 |
| Termination of parental rights | 970 | 1,023 | 1,226 | 1,197 | 1,276 | 1,573 | 1,606 | 1,322 | 1,624 | 1,389 |
| Waiting for adoption | 2,437 | 2,731 | 2,965 | 3,773 | 4,418 | 4,778 | 4,302 | 3,575 | 3,179 | 2,748 |
Source: AFCARS state tables, FY2013 to FY2022
AFCARS 2020 rule, FFY2023 to FFY2025 (preliminary)
Collected under the AFCARS 2020 final rule, first effective FFY 2023. Counts include ages 0 to 23. Figures are preliminary estimates from submissions received by February 27, 2026, and states may still revise them. This series is not comparable with the FY 2013 to FY 2022 series, which was collected under the 1993 rule and counted a narrower population; this site does not join the two. Wyoming first submitted under the new rule for FFY 2024 and Washington for FFY 2025; earlier years for those states are shown as not reported.
| Measure | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entered foster care | 6,069 | 7,883 | 7,579 |
| In foster care on September 30 | 10,552 | 11,913 | 11,843 |
| Exited foster care | 6,932 | 6,313 | 7,407 |
Counts: children (ages 0 to 23)
Source: AFCARS Dashboard, preliminary FFY2025 estimates (No. 33)
Indiana in the archive
What the numbers above cost, in KARA's own reporting.
- Sometimes People Get Shot
KARA reportingMike TikkanenMay 4, 2026
• “From Cedarbluff, Mississippi, to parties in Houston and homes in Indiana, early 2026 brought mass shootings that briefly made headlines and then faded. This essay connects those tragedies to a deeper crisis: how our systems ignore childh...
- Egregious Child Death in America Today
KARA reportingMike TikkanenOctober 19, 2025
There are few states that report out egregious harm or death of children at the hands of their parents. Minnesota Nonprofit Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota has recently compiled this report on 88 of the 200 children dying at the hand...
- Kids At Risk Action History
KARA reportingMike TikkanenMay 10, 2025
KIDS AT RISK ACTION / KARA / INVISIBLE CHILDREN HISTORY
- Child Abuse Sad Stories (4 days in November)
KARA reportingMike TikkanenNovember 24, 2024
37% of children overall and 44% of Black children are reported to child protection services in America by the time they turn 18. (American Journal of Public Health 1.17) 7.8 million children a year are reported to child protection services.
- Child Abuse Investigations & Reforms
KARA reportingMike TikkanenOctober 15, 2024
WHEN YOU Share KARA’s reporting with FRIENDS, INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK and most of all, your State Representative (find them here) change will come a little bit faster. When enough of us become informed and speak up for abused and neglected chi...
- Minnesota Child Protection News May 2024
KARA reportingMike TikkanenMay 30, 2024
Minnesota Child Protection News May 2024 Share these articles with media contacts, lawmakers and other changemakers. Change won’t come without you.
- October Is Domestic Violence Awareness Month
KARA reportingMike TikkanenOctober 4, 2021
Watching your mother being beat up or raped is the same trauma as being beaten or raped to a five or nine year old. Untreated trauma lasts forever and it changes a person forever. The United Nation's-Secretary General Antonio Guterres has w...
- Our Creeping Mental Health Crisis (& statistics)
KARA reportingMike TikkanenSeptember 8, 2021
Suicide is now the 2nd leading cause of death among 10 to 24 year olds. Over 1 million children under 6 are prescribed psychiatric drugs in America today.