Puerto Rico

What Puerto Rico 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

Puerto Rico vs. national

What happened to reports of child maltreatment in Puerto Rico in federal fiscal year 2024, at each decision point. Rates are what make states comparable; raw counts mostly measure population.

Stage	Puerto Rico	Rate	National
Referrals to CPSCounts: referrals	20,608	42.9per 1,000 children	59.3
Screened in (became reports)Counts: referrals	12,20859.2% of referrals	—	47.1%
Screened outCounts: referrals	8,40040.8% of referrals	—	52.9%
Children investigated or given an alternative responseCounts: children	20,791	43.2per 1,000 children	40.6
Child victims (substantiated or indicated)Counts: children	5,277	11per 1,000 children	7.2
Child fatalitiesCounts: children	6	1.25per 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 Puerto Rico does not report

A figure Puerto Rico did not report is shown as a labeled gap everywhere it would appear on this site — never as a zero, never as a blank cell. A state that does not report a number has not achieved zero of it.

Adopted with public agency involvement · counts childrenNot reportedFFY 2013, FFY 2014, FFY 2015, FFY 2016, FFY 2017
Entered foster care · counts childrenNot reportedFFY 2013, FFY 2014, FFY 2015, FFY 2016, FFY 2017
Exited foster care · counts childrenNot reportedFFY 2013, FFY 2014, FFY 2015, FFY 2016, FFY 2017
In foster care on September 30 · counts childrenNot reportedFFY 2013, FFY 2014, FFY 2015, FFY 2016, FFY 2017
Children served in foster care · counts childrenNot reportedFFY 2013, FFY 2014, FFY 2015, FFY 2016, FFY 2017
Termination of parental rights · counts childrenNot reportedFFY 2013, FFY 2014, FFY 2015, FFY 2016, FFY 2017
Waiting for adoption · counts childrenNot reportedFFY 2013, FFY 2014, FFY 2015, FFY 2016, FFY 2017

Maltreatment and fatalities over time (NCANDS)

Child fatalities reported to NCANDS, Puerto Rico, FFY2020 to FFY2024

Source: Child Maltreatment 2024 (NCANDS)

KARA VerifiedChild Maltreatment 2024 (NCANDS)FFY 2024Counts: child fatalities

Child maltreatment victims, Puerto Rico, FFY2020 to FFY2024

Source: Child Maltreatment 2024 (NCANDS)

KARA VerifiedChild Maltreatment 2024 (NCANDS)FFY 2024Counts: child victims (substantiated or indicated)

Foster care (AFCARS)

^* Puerto Rico foster care and adoption figures are included for FY2018 through FY2022 only, per a Children's Bureau data-quality footnote. Values shown are as published and carry that caveat.

Measure	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Adopted with public agency involvement	not reported	not reported	not reported	not reported	not reported	84^*	121^*	87^*	129^*	86^*
Entered foster care	not reported	not reported	not reported	not reported	not reported	877^*	981^*	590^*	761^*	621^*
Exited foster care	not reported	not reported	not reported	not reported	not reported	509^*	749^*	518^*	552^*	404^*
In foster care on September 30	not reported	not reported	not reported	not reported	not reported	2,446^*	2,387^*	2,092^*	2,135^*	2,136^*
Children served in foster care	not reported	not reported	not reported	not reported	not reported	2,955^*	3,136^*	2,610^*	2,687^*	2,540^*
Termination of parental rights	not reported	not reported	not reported	not reported	not reported	37^*	54^*	57^*	43^*	40^*
Waiting for adoption	not reported	not reported	not reported	not reported	not reported	357^*	429^*	450^*	416^*	396^*

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	655	613	653
In foster care on September 30	2,192	2,239	2,432
Exited foster care	685	561	399

Counts: children (ages 0 to 23)

Source: AFCARS Dashboard, preliminary FFY2025 estimates (No. 33)

Puerto Rico in the archive

What the numbers above cost, in KARA's own reporting.

For New Mexico's At Risk Children - Life is Very Hard (find your state here)
KARA reportingMike TikkanenJuly 18, 2020
Across the board, America's Southern States seem to maintain an anti tax mantra that devalues the well-being of other people's children. This clear from the KIDS COUNT statistics over the years. This is their most recent data for 2020