Vermont
Vermont has the highest referral rate in the country: 169.1 per 1,000 children, more than eight times Hawaii's 19.2. The range describes reporting practice and screen-in policy, not the underlying rate of maltreatment — the same state comparison that appears to make Vermont look eight times worse than Hawaii is the reason KARA SIGNAL treats cross-state screening comparisons cautiously.
The funnel, FFY 2024
Vermont vs. national
What happened to reports of child maltreatment in Vermont in federal fiscal year 2024, at each decision point. Rates are what make states comparable; raw counts mostly measure population.
| Stage | Vermont | Rate | National |
|---|---|---|---|
| Referrals to CPSCounts: referrals | 19,107 | 169.1per 1,000 children | 59.3 |
| Screened in (became reports)Counts: referrals | 3,21916.8% of referrals | — | 47.1% |
| Screened outCounts: referrals | 15,88883.2% of referrals | — | 52.9% |
| Children investigated or given an alternative responseCounts: children | 3,439 | 30.4per 1,000 children | 40.6 |
| Child victims (substantiated or indicated)Counts: children | 607 | 5.4per 1,000 children | 7.2 |
| Child fatalitiesCounts: children | 2 | 1.77per 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 Vermont does not report
For the measures on this page, Vermont 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, Vermont, FFY2020 to FFY2024
Source: Child Maltreatment 2024 (NCANDS)
KARA VerifiedChild Maltreatment 2024 (NCANDS)FFY 2024Counts: child fatalities
Child maltreatment victims, Vermont, 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 | 179 | 164 | 189 | 216 | 287 | 262 | 260 | 263 | 202 | 175 |
| Entered foster care | 677 | 788 | 958 | 776 | 756 | 881 | 736 | 556 | 591 | 637 |
| Exited foster care | 634 | 600 | 713 | 751 | 745 | 740 | 743 | 665 | 580 | 567 |
| In foster care on September 30 | 971 | 1,123 | 1,332 | 1,323 | 1,270 | 1,308 | 1,245 | 1,078 | 1,054 | 1,096 |
| Children served in foster care | 1,604 | 1,721 | 2,045 | 2,072 | 2,013 | 2,045 | 1,985 | 1,741 | 1,634 | 1,663 |
| Termination of parental rights | 171 | 198 | 193 | 244 | 240 | 233 | 237 | 188 | 179 | 159 |
| Waiting for adoption | 213 | 232 | 304 | 387 | 329 | 324 | 331 | 308 | 266 | 250 |
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 | 436 | 482 | 475 |
| In foster care on September 30 | 942 | 867 | 828 |
| Exited foster care | 331 | 540 | 501 |
Counts: children (ages 0 to 23)
Source: AFCARS Dashboard, preliminary FFY2025 estimates (No. 33)
Vermont in the archive
What the numbers above cost, in KARA's own reporting.
- Best & Worst States For America's Children
KARA reportingMike TikkanenJune 19, 2026
Where does your state rank in protecting children & what can you do to make improvements. These statistics tell the stories of our best and worst states around the nation
- America’s Child Abuse Emergency: 546,000 Victims, 2,000 Deaths, and a System That Chooses This
KARA reportingMike TikkanenJune 6, 2026
Child abuse in the United States is not rare or random — it is the predictable outcome of policy choices. In 2023, about 546,000 children were confirmed victims of abuse or neglect and an estimated 2,000 were killed, roughly five children e...
- Best and Worst Hospitals For U.S. Children (Beckers Hospital Review)
KARA reportingMike TikkanenApril 8, 2026
Which states give kids the best chance at a healthy life? This review ranks all 50 states and D.C. on children’s healthcare, nutrition, and oral health—and the gaps are stark.
- From Classrooms to Homeless Shelters: How Our Choices Hurt Children
KARA reportingMike TikkanenMarch 24, 2026
Compared to other advanced nations America treats children and the people who care for them as an afterthought and then acts surprised when our schools and child‑welfare systems are overwhelmed with troubled children suffering from health a...
- School Counselors & Why We Need Them
KARA reportingMike TikkanenNovember 3, 2025
If we are to save the growing numbers of children facing serious problems we need many more skilled counselors and mental health workers in our schools. In this time of unregulated digital chaos, social, and political upheaval, children and...
- Schools, Child Suicide, Nurses, & COVID
KARA reportingMike TikkanenAugust 17, 2024
Repeated childhood trauma does cruel things to children. Things that never go away. Those things (behaviors/thoughts/self-harm/suicide) can be managed with help. Without help, depression, pain and sadness often become overwhelming.
- What Teachers Are Facing Today and Tomorrow
KARA reportingMike TikkanenAugust 11, 2024
Teachers feel undervalued and overwhelmed. Turnover his high and a number of states are using unqualified people to fill positions.
- 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...