West Virginia
West Virginia has the highest child disposition rate in the country: 90.4 per 1,000 children — nearly one in ten. That reflects reporting practice and screen-in thresholds as much as it reflects the underlying rate of maltreatment.
The funnel, FFY 2024
West Virginia vs. national
What happened to reports of child maltreatment in West Virginia in federal fiscal year 2024, at each decision point. Rates are what make states comparable; raw counts mostly measure population.
| Stage | West Virginia | Rate | National |
|---|---|---|---|
| Referrals to CPSCounts: referrals | 40,718 | 116.9per 1,000 children | 59.3 |
| Screened in (became reports)Counts: referrals | 23,90658.7% of referrals | — | 47.1% |
| Screened outCounts: referrals | 16,81241.3% of referrals | — | 52.9% |
| Children investigated or given an alternative responseCounts: children | 31,496 | 90.4per 1,000 children | 40.6 |
| Child victims (substantiated or indicated)Counts: children | 5,110 | 14.7per 1,000 children | 7.2 |
| Child fatalitiesCounts: children | 13 | 3.73per 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 West Virginia does not report
For the measures on this page, West Virginia 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, West Virginia, FFY2020 to FFY2024
Source: Child Maltreatment 2024 (NCANDS)
KARA VerifiedChild Maltreatment 2024 (NCANDS)FFY 2024Counts: child fatalities
Child maltreatment victims, West Virginia, 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 | 877 | 852 | 893 | 939 | 1,070 | 1,410 | 1,699 | 1,683 | 1,856 | 1,831 |
| Entered foster care | 3,467 | 3,825 | 3,971 | 4,448 | 5,020 | 5,154 | 5,105 | 4,707 | 4,710 | 4,471 |
| Exited foster care | 3,517 | 3,513 | 3,452 | 3,465 | 3,824 | 4,436 | 4,772 | 4,515 | 4,759 | 4,543 |
| In foster care on September 30 | 4,389 | 4,556 | 4,984 | 5,816 | 6,737 | 7,206 | 7,322 | 7,334 | 7,152 | 6,952 |
| Children served in foster care | 7,906 | 8,069 | 8,436 | 9,281 | 10,561 | 11,642 | 12,094 | 11,849 | 11,911 | 11,495 |
| Termination of parental rights | 1,005 | 1,045 | 1,032 | 1,541 | 1,878 | 2,133 | 2,220 | 1,900 | 1,774 | 1,748 |
| Waiting for adoption | 1,364 | 1,388 | 1,496 | 2,478 | 2,980 | 3,320 | 3,402 | 2,705 | 2,454 | 2,312 |
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 | 4,145 | 4,302 | 4,131 |
| In foster care on September 30 | 6,124 | 6,427 | 6,616 |
| Exited foster care | 4,464 | 3,850 | 3,809 |
Counts: children (ages 0 to 23)
Source: AFCARS Dashboard, preliminary FFY2025 estimates (No. 33)
West Virginia in the archive
What the numbers above cost, in KARA's own reporting.
- Fixing CPS - (35 Minute Podcast)
KARA reportingMike TikkanenJune 21, 2026
For a Deeper Dive on this or other topics, hit the DEEP DIVE button on the lower right corner of this page. This conversation about how the safety and wellbeing of abused and neglected children is directly tied to measuring child outcomes w...
- 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...
- Foster Child Self-Harm & Suicide June 2025
KARA reportingMike TikkanenMay 27, 2026
Childhood trauma, suicide and self-harm among American youth are at historic highs, with alarming increases among fosters, preteens, girls, LGBTQ+ youth, and children of color. Suicide is now the second leading cause of death for ages 10–24...
- School Performance, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow & What To Do
KARA reportingMike TikkanenMay 5, 2026
• “Since 2020, national and state test data show steep declines in foundational reading and math skills that are not bouncing back on their own. If current trends hold, by 2034 a majority of U.S. students will need remedial support, deepeni...
- Child Abuse Sad Stories & Statistics (1ST 45 days in 2026))
KARA reportingMike TikkanenMarch 4, 2026
Child abuse doesn’t stop for holidays or election years. In just the first 45 days of 2026, sad stories and new statistics are already piling up. This post tracks those cases and numbers to show how many invisible children still need our pr...
- COVID + ICE RAIDS Impacting America's Schools
KARA reportingMike TikkanenFebruary 26, 2026
COVID school closures and ICE raids have combined to drive U.S. reading, math, history, and civics scores to historic lows. This post outlines national NAEP data, the states with the deepest learning loss, and what these trends mean for chi...
- The Cost of Children Waiting for Their Voice In Court (Guardian ad Litem)
KARA reportingMike TikkanenFebruary 8, 2026
Hundreds of children in Minnesota’s child protection system are waiting for a guardian ad litem – the only independent voice they have in court. Every extra month in foster care deepens trauma and drives up costs. This article explains how ...