No children died or even nearly died from child abuse in Delaware County last year, and the number of cases halted even as more reports came in.

The statistics stand in stark contrast to the state average, which was twice as high.

The latest numbers come from the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services’ 2016 Annual Child Protective Services Report.

In Delaware County, child abuse was substantiated in 96 cases out of 1,481 reports, a rate of 0.8 children per 1,000. The state average rate is 1.7 abused children per 1,000 and 16.3 reports per thousand. Locally in 2015, 1,446 reports produced 98 substantiated cases.

[uam_ad id=”50739″]

Advertisement

Only five other counties had lower substantiated child abuse rates: Bucks, Montgomery, Allegheny, Chester, and Susquehanna.

In 2016, Delaware County spent $9.4 million investigating those child abuse reports. The state as a whole spent $233 million.

Just shy of half of all perpetrators of child abuse in the state are parents, with a parent’s lover or relative causing another quarter of all cases. Nearly half of all cases are also sexual abuse, followed by physical abuse at 30 percent.

Read more about the reality of child abuse in Delaware County and statewide in the full report here.

[uam_ad id=”50738″]