Numbers Too Big To Believe (the cost of untreated childhood trauma)

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The article below is an overview. It uses available data through multiple perspectives and many studies. The costs of untreated generational child abuse are consistently above 12 trillion dollars annually from most large scale approach calculus. Keep in mind, America’s GDP is 31.8 Trillion dollars. If the numbers below are taken together in almost any calculation, they add up to rival our national GDP.

Kids At Risk Action is working with students from colleges and universities around the nation on the statistics and economic impact of untreated child abuse. The mental health issues and behavior problems of high ACEs children drive much of the violence, desperation, and dysfunction afflicting so many American citizens. These behaviors and impacts have been well documented by the medical community over the last 30 years.

Historically, there has not been much attention to this or information kept or tracked on a large scale. What is needed are longitudinal studies showing the growth of generational child abuse passing through the Child Protection System, the Juvenile Justice System, Schools, Criminal Justice and Prisons. We do know that prison recidivism at nine years in America as stayed at 80% for two decades and that many if not most of those adults came through Juvenile Justice and Child Protection Systems.

KARA’s intent is to better comprehend these numbers when they are broken out from perspectives of Community, Education, Healthcare, Public Safety and Human Services.

Healthy children, make healthy communities. Unhealthy children become unhealthy juveniles, damaged adults and dysfunctional citizens.

Note the link to sources in the numbers following the data and further breakdowns appear in the read more below.

The long-term economic impacts of untreated childhood trauma are substantial and far-reaching: Annual direct medical spending on ACE-associated adult health conditions: $183 billion7

Lifetime economic burden per affected adult: $2.4 million7

Total lifetime economic burden of child maltreatment: $428 billion for substantiated cases5

Chronic illness, emergency psychiatric events, depression, suicide and early death are common among high ACEs children and survivors. Total annual economic burden of ACE-related adult health conditions: $14.1 trillion7

The costs to education of at-risk children impacting classrooms and school performance is a study that needs to be done. Teachers are hard pressed in many classrooms to keep their students safe and the cost to this is lost teaching time.

Conservative annual cost of child abuse and neglect: $103.8 billion (in 2007 values)6

Lifetime cost for victims of nonfatal child sexual abuse: $282,734 per female victim2

Lost healthy life-years valued at $13.9 trillion annually7

Higher likelihood of missed work due to health problems, costing employers an estimated $44 billion annually4

Increased likelihood of juvenile arrest (59%) and adult criminal behavior (28%)2 Annual cost to house one inmate in California: over $81,0002

Increased need for special education services6 Fewer years of education completed by victims of child maltreatment3

Perpetuation of growing numbers of abusive families having their own families with continuing cycles of abuse and trauma, leading to ongoing economic burdens4

The economic impact is so significant that preventing ACEs could potentially increase the U.S. economy by $14 trillion1. These figures underscore the critical importance of early intervention and prevention strategies to mitigate the long-term economic consequences of childhood trauma. |

WHEN YOU Share KARA’s reporting with FRIENDS, INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK and most of all, contact 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 children, we will improve their lives and our communities!

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The economic impact of high ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) on America’s education system is substantial:

Academic performance:

• Students with 3+ ACEs are 1.53 times more likely not to graduate high school
• Those with 4+ ACEs are 2.34 times more likely not to graduate compared to those with no ACEs