National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS)

NCANDS is a voluntary data collection system that gathers information from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico about reports of child abuse and neglect.

Data Collection Process

States submit NCANDS data annually and voluntarily. Submissions are received during the NCANDS reporting period of October 1 to September 30.

The 52 states in NCANDS submit two data files each year:

• NCANDS Child File with case-level data
• NCANDS Agency File with aggregate data

Data Availability

Data are available in the Child Maltreatment reports and the Child Welfare Outcomes Reports. Restricted use files of the NCANDS data are archived at the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect  and are available to researchers interested in using these data for statistical analyses.