First, the estimates presented here may underestimate the true cumulative prevalence of maltreatment and misestimate racial/ethnic disparities in child maltreatment because our estimates are based on maltreatment that came to the attention of CPS and was confirmed by CPS. Indeed, the most recent estimate of the cumulative risk of self-reported maltreatment in a national sample shows that over 40% of children ever experience maltreatment, indicating that the cumulative prevalence of self-reported maltreatment is roughly three times the cumulative prevalence of confirmed maltreatment.20 Although this is a limitation of all CPS data, it still bears mentioning.40
