Alberta - Statistics

Child Maltreatment Investigations in Alberta, 20031 and 20082
 20032008
Child population752,005775,175
Number of child maltreatment investigations32,45327,147
Incidence of child maltreatment investigations per 1000 children43.1635.02
Type of Child Maltreatment Investigation in Alberta, 20082
 NumberRate per 1,000 children
Maltreatment Investigation22,76135.02
Risk Investigation4,3865.66
Type of Child Maltreatment Investigation in Alberta, 20082
Category of MaltreatmentNumberRate per 1,000 children
Physical Abuse1,9332.49
Sexual Abuse2850.37
Neglect5,3286.87
Emotional Maltreatment1,9742.55
Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence4,8836.30
Placement in Child Maltreatment Investigations in Alberta, 20031 and 20082
 2003 Number2003 Rate2008 Number2008 Rate
No Placement28,29437.6223,62530.48
Informal Kinship Care1,9232.561,1391.47
Formal Placement2,2302.972,3833.08
Children and youth in out-of-home care in 20223
Children in out-of-home care Child (0-17) populationRate per 1000
8,164 973,7258.38

Child welfare services fall under the jurisdiction of provincial and territorial authorities, making it difficult to compile statistics at the national level.

The most notable variations between provinces include, mandate variation by jurisdiction with respect to the age to which children are eligible for service, differences in the length of time a child can receive out-of-home care and the definition of out-of-home care.

References

1 MacLaurin, B., Trocmé, N., Fallon, B., McCormack, M., Pitman, L., Forest, N., Banks, J., Shangreaux, C., & Perrault, E. (2005) Alberta Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (AIS-2003): Major Findings. Calgary, AB: University of Calgary. https://cwrp.ca/publications/alberta-incidence-study-reported-child-abuse-and-neglect-2003-ais-2003-major-findings

2 MacLaurin, B., Trocmé, N., Fallon, B., Sinha, V., Feehan, R., Enns, R., Gail, J., Kitt, O., Thomas‑Prokop, S., Zelt, C., Daoust, G., Hutcheon, E., & Budgell, D. (2013). Alberta Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect-2008 (AIS-2008): Major Findings. Calgary, AB: University of Calgary. http://cwrp.ca/publications/alberta-incidence-study-reported-child-abuse-and-neglect-2008-ais-2008-major-findings

3 Pollock, N., Ouédraogo, A., Trocmé, N., Hovdestad, W., Miskie, A., Crompton, L., Campeau, A., Tanaka, M., Zhang, C., Laprise, C., Tonmyr, L. (2024).Original quantitative research – Rates of out-of-home care among children in Canada: an analysis of national administrative child welfare data. Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada (44)4. https://doi.org/10.24095/hpcdp.44.4.02.

Government of Alberta. (n.d.). Child Intervention Information and Statistics Summary 2018/19 Fourth Quarter (March) Update. https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/de167286-500d-4cf8-bf01-0d08224eeadc/resource/b8142559-cb87-49b7-bd30-d0a3d2f113bc/download/child-intervention-quarterly-stats-2018-19-q4.pdf

Government of Alberta. (2022, February 10). Child Intervention Information and Statistics Summary Child Intervention Information and Statistics – 2021-22 Third Quarter (December) Update. https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/de167286-500d-4cf8-bf01-0d08224eeadc/resource/fd29d5a2-a42f-4e79-86bf-b3797dee8684/download/cs-child-intervention-information-statistics-summary-2021-2022-q3.pdf