Colorado Child Abuse Cases Plummet, but Experts Want Receipts

“Colorado has logged a steep drop in confirmed child abuse and neglect cases, with state counts showing about 6,116 substantiated victims in 2025 compared with roughly 10,779 in 2021.

That is a roughly 40% decline, or about 4,600 fewer children officially flagged as victims, a shift that looks like unqualified good news at first glance but has experts urging caution.

Those figures come from data compiled by the Colorado Department of Human Services, which reports that neglect still accounts for the clear majority of substantiated cases, while abuse makes up roughly one in five. State officials told The Denver Post that calls to the child abuse hotline rose after 2021 and have stayed relatively steady since 2023, even as a smaller share of those reports now meet the standard for a full investigation.”