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N.H. DCYF Numbers Highlight Growing Demands on Agency

DCYF

Reports of child abuse and neglect reached a record high in New Hampshire during the last fiscal year.

Last fiscal year, the Division for Children, Youth and Families received more than 30,000 calls reporting child abuse or neglect. Of those, more than 12,000 were investigated by child welfare workers.

The new data released by the state Friday highlights the increasing demands on the agency tasked with protecting the welfare of children.

The report also shows the average caseload for DCYF workers, about 45, remains well above the nationally recommend level of 12.

One bright spot in the report: the number of children born drug exposed dropped from 2017 to 2018.

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Jason Moon is a senior reporter and producer on the Document team. He has created longform narrative podcast series on topics ranging from unsolved murders, to presidential elections, to secret lists of police officers.
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