Types of Abuse, Neglect and Financial Exploitation

A single APS case can have more than one allegation.

Neglect is the failure to provide the protection, food, shelter, or care necessary to avoid emotional harm or physical injury. The alleged perpetrator of the neglect may be the victim or the victim's caregiver. There are three types of neglect allegations: Physical Neglect, Medical Neglect, and Mental Health Neglect.

Validated Dispositions include Valid, Valid-No Fault, and Valid-reportable conduct. Not Validated allegation disposition includes Invalid, Unable to determine, Other, Merged in Error, and dispositions not entered.

Other - The allegation disposition Other is used when an investigation of the allegation was not completed (e.g. clients died or cases were misclassified).

Data for FY 2025 does not capture case closures Other since investigation of the allegation were not completed.

See Glossary for definitions of physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional or verbal abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation.

The population totals do not match prior DFPS Data Books, printed or ontline. Past population estimates are adjusted based on the U.S. Census data as it becomes available. This is important to keep the data in line with current best practices, but will cause some past counts, such as Abuse/Neglect Victims per 1,000 Texas Children, to be recalculated.

Population Data Source - Population Estimates and Projections Program, Texas State Data Center, Office of the State Demographer and the Institute for Demographic and Socioeconomic Research, The University of Texas at San Antonio.

Current population estimates and projections for all years from 2016 to 2025 as of December 2025.

Visit dfps.state.tx.us for information on all DFPS programs.