Child abuse and neglect cases declined 28% in Lancaster County in 2020, but the number of substantiated cases reached the highest level in five years, according to a new Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children report.
In 2020, 14.1% of the cases investigated were substantiated in Lancaster County. In 2019, the substantiation rate was 9.2%.
“You had a big jump in the substantiated rate,” Rachel Miller, the partnership’s policy director, said of the percent of Lancaster County cases found to be true.