In the United States, on average, about twelve out of every 1,000 children are abused or neglected each year. A precise number may be impossible, as many cases are never reported, but the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimated that 826,000 children were abused or neglected in 1999 in the United States. This abuse can take the form of physical abuse, neglect, sexual abuse, and emotional maltreatment. In addition, each year a higher percentage of American children are being raised in poverty, often by overstressed and drug-abusing parents.

Child-welfare authorities consider parental substance abuse to be a major risk factor for child abuse. In other words, when parents abuse drugs, they are more likely to engage in child abuse as well. Under the influence of alcohol and other drugs, adults are less inhibited—they feel free to act on their desires and...