Texas FY 2025 Child Fatality Report: 124 Confirmed Deaths and What They Teach About Prevention

Every year, the DFPS Office of Child Safety publishes the report no one wants to read. We read it so we can share what it says about keeping children alive.

In FY 2025, DFPS investigated 581 child deaths. It confirmed abuse or neglect in 124: 55 from abuse, 69 from neglect. That works out to 1.56 deaths per 100,000 Texas children. DFPS also confirmed 64 near fatalities.

Four of the 124 children were in DFPS conservatorship when they died.

Who the children were

The pattern is consistent year after year: 73.4% were age 3 or younger. The youngest children are the most fragile and the least visible to anyone outside the home. Caregiver substance use was involved in 87 of the 124 deaths.

What caused the deaths

• Physical abuse (blunt-force trauma and intentional homicide): 52
• Drowning: 20
• Vehicle-related: 17
• Neglectful supervision: 15
• Other (medical or physical neglect, suicide): 14
• Unsafe sleep: 6

The confirmed total fell from 222 in FY 2016 to 124 in FY 2025, with a low of 99 in FY 2024. A change to the state's legal definition of neglect, effective in FY 2022, affects how neglect-related deaths are counted, so the trend should be read with that in mind.

Why we publish this

Not to frighten anyone. Many of these causes are preventable with simple, repeatable habits: a designated adult watching water, a bare crib, a car checked before it's locked, a stressed parent who knows who to call. Read our pieces on water safety and safe sleep.