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1.
Ongoing child welfare services are put in place after completion of the initial maltreatment investigation when there is a perceived need to mitigate the risk of future harm. The knowledge of how clinical, worker, and organizational characteristics interact with this decision to provide ongoing child welfare services is not well integrated in the research literature. Using secondary data from the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect-2008, this study’s primary objective is to understand the relationship of clinical, worker, and organizational characteristics to the decision to transfer a case to ongoing child welfare services and their relative contribution to the transfer decision in Canada. Findings indicate that several clinical level variables are associated with families receiving ongoing services. Additionally, organizational factors, such as type of services offered by the organization and the number of employee support programs available to workers, significantly predicted the decision to transfer a case to ongoing services. While no worker factors, such as education, amount of training, experience, or caseload, were associated with ongoing service receipt, the intraclass correlation coefficient of the final three-level parsimonious model indicated substantial clustering at the worker level. Results indicate that Canadian child welfare workers make decisions differently based on factors not available in the current study and that what would be deemed as important worker characteristics do not necessarily predict this outcome. Findings and implications for future research are discussed. 相似文献
2.
Objectives
The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of parental cognitive impairment in cases opened for child maltreatment investigation in Canada, and to examine the relationship between parental cognitive impairment and maltreatment investigation outcomes including substantiation, case disposition and court application.Methods
The method was secondary analysis of the Canadian Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS-2003) core-data, which is derived from a multi-stage stratified cluster sample of 11,562 child maltreatment investigations.Results
Parental cognitive impairment was noted in 10.1% of sampled cases that were opened for child maltreatment investigation in 2003, and in 27.3% of sampled cases that resulted in child welfare court application. Neglect was the most common cause of concern. With child and case characteristics held constant, parental cognitive impairment predicted investigation outcomes. The data further suggest that the relationship between parental cognitive impairment and investigation outcomes was partially mediated by perceived parent non-cooperation, mental health issues and low social support.Conclusions
The number of children who are living with a parent with cognitive impairment and who are referred for protective services is thought to be increasing. Building systems capacity to support parents with cognitive impairment and promote child wellbeing is therefore essential to containing the human and economic costs of maltreatment and out-of-home care.Practice implications
A broad-spectrum approach is needed to support parents with cognitive impairment and their children. Equipping services with the knowledge, skills, and mandate they need to deliver evidence-based parent training is vital. However, strategies are also needed to tackle discrimination, alleviate family poverty, strengthen the social ties of parents with cognitive impairment and in turn, improve the life chances of their children. 相似文献3.
Cumulative stress and substantiated maltreatment: the importance of caregiver vulnerability and adult partner violence 总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1
OBJECTIVE: Our goal is to assess the effect of caregiver vulnerabilities, singly and in combination, on the substantiation of child abuse (physical, sexual) and neglect, while controlling for relevant background variables. We test the moderator role of adult partner violence in qualifying the relationship between caregiver vulnerabilities and maltreatment substantiation. METHOD: Secondary analyses of the 1998 Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Maltreatment (CIS) are used to predict child protective service investigation substantiation versus non-substantiation from a range of caregiver vulnerability factors. Involvement in partner violence was examined as a moderator in the relation between caregiver vulnerabilities and maltreatment substantiation. The CIS is an epidemiological survey of first-reported cases to child protective services, using a random sample of child welfare agencies across Canada. Child welfare workers completed a research form on the child, primary caregiver, family, perpetrator, severity and type of maltreatment, as well as services and court outcomes. All maltreatment classifications were assigned according to the Canadian legal definition of child abuse and neglect. Hierarchical logistic regression analyses were used, with stepped entry of: (1) demographic factors, socioeconomic disadvantage, and caregiver's own history of maltreatment; (2) caregiver vulnerability factors; (3) involvement in partner violence; (4) the interaction between caregiver vulnerability and partner violence. RESULTS: Caregiver substance abuse was found to be the single most potent kind of caregiver vulnerability in predicting maltreatment substantiation. When the total number of vulnerabilities was used as the predictor, prediction across all types of maltreatment increased, especially for substantiated neglect. Analyses also showed that the presence of partner violence in the home exacerbated the effect of caregiver vulnerability on substantiation. CONCLUSIONS: The total number of caregiver vulnerabilities was the best predictor of the substantiation of child abuse and neglect. This relationship was moderated by the existence of partner violence: high caregiver vulnerability and high partner violence increased the likelihood of substantiation versus non-substantiation. These results suggest that caregiver issues should be considered in tandem with partner relationships. Among child welfare cases, caregiver vulnerability and partner violence are critical targets for child maltreatment prevention and early child protective services intervention. 相似文献
4.
Major findings from the Canadian incidence study of reported child abuse and neglect 总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1
OBJECTIVE: To present key findings from the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Maltreatment (CIS) in sufficient detail to provide a basis for international comparisons in terms of forms and severity of maltreatment and the age and sex of victims. METHOD: A survey conducted in a random sample of 51 child welfare service areas across Canada tracked child maltreatment investigations conducted during the months of October to December 1998, produced a national sample of 7672 child maltreatment investigations. Information was collected directly from investigating workers on child and family background, perpetrator characteristics, severity and types of maltreatment and service and court outcomes of investigations. RESULTS: Forty-five percent of investigations were substantiated and in a further 22% of investigations maltreatment remained suspected. Primary reasons for investigation were physical abuse (31%), sexual abuse (11%), neglect (40%), and emotional maltreatment (19%). A larger proportion of physical abuse cases are isolated incidents involving older children and are more likely to lead to injuries. Sexual abuse, neglect and emotional maltreatment involve more chronic situations with children showing signs of emotional harm. Rates of investigated and substantiated maltreatment are lower in Canada compared to the United States, but are higher than rates reported in Australia. CONCLUSIONS: The CIS provides much needed information for developing a better understanding of the profile and needs of children and families investigated by child welfare authorities in Canada. The study also serves as a point from which international comparisons can be made. 相似文献
5.
《Child abuse & neglect》2014,38(10):1683-1693
This study aimed to determine if identification of intimate partner violence (IPV) has improved by caseworkers that investigate reports of child maltreatment and if mothers who are victims of IPV are more likely to report receipt of services. The study data were drawn from the two cohorts of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW I and II), the first in 1999–2000 with a sample of 5,501 children reported for maltreatment and the second in 2008–2009 with a sample of 5,872 children reported for maltreatment. The analyses focused on IPV victimization of 3,625 mothers in NSCAW I and 3,351 mothers in NSCAW II whose children remained in home after the maltreatment investigation. Multiple group logistic regression was used to compare NSCAW I and II. A significant decrease in mother-reported IPV victimization (28.9–24.7%) was observed, representing a 15% decline. There were no significant changes in caseworker identification of history of domestic violence or active domestic violence. In both cohorts, substance abuse by the secondary caregiver was associated with a lower likelihood for the caseworker to miss a history of active domestic violence, while substantiation reduced the likelihood that the caseworker will miss active domestic violence. There were no changes in caseworkers’ service referral, or service receipt among victims. The next decade of efforts to reduce IPV and child maltreatment should focus simultaneously on increasing caseworkers’ ability to identify IPV and on funding needed services for families impacted by IPV and child maltreatment. 相似文献
6.
Trocmé N Fallon B Maclaurin B Chamberland C Chabot M Esposito T 《Child abuse & neglect》2011,35(10):831-840
Objective
Although there is growing evidence that the emotional dimensions of child maltreatment are particularly damaging, the feasibility and appropriateness of including emotional maltreatment (EM) in child welfare statutes continues to be questioned. Unlike physical and sexual abuse where investigations focus on discreet incidents of maltreatment, EM is not as easily defined and delimited. Through a review of legislation and child welfare investigation practices in Canada, this paper examines (1) whether Canadian child welfare services respond to EM with the same level of perseverance as with other forms of maltreatment and (2) the extent to which the introduction in 2008 of a more specific EM taxonomy distinguishes between EM and family problems that could lead to EM.Method
Following an analysis of the legislative framework for EM across Canada, investigations practices in Canada are examined using data from the 1998, 2003 and 2008 cycles of the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS). Using data from the 2008 cycle, EM investigations are compared to other maltreatment investigations for all of Canada (N = 15,980). Changes in EM investigations over time are then compared using data from the three cycles of the study, excluding Québec because of limited data availability in 2003 (N = 5,360 in 1998, 11,562 in 2003 and 14,050 in 2008).Results
EM is included as a form of reportable maltreatment in all provincial and territorial statutes in Canada. Over 11,000 cases of EM were substantiated in Canada in 2008, at a rate of 1.86 cases per 1,000 children. While EM investigations were substantiated at a lower rate as other forms of maltreatment, a higher proportion of EM cases were referred for specialized services, kept open for on-going child welfare services, lead to an out of home placement, and lead to an application to child welfare court. Using a broad definition of EM the number of investigations classified as EM in Canada, excluding Québec, nearly tripled from 1998 to 2003. In 2008, using more specific definitions focusing on caregiver definitions, the number of investigations classified as EM nearly returned to their 1998 level, with nearly twice as many cases being classified as risk of future maltreatment.Conclusion
EM is a well established category for child welfare intervention in Canada, however, more emphasis should be given to distinguishing between EM and family problems that place children at risk of EM. 相似文献7.
Although various studies have investigated factors associated with mental health service utilization, few studies have examined factors associated with referral for mental health services among maltreated children. The objective of this study was to examine the association between suicidal thoughts and self-harming behavior and referral for mental health services among children involved in the Child Welfare System in Ontario, Canada. Data for this study were obtained from the Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect 2013. An estimate 57,798 child maltreatment investigations was analyzed using binary logistic regression with referral for mental health service as the outcome variable. Of the 57,798 cases, 4709 (8.1%), were referred for mental health services. More than seven out of ten maltreated children who engaged in self-harming behavior and two out of three maltreated children who expressed suicidal thoughts were not referred for mental health services. In the multivariate logistic regression model, children who expressed suicidal thoughts had 2.39 times higher odds of being referred for mental health services compared to children with no suicidal thoughts (AOR = 2.39, 99% C.I. 2.05–2.77) and children who engaged in self-harming behavior had 1.44 times higher odds of being referred for mental health services compared to children who did not engage in self-harming behavior (AOR = 1.44, 99% C.I. 1.24–1.67), both after controlling for child demographic characteristics, maltreatment characteristics, and child functioning concerns. Given that referral is the initial step towards mental health service utilization, it is important that child welfare workers receive the necessary training so as to carefully assess and refer children in care who expressed suicidal thoughts or engaged in self-harming behavior for appropriate mental health services. The paper discusses the results and their implications for child welfare policy and practice. 相似文献
8.
BackgroundWhile there are national studies on the overrepresentation of First Nations children in the Canadian child protection system, there is a dearth of provincial/territorial studies.ObjectiveThe objectives are to: 1) estimate the rate of overrepresentation of First Nations children and youth involved in child welfare investigations in the Ontario child welfare system and, 2) determine which factors drive the overrepresentation of First Nations children in child welfare at the investigation stage compared to White children.Participants and SettingChild welfare workers completed a three-page data collection form at the conclusion of a child protection investigation.MethodsA secondary analysis of the Ontario Incidence Study 2013 was conducted. Incidence rates were calculated and bivariate analyses were conducted, comparing investigations involving First Nations children to investigations involving White children.ResultsFirst Nations children represent 2.5% of the child population; however, they represent 7.4% of child maltreatment related investigations in Ontario. The rate of investigations for First Nations children was approximately three times higher than the rate for White children. Overrepresentation was most pronounced for investigations of neglect and exposure to intimate partner violence. Rates of substantiation, ongoing child welfare services, child welfare court, and placement in care were higher for the First Nations child population.ConclusionsThe findings provide a foundation for further research and analyses examining the compounding of disparities across the investigation process. Research is needed to disentangle factors that influence decision-making in the child welfare system and how these vary based on a child’s race. 相似文献
9.
BackgroundPublic health surveillance is essential to inform programs that aim to eradicate child maltreatment (CM) and to provide services to children and families. However, collection of CM data imposes a burden on child welfare workers (CWWs). This study assesses the feasibility of hiring coders to abstract the required information from administrative records and case narratives.MethodsBased on a convenience sample of child welfare data from Manitoba, Canada, two coders abstracted information on 181 alleged CM cases. The coders completed a short web-based questionnaire for each case to identify which of five types of CM had been investigated, level of substantiation for each type, and risk of future CM. The CWWs responsible for each case completed the same questionnaire. Percentages of the occurrence of CM by the three sources were compared. The validity of the coders’ classifications was assessed by calculating sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values, against the CWWs’ classifications as the “gold standard.” Cohen’s kappa was also calculated.ResultsThe coders’ classifications of physical abuse, sexual abuse and neglect generally matched those of CWWs; for exposure to intimate partner violence, agreement was weak for one coder. Coding of emotional maltreatment and risk investigations could not be evaluated.ConclusionResults were promising. Abstraction was not time-consuming. Differences between coders and CWWs can be largely explained by the administrative data system, child welfare practice, and legislation. Further investigation is required to determine if additional training could improve coders’ classifications of CM. 相似文献
10.
Despite the substantial body of literature on racial disparities in child welfare involvement in the Unites States, there is relatively little research on such differences for Canadian children and families. This study begins to address this gap by examining decision-making among workers investigating Black and White families investigated for child protection concerns in Ontario, Canada. Using provincially representative data, the study assessed whether Black children were more likely than White children to be investigated by child welfare, if there was disparate decision-making by race throughout the investigation, and how the characteristics of Black and White children contribute to the decision to transfer to ongoing services. The results indicate that Black children were more likely to be investigated than White children, but there was little evidence to suggest that workers in Ontario child welfare agencies made the decision to substantiate, transfer to ongoing services, or place the child in out-of-home care based on race alone. Black and White children differed significantly with respect to child characteristics, characteristics of the investigation, caregiver risk factors, and socioeconomic circumstances. When adjusting for these characteristics, Black families had 33% greater odds (OR = 1.33; 95% CI: 1.26, 1.40; p = <0.001) of being transferred to ongoing services compared to White families. Among Black families, the assessed quality of the parent-child relationship and severe economic hardship were the most significant and substantial contributors to the decision to provide child welfare services. Implications for practice, policy, and research are discussed. 相似文献
11.
Families that experience domestic violence and parental substance misuse are disproportionately involved with the child welfare system. Prior research suggests that child protective services (CPS) caseworkers are more likely to substantiate maltreatment allegations when domestic violence and parental substance misuse are identified during the investigation, pointing to one possible mechanism for this disproportionate involvement. While previous studies have relied on nationally representative data sets, the current study used administrative records from a large Midwestern child welfare agency that accounts for state-level variation in child welfare policy and practice. A total of 501,060 substantiation decisions made between 2009 and 2013 were examined to assess the influence of caseworker-perceived domestic violence and parental substance misuse on the decision to substantiate reported maltreatment. Results from multilevel modeling suggest that the identification of domestic violence and parental substance misuse during an investigation significantly increased the probability that an allegation would be substantiated. The implication of these findings for child welfare practice are considered in light of the fact that many child welfare agencies do not consider exposure to domestic violence and parental substance misuse in and of themselves to constitute child maltreatment. 相似文献
12.
Inadequate housing and homelessness among families represent a substantial challenge for child and adolescent well-being. Child welfare services confront housing that threatens placement into foster care with little resources and evidence to guide practice. The present study provides the first rigorous test of the Family Unification Program (FUP) – a federal program that offers housing subsidies for inadequately housed families under investigation for child maltreatment. A randomized controlled trial assesses program impact on foster care placement and costs.The experiment referred intact child welfare-involved families whose inadequate housing threatened foster placement in Chicago, IL to FUP plus housing advocacy (n = 89 families with 257 children) or housing advocacy alone (n = 89 families with 257 children). Families were referred from 2011 to 2013, and administrative data recorded dates and costs of foster placements over a 3-year follow-up. Intent-to-treat analyses suggested families randomly assigned for FUP exhibited slower increases in rates of foster placement following housing intervention compared with families referred for housing advocacy alone. The program generates average savings of nearly $500 per family per year to the foster care system. Housing subsidies provide the foster care system small but significant benefits for keeping homeless families together. Findings inform the design of a coordinated child welfare response to housing insecurity. 相似文献
13.
A child welfare system is responsible for making difficult decisions. Child welfare workers are charged with assessing and determining when a child is in need of protection, including when it is necessary to intervene on behalf of children when their caregivers’ abilities and/or situation is deemed to put them at risk of abuse or neglect. Although the child welfare workforce in Ontario attended to an estimated 125,281 child maltreatment investigations in 2013, little is known about the skills, education, and experiences of these investigating workers. Notwithstanding assumptions about the qualifications and characteristics necessary for effective child welfare practice, few studies explicitly link the specific characteristics of workers to children, youth, and families achieving positive case outcomes. These assumptions have been shaped by a multitude of factors including knowledge of human resources, professional standards, and educational requriements. This study examined data from five cycles over twenty years of Ontario Incidence Studies (-1993, -1998, -2003, -2008, -2013) to provide a profile of child welfare workers. This is the first study to examine the changing profile of child welfare workers in any province in Canada and provides a foundation for developing effective recruitment and professional development strategies, and promoting a positive work environment. Policy and practice implications for the changing needs of these families are discussed. 相似文献
14.
OBJECTIVE: This study uses administrative data to track the first re-reports of maltreatment in a low-income, urban child welfare population (n=4957) while controlling for other public service involvement. Service system involvement is explored across the following sectors: Child Welfare, Income Maintenance, Special Education, Juvenile Court, and various forms of Medicaid-reimbursed medical or mental health care. This study builds knowledge by adding the services dimension to an ecological framework for analyses and by following recurrence for a longer period of time than prior investigations (7.5 years). METHOD: We model the re-reporting of a child for maltreatment as a function of child, caregiver, service, and neighborhood characteristics using data from birth records, child welfare, income maintenance, Medicaid, adult corrections, juvenile court, special education, law enforcement, and census sources. Bivariate and multivariate analyses are presented, the latter using Cox regression with a robust sandwich covariance matrix estimate to account for the intracluster dependence within tracts. RESULTS: Key results across bivariate and multivariate analyses included a lower rate of re-reporting among children with parents who were high school graduates and/or permanently exited from the first spell on AFDC (p<.0001); and for children in families that received less intensive in-home services compared to those not receiving services, receiving intensive in-home, or foster care services (p<.0001). Higher rates of re-reporting were found for children with Medicaid mental health/substance abuse treatment records (p<.0001) and special education eligibility for emotional disturbance (p<.005). CONCLUSIONS: Caretaker characteristics and non-child welfare service use patterns had a strong association with the likelihood of a child being re-reported to the child welfare agency and should be more heavily attended to by child welfare workers. High rates of service sector overlap suggest that interagency ties and cooperation should be strengthened. The lower risk associated with less intensive in-home services compared to un-served cases may indicate under-identification of in-home service eligibility following a first report of maltreatment. 相似文献
15.
This study investigated heterogeneity in the developmental trajectories of internalizing symptoms among 541 children who were involved with the child welfare system and examined child maltreatment characteristics, including types, level of harm, and timing, as predictors of internalizing trajectory patterns. Secondary longitudinal research was conducted using data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being-I, collected from 1999 to 2007 in the United States. Three distinct trajectory groups were identified: high–decreasing; low–increasing; and low–stable Sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, and more severe levels of harm from maltreatment predicted membership in two maladaptive groups compared to the low–stable group. The findings of the study suggest the importance of providing a thorough assessment of the type and severity of maltreatment experiences and continued monitoring of internalizing symptoms for children with child welfare involvement. 相似文献
16.
Objective
To examine the frequency and predictors of out-of-home placement in a 30-month follow-up for a nationally representative sample of children investigated for a report of maltreatment who remained in their homes following the index child welfare report.Methods
Data came from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being (NSCAW), a 3-year longitudinal study of 5,501 youth 0-14 years old referred to child welfare agencies for potential maltreatment between 10/1999 and 12/2000. These analyses focused on the children who had not been placed out-of-home at the baseline interview and examined child, family and case characteristics as predictors of subsequent out-of-home placement. Weighted logistic regression models were used to determine which baseline characteristics were related to out-of-home placement in the follow-up.Results
For the total study sample, predictors of placement in the 30-month follow-up period included elevated Conflict Tactics Scale scores, prior history of child welfare involvement, high family risk scores and caseworkers’ assessment of likelihood of re-report without receipt of services. Higher family income was protective. For children without any prior child welfare history (incident cases), younger children, low family income and a high family risk score were strongly related to subsequent placement but receipt of services and case workers’ assessments were not.Conclusions/practice implications
Family risk variables are strongly related to out-of-home placement in a 30-month follow-up, but receipt of child welfare services is not related to further placements. Considering family risk factors and income, 25% of the children who lived in poor families, with high family risk scores, were subsequently placed out-of-home, even among children in families who received child welfare services. Given that relevant evidence-based interventions are available for these families, more widespread tests of their use should be explored to understand whether their use could make a substantial difference in the lives of vulnerable children. 相似文献17.
BackgroundChild protection services exist to reduce potential harms from child maltreatment. Many jurisdictions produce annual data on child protection system (CPS) involvement, leaving a gap in knowledge of lifetime involvement.ObjectiveTo describe lifetime involvement in CPS, by type of contact.ParticipantsAll 608,547 children born in South Australia (SA), Australia between 1986 and 2017.MethodsA retrospective cohort design using linked administrative data to report cumulative incidence of CPS involvement from birth to age <18 (or June30 2017) by Aboriginal status. CPS involvement was categorised into notifications (3 levels), investigations, substantiations and out-of-home care (OOHC). Cumulative incidence curves were derived for 5 birth cohorts.ResultsAcross childhood (to age <18 years), substantiated maltreatment was experienced by 3.2–3.6% of non-Aboriginal and 19–25% of Aboriginal children, 7 times reported annual substantiation rates. For most CPS categories CPS involvement increased until 2010, and was occurring earlier in life. By age 3, 0.5% of non-Aboriginal and 4.5% of Aboriginal children born 1986–1991 were the subject of a substantiation compared with 1.9% and 15% of non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal children, respectively, born 2010–2017. Incidence rates beyond age 3 were similar. OOHC contact was similar across cohorts, with ˜1.5% of non-Aboriginal and 12.7% of Aboriginal children ever-placed in care.ConclusionsData linkage is an essential tool for understanding life course involvement with the CPS and describing trends not observable from annual snapshots. Such information is critical for burden of disease estimates, informing policy and monitoring CPS performance. 相似文献
18.
Research finds that exposure to domestic violence can adversely affect the emotional, behavioral, and physical health of children. These effects have led some child advocates and policymakers in the United States to conclude that child exposure to domestic violence (CEDV) is a type of child maltreatment warranting state intervention. However, few states have defined CEDV as a type of maltreatment in statute and little is known about how child welfare agencies respond to allegations of CEDV in the absence of other safety threats. This study considers that CEDV itself might prompt an initial child welfare referral and may be construed by workers as a type of statutory maltreatment. Using a random sample (n = 295) of case records, this study analyzed one large child welfare agency’s response to referrals alleging CEDV between 2011 and 2012. Findings indicate that CEDV itself did trigger investigation. At time of referral, workers used statutory maltreatment typologies to construe alleged CEDV as a type of maltreatment; however, CEDV was not consistently construed as a safety threat and few allegations were substantiated. Instead most families were referred to community-based domestic violence services. Findings indicate that CEDV was not consistently construed as a type of statutory maltreatment and infrequently resulted in ongoing child welfare services. Findings suggest that training is needed to help workers better assess CEDV-related safety threats. Findings also raise questions about what types of interventions are needed to protect children from domestic violence and which types of agencies are best positioned to deliver those interventions. 相似文献
19.
School professionals have a unique vantage point for identifying child maltreatment and they are a frequent source of referral to child protective services. Disturbingly, past studies have found that maltreatment concerns reported by educators go unsubstantiated by child protective services at much higher rates than suspected maltreatment reported by other professionals. This study explores whether there are systematic differences in the characteristics of cases reported by educators as compared to other professionals and examines whether such variation might account for differences in investigation outcome. Analyses were based on 7,725 cases of suspected maltreatment referred by professionals to child protective services from the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect – 2003 a national database on the characteristics of children and families investigated by child protective services. School professionals were responsible for 35.8% of professional referrals. Reports by educators were much more likely to be unsubstantiated (45.3%) than those by other professionals (28.4%) in subsequent child protective investigation. Cases reported by educators were found to contain significantly more child risk factors (e.g., child emotional and behavioural problems) and fewer caregiver and family risk factors (e.g., caregiver mental health problem, single parent family) than cases reported by other professionals. Even controlling for these differences, educator-reported concerns were still 1.84, 95% CI [1.41, 2.40] times as likely to be unsubstantiated as reports from other professionals. Contrary to the notion that educators are mostly reporting non-severe cases, suspected/substantiated cases reported by school professionals were more likely to be judged as chronic and more likely to involve families with a previous child protection history. Results are concerning for the capacity of the education and child protection systems to work together to meet their shared goal of promoting healthy child development. Additional research is needed on the way in which child risks and problems influence child protective service, particularly in the context of chronic abuse and neglect and lack of availability of child and family mental health interventions. Potential problems with credibility of school professionals as reporters of child maltreatment concerns also warrant further investigation. 相似文献
20.
Decision-making in the child protection system is influenced by multiple factors; agency and geographic contexts, caseworker attributes, and families’ unique circumstances all likely play a role. In this study, we use the second cohort of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being to explore how these factors are associated with two key case decisions—substantiation and removal to out-of-home care. Analyses are conducted using weighted hierarchical linear models. We find that substantiation is strongly influenced by agency factors, particularly constraints on service accessibility. Substantiation is less likely when agencies can provide services to unsubstantiated cases and when collaboration with other social institutions is high. This supports the concept that substantiation may be a gateway to services in some communities. Agency factors contributed less to the probability of removal among substantiated cases, though time resources and constraints on decision-making had some influence. For both substantiation and removal risks, county, caseworker, and child characteristics were less influential than agency characteristics and family risk factors. 相似文献