Domestic violence,parental substance misuse and the decision to substantiate child maltreatment |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Social Work, Royal Holloway, University of London, United Kingdom;2. Tilda Goldberg Centre, University of Bedfordshire, United Kingdom;3. School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, United Kingdom;1. Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter College, City University of New York, 2180 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10035, USA;2. School of Social Welfare, University of California, Berkeley, 20 Haviland Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-7400, USA;3. Department of Social Work, California State University, East Bay, 25800 Carlos Bee Boulevard, Hayward, CA 94542, USA |
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| Abstract: | 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. |
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| Keywords: | Intimate partner violence Drugs and alcohol Child welfare decision-making Child welfare policy Substantiation outcomes |
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