Sibling Child Protective Services Involvement Following a Child Maltreatment Fatality

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-50
Author(s):  
McKenna Corlis ◽  
Amy Damashek ◽  
Kate Meister ◽  
Hilary Richardson ◽  
Barbara Bonner
Keyword(s):  
Child Maltreatment ◽  
Human Services ◽  
Child Death ◽  
The United States ◽  
Family Characteristics ◽  
Protective Services ◽  
Child Death Review ◽  
Number Of Children ◽  
Protective Service ◽  
Additional Support

Each year in the United States, approximately 1,720 children die from a child maltreatment fatality (CMF). Although many of these children are survived by siblings, few studies have examined the child protective service (CPS) involvement of these siblings. Objective: This study examined CPS involvement of children surviving the CMF of a sibling as well as predictors of subsequent CPS reports. Method: Department of Human Services and Child Death Review Board data about children who died from a CMF during 1993–2003 ( n = 416) and their siblings in the state of Oklahoma were used to examine CPS involvement and predictors of subsequent CPS reports for surviving siblings. Results: Surviving siblings of a victim of a CMF experienced substantial CPS involvement; 81% of the original victims had siblings who were subsequently reported to CPS ( n = 1,840). Original victim and family characteristics that predicted a greater rate of siblings’ subsequent reports to CPS included younger original victim age, greater number of children in the original victim’s home, and more previous reports of the original victim to CPS. Discussion: A large portion of families with a CMF struggle to adequately care for their surviving children. Such families may need additional support after a CMF.

The Decision to Substantiate Allegations of Child Maltreatment

2020 ◽  
pp. 173-193
Author(s):  
Sarah A. Font ◽  
Kathryn Maguire-Jack ◽  
Rebecca Dillard
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Child Maltreatment ◽  
Child Protective Services ◽  
Objective Assessment ◽  
The United States ◽  
Family Characteristics ◽  
Protective Services ◽  
Vulnerable Children ◽  
Representative Study ◽  
Nationally Representative

In the United States, the Child Protective Services system is responsible for investigating and responding to allegations of child abuse and neglect. At the conclusion of an investigation, caseworkers are expected to decide whether allegations are “substantiated” (demonstrated to be true) or not. How that decision is made—and whether it reflects an objective assessment of the evidence available—is widely debated. This chapter first presents an overview of the decision-making process and the implications of decision-making for vulnerable children and families. Next, it describes how rates of substantiation vary across and within states. The authors then present data from a nationally representative study of child protective services investigations on the factors associated with the decision to substantiate child maltreatment. They find that agency characteristics are predictive of substantiation, net of child and family characteristics. Overall, the authors conclude that substantiation is unlikely to be a valid indicator of the incidence of child maltreatment, and they discuss possible strategies for improving the consistency and utility of the substantiation decision.

scholarly journals Association of Housing Stress With Child Maltreatment: A Systematic Review

2020 ◽  
pp. 152483802093913
Author(s):  
Caroline E. Chandler ◽  
Anna E. Austin ◽  
Meghan E. Shanahan
Keyword(s):  
Child Maltreatment ◽  
Child Protective Services ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Material Hardship ◽  
Protective Services ◽  
Stress Indicators ◽  
Effective Prevention ◽  
Established Risk Factor ◽  
Significant Public Health

Child maltreatment is a significant public health issue in the United States. Understanding key risk factors for child maltreatment is critical to informing effective prevention. Poverty is an established risk factor for child maltreatment. However, recent research indicates that material hardship (i.e., difficulties meeting basic needs) may serve as a more direct measure of the way in which poverty affects daily life. One form of material hardship that is common among families is housing stress. Previous reviews have summarized the existing literature regarding the association of economic insecurity with child maltreatment, but no reviews have synthesized and critically evaluated the literature specific to the association of various types of housing stress with child maltreatment. We conducted a systematic search of multiple electronic databases to identify peer-reviewed studies conducted in the U.S. regarding the association of housing stress with child maltreatment. We identified 21 articles that used nine distinct measures of housing stress including homelessness or eviction, homeless or emergency shelter stays, foreclosure filing, housing instability, inadequate housing, physical housing risk, living doubled-up, housing unaffordability, and composite housing stress indicators. Overall, results from this body of literature indicate that housing stress is associated with an increased likelihood of caregiver or child self-reported maltreatment, child protective services (CPS) reports, investigated and substantiated CPS reports, out-of-home placements, and maltreatment death. Additional theory-driven research is needed to further our understanding of the contribution of specific types of housing stress to risk for specific types of maltreatment.

scholarly journals Child Death Review: Past, Present, and Future

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 527-535 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reade A. Quinton
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Administrative Support ◽  
Child Death ◽  
The United States ◽  
Child Death Review ◽  
Current State ◽  
Made In

This article describes the current state of child death reviews (CDR) in the United States. The CDR process has evolved over almost 40 years from informal local meetings to a coordinated effort involving all 50 states. Child death review programs across the country vary in the level of financial and administrative support, legislation, and review processes. While there is still a long way to go in standardizing the practice between states, great strides have been made in data collection, education, and prevention initiatives.

scholarly journals Multiagency child death review teams: experience in the United States

1995 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 377-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Durfee ◽  
Deanne Tilton-Durfee
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Child Death ◽  
The United States ◽  
Child Death Review

scholarly journals What Happened Next

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristine A. Campbell ◽  
Lenora M. Olson ◽  
Heather T. Keenan ◽  
Susan L. Morrow
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Child Maltreatment ◽  
Child Protective Services ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Changes ◽  
Protective Services ◽  
Vulnerable Children ◽  
Home Placement ◽  
First Time ◽  
Future Practice

Child Protective Services (CPS) identifies over 700,000 victims of child maltreatment in the United States annually. Research shows that risk factors for these children may persist despite CPS intervention. Mothers have unique and often untapped perspectives on the experiences and consequences of CPS intervention that may inform future practice. We explored these perspectives through interviews with 24 mothers after a first-time CPS finding of maltreatment not resulting in out-of-home placement. Male partners were primary perpetrators in 21 cases, with mothers or sitters identified as perpetrators in remaining cases. Data were analyzed using grounded theory. Mothers described risk factors or Roots of maltreatment prior to CPS involvement and reported variable experiences with Recognition of and Response to maltreatment. Divergent Outcomes emerged: I Feel Stronger and We’re No Better. These findings provide an understanding of household experiences around child maltreatment that may support practice and policy changes to improve outcomes for vulnerable children.

scholarly journals Child Maltreatment During COVID-19: Key Conclusions and Future Directions Based on a Systematic Literature Review

2021 ◽  
pp. 152483802110438
Author(s):  
Amitai Marmor ◽  
Noa Cohen ◽  
Carmit Katz
Keyword(s):  
Child Maltreatment ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Systematic Literature Review ◽  
Child Protective Services ◽  
The United States ◽  
International Studies ◽  
Protective Services ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
The Impact

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a far-ranging impact. As societies struggled to minimize infection, questions arose regarding the consequences for children. Initial research reported the urgent need for child protective services worldwide to adapt existing policies and practices to protect children from maltreatment during this time, which is the rationale for the current systematic literature review. This review examined studies published in peer-reviewed journals from March 2020 to October 2020 on child maltreatment (CM) in the context of COVID-19. Twenty-five manuscripts met the inclusion criteria and were predominantly from the United States, with three international studies. The majority of the studies included CM reports during COVID-19 based on official data. The results clearly demonstrated an increased risk for children alongside a worrisome international decrease in CM reports. Only two studies addressed interventions during the pandemic. The current review highlights that, along with the obligation of scholars to advance the protection of children during COVID-19, there is much that is unknown. Future studies should examine the impact of the pandemic on children and their surrounding systems as well as child protective services’ responses, which face enormous challenges during a pandemic. An additional conclusion is that, since children were not identified as a health risk group during the pandemic, their protection rights may have been jeopardized. Furthermore, the variance identified in the policies of different countries pinpoints the urgent need to establish an international protocol for protecting children from maltreatment during COVID-19, a protocol that will hopefully be a basis for policymakers worldwide.

scholarly journals 288 Inter-rater reliability of Child Death Review team classification of child maltreatment

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (Suppl 2) ◽  
pp. A105.3-A106
Author(s):  
Jared W Parrish ◽  
Teresa M Covington ◽  
Patricia G Schnitzer ◽  
Stephen W Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Child Maltreatment ◽  
Child Death ◽  
Rater Reliability ◽  
Child Death Review ◽  
Review Team
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