Chapter 7: Additional Research Related to Child Maltreatment

Chapter 7
Additional Research Related to Child Maltreatment
Child Maltreatment 2002

This chapter describes additional research activities related to child maltreatment, including those using data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS). The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), other Federal and State agencies, and private organizations sponsored these studies. Suggestions for future research conclude the chapter.

Reports on Key Indicators, Outcomes, and National Statistics

Child Welfare Outcomes

The Children's Bureau is preparing Child Welfare Outcomes 2001: Annual Report, the fourth annual report in the series. The report contains information, by State, on key child maltreatment indicators, including the two measures designed to reduce recurrence of child abuse and neglect, and reduce the incidence of child abuse and neglect in foster care. As part of the Child and Family Services Reviews, the following national standards were established for both measures.

Of the children who were victims of substantiated or indicated child abuse or neglect during the first 6 months of the period under review, 6.1 percent or fewer children had another substantiated or indicated report within 6 months.
Of the children in foster care during the period under review, 0.57 percent or fewer were the subject of substantiated or indicated maltreatment by a foster parent or facility staff member.

These key measures, as well as other contextual data on child victims, are based on data submitted to NCANDS. The report also contains data on foster care and adoption and information derived from the Child and Family Services Reviews. The report will be available on the Children's Bureau Web site at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb.

For further information about the Child Welfare Outcomes 2001: Annual Report, contact:
Sharon Newburg-Rinn, Ph.D.
Social Science Research Analyst
Division of Data, Research, and Innovation
Children's Bureau
330 C Street, SW.
Washington, DC 20447
snewburg-rinn@acf.hhs.gov

Trends in the Well-Being of America's Children and Youth

The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, HHS, is producing Trends in the Well-Being of America's Children and Youth: 2003. The report will include data derived from NCANDS. The data include the estimated number of child victims, types of maltreatment, sex of victims, age of victims, and race and Hispanic origin of victims. A figure graphically displays trends in the percentage of victims by type of maltreatment from 1990 to 2001. The report will be released in early 2004 and will be available on the Internet at http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/hspinddb.htm.

For further information about Trends in the Well-Being of America's Children and Youth: 2003, contact:
Meredith Kelsey
Project Director
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, SW.
Washington, DC 20201
202-690-6652

Statistical Abstract of the United States

The Statistical Abstract, prepared by the U.S. Census Bureau, contains a collection of statistics on social and economic conditions in the United States. Selected international data also are included. For many years, two tables using NCANDS data have been published. One table reports the characteristics of child victims by maltreatment, sex, age, and race or ethnicity. The second table reports the number of investigations, the number of children who were subjects of investigations, and the number of victims by State.

The 2002 edition of the Statistical Abstract was published and is available on CD-ROM. An on-line version is available at http://www.census.gov/prod/www/statistical-abstract-02.html.

For further information about the Statistical Abstract, contact:
Glenn W. King
Chief
Statistical Compendia Branch
Administrative and Customer Services Division
U.S. Census Bureau
Washington DC 20233-0001
301-763-4176
glenn.w.king@census.gov

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Studies of the Child Welfare System

National Study of Child Protective Services Systems and Reform Efforts

The National Study of Child Protective Services Systems and Reform Efforts was sponsored by the Children's Bureau and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. The National Study was designed to describe the current status of the child protective services (CPS) system as well as reform efforts underway in selected States and counties. Acknowledging the state of change that currently exists within the field of CPS and the dynamic nature of the relationship between policy and practice, CPS systems were examined from three perspectives:

State policies and mandates that define CPS functions and specify how these functions are carried out;
Local CPS agency organization and practices; and
Innovative reform efforts that seek to restructure, redefine, or reformulate the purposes and functions of CPS.

The study resulted in four reportsLiterature Review, Review of State CPS Policy, Findings on Local CPS Practices, and A Summary Report. The reports are available on the Internet at http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/cps-status03/state-policy03/index.htm.

For further information regarding the National Study of Child Protective Services Systems and Reform Efforts, contact:
Laura Radel, M.P.P.
Senior Social Science Analyst
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, SW, Room 450-G
Washington, DC 20201
202-690-5938
laura.radel@hhs.gov

National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being

A 1996 Congressional mandate directed HHS to conduct a national study of children in the child welfare system or at risk of abuse or neglect. In response, the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families launched the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW).

The study examines child and family outcomes of well-being and seeks to link those outcomes to experiences with the child welfare system and the community environment. NSCAW collects data associated with more than 6,200 children from public child welfare agencies in a stratified random sample of 92 localities across the United States. Data collection began in 1999, with three waves of followup 12, 18, and 36 months later. Wave 4, the 36-month followup, is scheduled for completion March 2004.

Two reports on State and county-level child welfare services characteristics were issued and are available at http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/core/ongoing_research. General and restricted release versions of NSCAW Combined Waves 1-3 are available through the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect at Cornell University. The Web site for the archive is www.ndacan.cornell.edu.

The next report will focus on a subset of more than 700 children who were in foster care for one year. Information on the children was gathered from child welfare workers, foster care providers, and the children.

For additional information about the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, contact:
Mary Bruce Webb, Ph.D.
Office of Policy, Research and Evaluation
ACF/HHS
370 L'Enfant Promenade SW.
Washington, DC 20447
mbwebb@acf.hhs.gov

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Studies of Special Populations or Service Models

Comparison of Fatality and Nonfatality Victims in the NCANDS 2000 Case-Level Data

Using case-level data from NCANDS 2000, fatality and nonfatality cases were compared by child demographics and maltreatment types. A logistic regression model was developed to predict the likelihood of a child fatality. The model showed that infants and toddlers were more likely to die as the result of child maltreatment compared to older children.

Bivariate analyses indicated that more boys died than girls. Also, Hispanic children were overly represented in fatalities, but the logistic regression model revealed no differences in gender and Hispanic ethnicity in predicting the likelihood of a fatality. Although bivariate analyses indicated no differences between African-American and White children in the likelihood of dying, the logistic model predicted that African-American children were slightly more likely to suffer a fatality. These analyses were reported in the fall 2003 issue of The NDACAN Updata. Copies of the newsletter are located on the NDACAN Web site at www.ndacan.cornell.edu.

The research was conducted by Veronica Banks, M.P.H. For further information about these analyses, contact:
Elliott G. Smith, Ph.D.
Associate Director
National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect
Family Life Development Center-Surge Facility I
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
607-255-8104
egs1@cornell.edu

Law Enforcement Investigation Models Study

The goal of the Law Enforcement Investigation Models Study was to describe models of collaboration between CPS and law enforcement in response to child abuse and neglect. The two-part study was funded by the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation and was guided by the Center for Community Partnerships in Child Welfare.

The study resulted in two reports. The first, released April 2002, presented the results of a statutory and policy manual analysis. The report described three basic models of State-level collaboration between law enforcement and CPS in the United States. The second report, released June 2003, provided in-depth, site-specific analyses of the collaborative models for six sites.

For further information about the Law Enforcement Investigation Models Study, contact:
Jesse Rainey
American Humane
63 Inverness Drive East
Englewood, CO 80112
jesser@americanhumane.org

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Capacity Building Initiatives

National Indian Child Welfare Association

The National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA) is in the second year of a 3-year grant from the Children's Bureau to help American Indian communities develop a system for reporting incidents of child abuse and neglect.

During the first year of the grant, representatives from five tribal sites with support from NICWA staff, created culturally appropriate definitions of child abuse and neglect. The sites are as follows:

Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, Grand Ronde, Oregon;
Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs,Warm Springs, Oregon;
Muscogee Creek Nation, Okmulgee, Oklahoma;
Cherokee Nation, Tahlequah, Oklahoma; and
Kawerak, Inc., Nome, Alaska.

In addition, the NCANDS data elements were reviewed as candidates for the inclusion. During the last year of the project, trial reports will be collected at the tribal sites and sent electronically to NICWA and then to NCANDS, pending approval by the tribal government at each site. The effort will serve as a model for future data collection from American Indian and Alaska Native tribes.

For additional information regarding this project, contact:
Jody Becker-Green, M.S.W.
National Indian Child Welfare Association
5100 SW Macadam Avenue
Suite 300
Portland, OR 97239
503-222-4044 ext. 126
beckergreen@nicwa.org

Development of Uniform Definitions for Child Maltreatment Surveillance

In April 2003, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Division of Violence Prevention, brought together experts from Federal, non-Federal, and State agencies to discuss uniform definitions for public health surveillance of child maltreatment at the 14th National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect in St. Louis, Missouri.

Federal partners included representatives from the CDC, the Administration on Children and Families, and the National Institute for Child Health and Development. Non-Federal partners included experts on child maltreatment from Walter R. McDonald & Associates, Inc.; Prevent Child Abuse America; Westat, Inc.; and the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Oklahoma. State partners included representatives from such State health departments as California, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Michigan, and Missouri.

The meeting began with a description of the public health approach to child maltreatment surveillance and the available sources for child maltreatment data. Participants discussed definitions of child maltreatment and then broke into smaller groups to discuss specific case definitions for four subtypes of child maltreatmentphysical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and psychological maltreatment. The CDC plans to develop a set of uniform definitions for surveillance purposes. The definitions will be designed to encourage persons who already are collecting epidemiological data on injury through surveillance to include child maltreatment as part of their surveillance systems.

For additional information about this meeting, contact:
Ileana Arias, Ph.D.
Chief
Etiology and Surveillance Branch
Division of Violence Prevention
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Atlanta, GA 30333
770-488-1380
iarias@cdc.gov

Fostering Results

In June 2003, the Pew Charitable Trusts initiated support for the Children and Family Research Center (CFRC) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign through a grant to the University of Illinois Foundation. CFRC then launched Fostering Results. The project addresses Federal financing incentives that favor foster care services and seeks ways to improve court oversight of child welfare cases through a targeted public education and outreach campaign at the national level and in selected States.

Fostering Results engages such influential people as judges, child welfare directors, and advocates for foster, birth, and adoptive families. The Trusts and CFRC welcome additional partners to spearhead the efforts of this initiative.

For further information about Fostering Results, contact:
Mark Testa, Ph.D.
Director
Children and Family Research Center
2 North LaSalle Street, Suite 1700
Chicago, IL 60602
mtesta@uiuc.edu

Recurrence Rates for Child Maltreatment

The Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services, in collaboration with Walter R. McDonald & Associates, Inc., and the University of Texas, has developed interactive software that displays recurrence rates for child maltreatment in an online analytical processing environment. The software enables managers to view data from a number of perspectives. Also, additional data, such as client demographics, can be displayed by various units of analysis.

For further information about this interactive software, contact:
Donald Baumann, Jr., Ph.D.
Grant Team Leader
Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services
701 W. 51st Street
Austin, TX 78751
donald.baumann@tdprs.state.tx.us

National Working Group to Improve Child Welfare Data

The National Working Group to Improve Child Welfare Data comprises representatives from State child welfare agencies and is facilitated by the Child Welfare League of America. The National Working Group collaborates with researchers, other national organizations, and the Children's Bureau to address data quality and comparability between States.

The Group developed recommendations to the Children's Bureau in a report titled Making Information Work on Behalf of Children. Recommendations focused on three areas:

Data use for program improvement;
Improvements to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis System (AFCARS); and
Development of the next generation of outcomes.

The National Working Group has produced three reports on data comparabilityPlacement Stability and Out-of-Home Care Populations, Child Maltreatment in Foster Care, and Child Fatalities.

For further information about the National Working Group, contact:
Kristen Woodruff
National Working Group Project Manager
Child Welfare League of America
50 F Street NW, 6th Floor
Washington, DC 20001
Kristen@cwla.org

National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect

Through a cooperative agreement with the Children's Bureau, the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect (NDACAN) serves as the official repository for NCANDS data. NDACAN holds both the State-level, aggregate, cumulative files; and the case-level, individual, child files. Researchers are encouraged to use NCANDS data if they meet the archive's criteria for eligibility and terms of use.

Cumulative files contain aggregate numbers for all reporting States from 1990-2001. The data include counts of reports, victims, perpetrators, fatalities, caseworkers, and children who receive services. The data are particularly useful for State-level trend analyses. Case-level data from 1995-2000 are also available. Case-level child files enable researchers to investigate relationships among such multiple characteristics as maltreatment occurrence, type of victimization, child and caregiver characteristics, report source, and service delivery.

Because States must give permission for NDACAN to archive their data, data from some States are not available. The following table shows the number of States that submitted case-level data and have made the data available to the research community.

Year	Available State Case-Level Data Submissions
1995	10
1996	8
1997	9
1998	12
1999	14
2000	21

For further information about the data archive, contact:
Elliott G. Smith, Ph.D.
Associate Director
National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect
Family Life Development Center-Surge Facility I
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
607-255-8104
egs1@cornell.edu

Compendium of National Statistical Data Collections that Inform Juvenile Justice

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has funded the National Center for Juvenile Justice to develop The Compendium of National Statistical Data Collections That Inform Juvenile Justice. The NCANDS is among the first 10 data collections to be profiled. The profile includes information about such topics as funding source, sampling, data collection procedures, instrumentation, key variables, quality controls, periodicity, representativeness, data access, and publications.

For further information regarding The Compendium of National Statistical Data Collections That Inform Juvenile Justice, contact:
Carl McCurley, Ph.D.
Research Associate
National Center for Juvenile Justice
710 Fifth Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
mccurley@ncjj.org

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Suggestions for Further Research

Topics of interest for future research are suggested. Although far from comprehensive, these topics would be of interest to the field.

Additional Recurrence Research

To date, recurrence has been examined for 6-month periods. It would be of interest to examine recurrence for multiple years. Questions to consider are listed below.

What factors are predictive of a second investigation?
Which report sources are the most likely to be associated with a second investigation?
What factors are predictive of a repeated victimization?
Do services decrease subsequent investigations?
Do services decrease subsequent victimization?

Longitudinal Patterns of Child Maltreatment

Service data are collected through NCANDS, but remain relatively underexamined. While not all States provide complete service data, for those States that do provide complete service data, the questions listed below could be examined.

What services are most often provided to victims of maltreatment?
Do different service patterns exist between children who are first-time victims and children who are repeat victims?
Do service patterns vary within States according to county characteristics?

Perpetrators of Child Abuse and Neglect

While not designed as a data collection system for perpetrator data, the NCANDS Child File contains a significant amount of information about caregivers and perpetrators. The information includes demographics and risk factors that occur within the family. Questions to consider are listed below.

Are there different risk factors associated with male perpetrators compared to female perpetrators?
Are there different risk factors associated with perpetrators of different types of maltreatment?
Are there different risk factors associated with perpetrators of victims of different ages?

Opportunities for presenting these and other findings occur each year at the annual National Child Welfare conference sponsored by the Children's Bureau.

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