Chapter 7: Additional Research Related to Child Maltreatment

Chapter 7
Additional Research Related to Child Maltreatment
Child Maltreatment 2005

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 other organizations have sponsored these studies. Ideas and suggestions for future research also are included.

Reports On Key Indicators, Outcomes, And National Statistics

Child Welfare Outcomes
The Children's Bureau published Child Welfare Outcomes 2003: Annual Report, the sixth annual report in the series. The report contains information, by State, on key child maltreatment indicators, including the two measures of reducing recurrence of child abuse and neglect, and reducing the incidence of child abuse and neglect in foster care. These measures, as reported in the 2003 annual report, are as follows:

"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, were based on data submitted to NCANDS. The report also contains data on foster care and adoption and information derived from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) as well as from the Child and Family Services Reviews. This report is available on the Children's Bureau Web site at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/index.htm.

For further information about Child Welfare Outcomes 2003: Annual Report, contact:
Sharon Newburg-Rinn, Ph.D.
Social Science Research Analyst
Children's Bureau/ACYF/ACF
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Portals Building
1250 Maryland Avenue, Room 8378
Washington, DC 20024
202-205-0749
snewburg-rinn@acf.hhs.gov

America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being
This annual report is a compendium of indicators drawn from the most reliable official statistics that illustrates both the promises and the difficulties confronting young people. The report is a product of collaboration among 22 federal agencies that form the Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics. For the first time, America's Children, 2007 will present an indicator on child maltreatment using data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS).

The Forum publishes a more detailed report in odd years and alternates with a condensed version, America's Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, that highlights selected indicators in even-numbered years. The report can be found online at http://www.childstats.gov.

For further information about America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, contact:
Shara Godiwalla
Forum Director
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Health Statistics
3311 Toledo Rd., Room 6114
Hyattsville, Maryland 20782
(301) 458-4256
buh7@cdc.gov

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 2006 edition of the Statistical Abstract was published and is available on CD-ROM. An online version is available at http://www.census.gov/prod/www/statistical-abstract.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

Return to Table of Contents

Studies of the Characteristics of Children in the Child Welfare System

National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being
The National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW) is a nationally representative, longitudinal survey that focuses on the well-being of children who have encountered the child welfare system.

The NSCAW core sample of 5,501 children represents all children who were investigated for child maltreatment during the 15-month baseline data collection period, which began in October 1999. Children were included whether or not they were found to be victims of maltreatment and whether or not they received child welfare services as a result of the investigation.
A second sample of more than 727 children represents all children who had been in foster care for about 1 year during the same period.

Direct interviews and assessments were conducted with the children, their caregivers, caseworkers, and teachers, at baseline and again at 18 months and 36 months after a child protective services (CPS) investigation. A 12-month postbaseline followup with caregivers and caseworkers focused on services received during the year after the investigation. More than 80 percent of the children and families interviewed at baseline participated in the 36-month followup interviews.

The NSCAW data sets represent an important resource for researchers interested in child maltreatment, child welfare, child development, and services to high-risk children and families. Information is available on children's health; development; social, emotional, and cognitive functioning; and both children's and caregivers' service needs and service utilization. Contextual information is provided about the children's household characteristics, as well as the child welfare service system.

Data collection has been completed through the 36-month followup. Funding has been continued through 2010, and fieldwork is under way to conduct a followup at approximately 6 years post-baseline. The most recently released report is titled National Study of Child and Adolescent Wellbeing—CPS Sample Component: Wave 1 Data Analysis Report. It is available on the Internet at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/abuse_neglect/nscaw/reports/cps_sample/cps_report_revised_090105.pdf

The data from NSCAW are available to researchers through licensing agreements from the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect (NDACAN) at Cornell University. For more information on accessing the NSCAW data sets, please see http://www.ndacan.cornell.edu.

More information about NSCAW methods and measures, as well as available reports, can be found at: http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/opre/abuse_neglect/nscaw/index.html

For additional information about the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, contact:
Mary Bruce Webb, Ph.D.
Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation/ACF
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
370 L'Enfant Promenade SW
Washington, DC 20447
202-205-8628
mbwebb@acf.hhs.gov

Fourth National Incidence Study (NIS-4)
HHS is conducting the Fourth National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS-4). NIS-4 will measure the incidence and prevalence of child maltreatment by a wide array of demographic characteristics. Like its predecessors, NIS-4 is a Congressionally mandated study. It was mandated by the Keeping Children and Families Safe Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-36). NIS-4 aims to estimate the current national incidence, severity, and demographic distribution of child maltreatment based on standardized research definitions and to assess changes since the previous NIS data were collected. DHHS is conducting NIS-4 through a contract with Westat, a national social science research firm that also conducted all three previous NIS cycles. Assisting Westat with the study planning and CPS recruitment and data analysis is Walter R. McDonald & Associates, Inc. (WRMA).

Earlier research has shown that many more children are abused and neglected in a community than are observed at any single agency. To develop a comprehensive picture of the extent of child abuse and neglect, NIS-4 will pull together data from a number of agency sources in each study county. The NIS estimates will begin with data from the local CPS agency concerning the reports they receive and accept for investigation during the study reference period. Building on this foundation, the NIS estimates will also incorporate data on abused and neglected children who are seen by professionals in a number of other community agencies, including the county public health, public housing, juvenile probation departments, and the sheriff or State police.

Data also will be gathered from scientifically selected samples of other agencies, including voluntary social service and mental health agencies, municipal police departments, schools, hospitals, daycare centers, and shelters for runaway youth and battered women. Designated professionals in the selected community agencies will be asked to serve as study "sentinels" by staying on the lookout for children who are abused or neglected during the study period and by providing descriptive information on the cases they encounter.

Data collection will occur in two phases in a nationally representative sample of 122 counties. These counties have been selected using scientific sampling procedures that ensure the necessary mix of geographic regions, urban and rural areas, and other major community characteristics.

More information about the study and its progress is available at http://www.nis4.org.
For additional information about the Fourth National Incidence Study, contact:
Maria Woolverton
Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation
Administration for Children and Families
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW
Washington, DC 20447
202-205-4039
maria.woolverton@acf.hhs.gov

National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS)
During 2003, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention established the National Violent Death Reporting System for the collection of detailed information regarding violent deaths. NVDRS is a State-based system that collects information about all homicides, suicides, deaths of undetermined intent, deaths resulting from legal intervention, and deaths from unintentional firearm injuries.

A report was published using preliminary 2003 data from six States and comparing these data to data from the National Vital Statistics System for years 1993-2002. The findings indicate a substantial increase in homicide rates among young males from 2002 to 2003 and substantial increases in both homicide and suicide rates among males from 2000 to 2003. Although only 6 States began collecting these data during 2003, NVDRS is funding programs in an additional 11 States.

For additional information regarding the National Violent Death Reporting System, contact:
CDC-INFO Contact Center
1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636)
cdcinfo@cdc.gov
www.cdc.gov

Child Maltreatment in Military Families
Two papers have examined child maltreatment in military families. The first, Occurrence of Child Maltreatment in Military and Non-military Families, analyzes child maltreatment data in military and nonmilitary populations from NCANDS for the years 2000 through 2002. Performing child- and perpetrator-focused analyses enabled the identification of risk factors, which may help military service providers tailor preventive efforts to the groups who are the most at risk for experiencing and perpetrating child maltreatment. Because children in military and nonmilitary families most often experienced neglect, service providers are encouraged to look beyond physical signs of maltreatment. Future studies should explore maltreatment in various military branches and include data on inactive duty military families such as the National Guard.

The second paper, Effect of Deployment on the Occurrence of Child Maltreatment in Military and Non-military Families, analyzes child maltreatment data from NCANDS using 2000 through 2003 to examine changes in the occurrence of child maltreatment in military and nonmilitary families over time and the impact of recent deployment increases. The rate of occurrence of substantiated maltreatment in military families was twice as high in the period after October 2002 (the 1-year anniversary of the September 11th attacks) compared to the period prior to that date. Among military personnel with at least one dependent, the rate of child maltreatment increased by approximately 30 percent for each 1 percent increase in the percentage of active duty personnel departing to or returning from operation-related deployment. These findings indicate that both departures to and returns from operational deployment impose stress on military families and are likely to increase the rate of child maltreatment.

For additional information regarding either paper, contact:
E. Danielle Rentz
Department of Epidemiology
University of North Carolina School of Public Health
rentz@email.unc.edu

Return to Table of Contents

Capacity-Building Initiatives

The National Resource Center for Child Welfare Data and Technology
The National Resource Center for Child Welfare Data and Technology (NRC-CWDT) is a service of the Children's Bureau that provides a broad range of technical assistance to State and Tribal child welfare agencies and the courts about data and systems issues to improve outcomes for children and families.

The Center helps States, Tribes, and courts improve the quality of data collected, build the capacity to use the information for decisionmaking in daily practice, and develop or improve case management and data collection systems, including Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information Systems (SACWIS). The NRC-CWDT provides technical assistance to States to help improve the quality of data reported to the Federal government in the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) and the NCANDS. The Center also provides technical assistance during the Child and Family Services Reviews process and on other Federal, State, and local legislative requirements, policies, and initiatives. NRC-CWDT coordinates the data conference sponsored by the Children's Bureau, usually held on an annual basis. Additional dissemination of information and promising practices can be found at www.nrccwdt.org.

For further information about the NRC-CWDT contact:
Lynda Arnold
Director
440 First St. NW, Third Floor
Washington, DC 20001-1530
405-621-2999
larnold@cwla.org

The Family Violence and Trauma Research Project
The Family Violence and Trauma Research Project is part of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress of the Department of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences located in Bethesda, Maryland. The project conducts research on the causes, effects, and outcomes of family violence concerning members of the United States Army and their families.

The U.S. Army Community and Family Support Center initiated this project in 1995 to determine the rates of child abuse and neglect and spouse abuse in the Army through analyses of the Army Central Registry, a database of substantiated cases of child and spouse maltreatment. The project has published numerous scientific articles about the rates and severity of child maltreatment, comparisons of military and civilian maltreatment data, and the effects of military deployment on domestic violence. Some of those references are provided here.

McCarroll JE, Ursano RJ, Fan Z, & Newby JH. (2004). Classification of the severity of U.S. Army and civilian reports of child maltreatment. Military Medicine, 169, 461-464.

McCarroll JE, Fan Z, Ursano RJ, & Newby JH. (2004). Patterns of spouse and child maltreatment by discharged U.S. Army soldiers. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 32, 53-62.

McCarroll JE, Ursano RJ, Fan Z, & Newby JN. (2004). Comparison of U.S. Army and civilian substantiated reports of child maltreatment. Child Maltreatment, 9, 103-110.

The inititative also publishes the Joining Forces Joining Families quarterly newletter on family advocacy program research in order to further the development of such research in the Army. This newsletter is widely distributed to U.S. military organizations and other government and academic institutions with an interest in family advocacy research. The newsletter authors welcome guest writers and seek new subscribers to the newsletter. The newsletter and additional information on the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress can be found at the Center's Web site http://www.centerforthestudyoftraumaticstress.org/research.family.shtml.

For further information about the National Working Group, contact:
James E. McCarroll, Ph.D.
Department of Psychiatry
Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress
University School of Medicine
4301 Jones Bridge Road
Bethesda, MD 20814
301-319-8003

Community-Based Grants for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (CBCAP)
The CBCAP program provides funding to States for the purposes of:

Supporting community-based efforts to develop, operate, expand, enhance, and where appropriate, to network initiatives aimed at the prevention of child abuse and neglect;
Supporting networks of coordinated resources and activities to better strengthen and support families to reduce the likelihood of child abuse and neglect; and
Fostering understanding, appreciation, and knowledge of diverse populations in order to effectively prevent and treat child abuse and neglect.

It is estimated that CBCAP programs serve more than 184,000 families and more than half a million children every year. This number does not include the hundreds of thousands of State residents who benefit from the child abuse prevention public awareness and education activities carried out by lead agencies every year.

CBCAP Conceptual Framework

For further information regarding the CBCAP program, contact:
Melissa Brodowski, M.S.W./M.P.H.
Office on Child Abuse and Neglect
Children's Bureau, ACYF, ACF, HHS
1250 Maryland Ave., SW
8th Floor #8127
Washington, DC 20024
202-205-2629
melissa.brodowski@acf.hhs.gov

Return to Table of Contents

Suggestions For Future Research

Researchers interested in using the NCANDS data can apply to the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect for access to various data files. A description of the National Data Archive is provided below, as well as some suggestions of topics of potential interest for future research. Although far from comprehensive, these topics are of interest to the field.

National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect
Housed in the Family Life Development Center at Cornell University, the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect (NDACAN) has been established by the Children's Bureau to encourage scholars to use existing child maltreatment data sources in their research. NDACAN acquires data sets from various national data collection efforts and from individual researchers, prepares the data and documentation for secondary analysis, and disseminates the data sets to researchers who have been licensed to use the data.

The Archive seeks to operate as more than a repository of data by providing resources and technical assistance that contribute to the field. In addition to assisting individual researchers as they work with the data, NDACAN also provides many opportunities for scholarly exchange. For example, NDACAN maintains an active electronic mailing list for discussing a range of research issues. NDACAN also is well known for its annual Summer Research Institute. The Institute brings together a group of researchers who are working on projects using Archive data. During the week, participants consult with experts and attend colloquia designed to further progress on their projects. Group computing sessions provide ample opportunity for participants to conduct their analyses and to work together to resolve questions. Through these and other activities, NDACAN serves as a valuable resource to the research community. Information regarding the Archive, its services, and data holdings can be found on the Internet at http://www.ndacan.cornell.edu.

The Archive serves as the official repository of NCANDS data, providing access to both the State-level and case-level data components. Key NCANDS indicators are available at the State-level in the Summary Data Component (SDC) and the Combined Aggregate File (CAF) data files, which are available to researchers for every year since 1990.

Beginning with the 2000 data year, the Archive—in collaboration with the Children's Bureau, the NCANDS Technical Team, and NCANDS State representatives—adopted a new data release plan for the case-level Child File that strikes a balance between protecting the confidentiality of the data and preserving the utility of the Child File as a research data set. By increasing the contractual responsibilities of researchers wishing to use the Child File data and instituting additional oversight of licensees, the Archive was able to implement a targeted set of confidentiality modifications to the data, focused primarily on elements involving race and Hispanic ethnicity, geography, and dates. This new approach enables the Archive to release comprehensive case-level NCANDS data sets. Data from all States that submitted data using the Child File are available through the Archive starting with data submission year 2004.

For more information about access to NDACAN, researchers may contact:
John Eckenrode, Ph.D.
Director
National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect
Family Life Development Center—Beebe Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
607-255-7799
jje1@cornell.edu

Child Fatalities
While fatalities due to child abuse or neglect are not frequent, nevertheless they are egregious events. CPS agencies work to prevent child abuse fatalities to the extent possible and to learn about the factors that might help identify potential risk of death based on data collected about fatalities. The national collection of data on child fatalities is complicated by the many steps that are needed to establish the cause of death. While Child Fatality Review Teams help with such determinations, they are not implemented in every community, nor do they have the resources to review each suspicious death of a child or adolescent. Many topics for further research exist, some of which could be addressed by further analysis of NCANDS data, while others would require access to other sources of fatality data, such as vital statistics or justice databases. Some questions of interest include:

Can ecological factors be separated from individual family factors in assessing the cause of death?
Are there better ways of estimating the total count of fatalities?
What suggestions can be made for improving national reporting of child fatality data?

Repeated Child Maltreatment
Once children come to the attention of CPS, the expectation is that they will be served and that efforts will be successful in reducing the risk for future maltreatment. If the period for which children are followed is too short, the data may be influenced by additional findings that are made before or during early stages of service provision. If one wants to follow children for a long period, they may no longer be in the administrative data of the agency. While national surveys address this topic, the results from such studies cannot easily be applied to local practice and improvement of services. Additional research at the local level is needed to improve the data that are available and to suggest practices that could reduce repeated maltreatment. Some research questions include the following:

What is the incidence of repeated maltreatment, once a child comes to the attention of CPS, during a period of 2 to 5 years?
What are the differences in risk related to such factors as age, gender, or type of maltreatment?
What practices of local agencies help to reduce the rates of repeated maltreatment?

Return to Table of Contents