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Chapter 6
Services
Child Maltreatment 2007

Child protective services (CPS) agencies provide services to prevent future instances of child abuse and neglect and to remedy conditions that have come to the attention of child welfare agencies. The two categories of CPS services are described below.

• Preventive services are provided to parents whose children are at risk of abuse or neglect.¹ These services are designed to increase the understanding of parents and other caregivers of the developmental stages of childhood and to improve their child-rearing competencies. Examples of preventive services include respite care, parenting education, housing assistance, substance abuse treatment, daycare, and individual and family counseling.
• Postinvestigation services are offered on a voluntary basis by child welfare agencies or ordered by the courts to ensure the safety of children.² These services address the safety of the child and usually are based on an assessment of the family's strengths, weaknesses, and needs. Examples of postinvestigation services include individual counseling, family-based services (services provided to the entire family, such as counseling or family support), in-home services, foster care services, and court services.

During Federal fiscal year (FFY) 2007:

• An estimated 3.8 million children received preventive services;
• Nearly 42 percent of victims received in-home postinvestigation services; and
• An estimated 271,000 children received foster care services as a result of investigations or assessments.

This chapter presents information about children who received preventive and postinvestigation services.

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Preventive Services

For FFY 2007, 50.2 children per 1,000 children in the population received preventive services. This results in a national estimate of approximately 3.8 million children.³ During 2006, it was determined that 50.7 children per 1,000 children or approximately 3.8 million children received preventive services. While the 2007 estimate of 3.8 children receiving preventive services is consistent with 2006, it is a significant increase from 2005, due, in part, to improved data collection and a change in estimating methodology.

Beginning in 2006, State counts of both families and children who received preventive services were used for the national estimate; prior to 2006 only the counts of children were used.⁴,⁵ Some States are able to report the number of families who received services funded by a specific funding source, but are not able to report the number of children.

States and local agencies determine who will receive preventive services, what services will be offered, and how the services will be provided. Preventive services were funded by the following Federal program, as well as by State-funded programs.

• Section 106 of title I of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), as amended [42 U.S.C. 5106 et seq.]—The Child Abuse and Neglect State Grant (Basic State Grant) pro vides funds to States to improve CPS systems. The grant serves as a catalyst to assist States in screening and investigating child abuse and neglect reports, creating and improving the use of multidisciplinary teams to enhance investigations, improving risk and safety assessment protocols, training CPS workers and mandated reporters, and improving services to infants disabled with life-threatening conditions.
• Title II of CAPTA, as amended [42 U.S.C. 5116 et seq.]—The Community-Based Grants for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect assist each State to support community-based efforts to develop, operate, expand, enhance, and network initiatives aimed at preventing child abuse and neglect; support networks of coordinated resources and activities to strengthen and support families; and foster appreciation of diverse populations.
• Title IV–B, Subpart 2, Section 430, of the Social Security Act, as amended Promoting Safe and Stable Families [42.U.S.C. 629 et seq.]—This legislation has the goal of keeping families together by funding such services as preventive intervention so that children do not have to be removed from their homes, services to develop alternative placements if children cannot remain safely in the home, and reunification services to enable children to return to their homes, if appropriate.
• Title XX of the Social Security Act, Social Services Block Grant (SSBG), [42. U.S.C. 1397 et seq.]—Under this grant, States may use funds for such preventive services as child daycare, child protective services, information and referral, counseling, and foster care, as well as other services that meet the goal of preventing or remedying neglect, abuse, or exploitation of children.

Some States were able to estimate the number of child recipients of services by funding source. Approximately 31 percent (31.1%) of children received preventive services funded by Promoting Safe and Stable Families grants, and nearly 20 percent (19.3%) were funded by the Social Services Block Grant.⁶ The Child Abuse and Neglect Basic State Grant and the Community-Based Grants for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect provided preventive services for 3.5 percent and 16.9 percent of children, respectively. Nearly 30 percent (29.2%) of children received services that were paid with "other" sources, including other Federal and State programs.

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Postinvestigation Services

More than three-quarters of States have policies requiring workers to provide short-term services, if needed, during an investigation. A similar percentage of States require workers to assist with planning ongoing services.⁷ During FFY 2007, a total of 1,046,179 children received postinvestigation services. With a few exceptions, the State data on the average number of days to the provision of services fall within the timeframe allowed for an investigation or shortly thereafter. The average time from the start of investigation to provision of service was 40 days.⁸

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In-Home Services

In-home services are those activities provided to individuals or families to assist with household care that improve or maintain the family's well-being. These activities may include home maintenance and household chores. Nearly 42 percent (41.9%) of child victims received in-home postinvestigation services. Of the children who were not found to be victims of maltreatment, 27.6 percent of children received such services. These data result in national estimates of 333,000 victims and 757,000 nonvictims who received in-home services.⁹

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Children Who Were Removed From Home

Children may be removed from their homes during or after an investigation. Some children who are removed on an emergency basis spend a short time in foster care, while others spend a longer time. Nationally, it is estimated that 269,000 children were removed from their homes as a result of a child maltreatment investigation.¹⁰ Approximately one-fifth of victims (20.7%) were placed in foster care as a result of an investigation compared to 21.5 percent for FFY 2006.¹¹ Although the national percentage of victims who were removed from home or received foster care services at the time of the investigation is 20.7 percent, several States reported more than 40 percent of victims received foster care services.¹² In addition, 3.8 percent of nonvictims experienced removal.

More than two-thirds (69.2%) of the victims who were removed from their homes suffered from neglect, 8.6 percent from physical abuse, 3.2 percent from sexual abuse, and 14.3 percent from multiple types of maltreatment.¹³

Court-appointed representatives were assigned to 14.6 percent of child victims.¹⁴ This number is understood within the context of two other statistics—States report that 19.0 percent of victims were the subject of court proceedings and 20.7 percent were placed in foster care as a result of an investigation. Given the statutory requirement in CAPTA, "in every case involving an abused or neglected child which results in a judicial proceeding, a Guardian ad Litem…who may be an attorney or a court-appointed special advocate…shall be appointed to represent the child in such proceedings," many States are working to improve the reporting of the court-appointed representative data element. Nearly one-fourth of child victims (23.1%) received family preservation services and 6.2 percent received family reunification services within the previous 5 years.¹⁵

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Tables and Notes

The following pages contain the tables referenced in Chapter 6. Unless otherwise explained, a blank indicates that the State did not submit usable data. Specific information about State submissions can be found in appendix D. Additional information regarding methodologies used during table creation is provided below.

Table 6-1

• The total number of recipients of preventive services is computed by multiplying the number of families receiving services by 1.86 and adding this to the number of children receiving preventive services.

Table 6-2

• The total number of recipients of preventive services by funding source is computed by multi plying the number of families receiving services under each funding source by 1.86 and adding this to the number of children receiving preventive services under each funding source.

Table 6-3

• The average number of days to services was calculated by subtracting the report date from the service date for each report and calculating the average for each State. The State average was rounded to a whole day. The State averages were summed and the total (1,650) was divided by the number of States that reported these data (41). The result was rounded to a whole day.
• States with an average of less than one day to the onset of services are represented with a zero.

Table 6-4

• Total percentages were calculated by dividing the total number of victims or nonvictims who received in-home postinvestigation services by the total number of victims or nonvictims and multiplying by 100 for only those States that reported services data excluding foster care services.

Table 6-5

• Total percentages were calculated by dividing the total number of victims or nonvictims who were removed from the home by the total number of victims or nonvictims and multiplying by 100 only for those States reporting foster care.

Table 6-6

• The categories neglect and medical neglect are displayed separately. In prior years' reports these categories were combined and displayed as neglect.
• The categories psychological maltreatment, "other," and unknown are displayed separately. In prior years' reports these categories were combined.

Table 6-7

• Total percentages were calculated by dividing the total number of victims who received family preservation services or family reunification services by the total number of victims for only those States that reported data for each category and multiplying by 100.

Table 6-8

• The category of in-home services does not include children with foster care services.
• Logistic regression models associate the contribution of the values within a factor to the outcome of interest (in this case postinvestigation services, in-home services, and foster care placement). Odds ratios indicate the likelihood, relative to the reference group, of the outcome occurring. Odds ratios greater than 1.00 indicate an increased likelihood of occurrence (e.g., victims of prior abuse or neglect were 42 percent more likely than children with no history of prior abuse or neglect to receive postinvestigation services). Odds ratios less than 1.00 indicate a decreased likelihood of occurrence (e.g., victims who were age 16 or older were 48 percent less likely than children younger than 1 year old to receive postinvestigation services).
• The category neglect includes medical neglect.

Chapter 6: Tables

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Footnotes

¹ States are not limited to reporting only those children who received an investigation by a CPS agency. back
² Data about postinvestigation services are collected via the Child File or the SDC. States are asked to report only those
children who received services by the CPS agency within 90 days of the disposition date. back
³ Thirty-eight States reported that 3,051,099 children received preventive services at a rate of 50.2 per 1,000 children. Preventive services include those services provided to families who were not the subject of a referral to CPS. When this rate (50.2) is applied to the national population of 74,904,677, it is estimated that 3,760,215 children received preventive services. Supporting data are provided in table 6–1, which is located at the end of this chapter. back
⁴ The number of families who received preventive services was multiplied by the average number of children per family
(1.86) and added to the reported number of children to obtain the total number of children who received services in
each State prior to estimating the national number. back
⁵ The average number of children per family retrieved October 2007, from http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/hh-fam/tabST-F1-2000.pdf. back
⁶ See table 6-2. back
⁷ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Administration for Children and Families/Children's Bureau and Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. [HHS/ACF and OASPE] National Study of Child Protective Services Systems and Reform Efforts: Review of State CPS Policy. (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2003). back
⁸ See table 6-3. back
⁹ See table 6-4. A national estimate of 333,000 victims who received in-home postinvestigation services was calculated by multiplying the national estimate of victims (794,000) by the percentage of child victims who received in-home postinvestigation services for the 42 States that reported victim in-home postinvestigation data (41.9%) and dividing by 100. The resulting number was rounded to the nearest 1,000. A national estimate of 757,000 nonvictims who received in-home postinvestigation services was calculated by multiplying the national estimate of nonvictims (2,742,000) by the percentage of child nonvictims who received in-home postinvestigation services for the 42 States that reported nonvictim postinvestigation data (27.6%) and dividing by 100. The resulting number was rounded to the nearest 1,000. back
¹⁰ The national estimate of 269,000 children who were removed from their home was calculated by multiplying the national estimate of victims (794,000) by 20.7 and multiplying the national estimate of nonvictims (2,742,000) by 3.8, adding the resulting two numbers, dividing by 100, and rounding to the nearest 1,000. back
¹¹ See table 6-5. back
¹² These States are California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming. back
¹³ See table 6-6. back
¹⁴ See table 6-7. back
¹⁵ See table 6-8. back

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