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Home > Statistics & Research > Child Maltreatment Report 1997 > Section 5

 

 

Some of the children referred to CPS agencies received services in addition to investigation or assessment. Some were directed to community services for counseling or advice; others received on-going child welfare services.

Because different information systems address child protective services, foster care services, in-home services, and court services, data on post-investigative services have been difficult to collect. With the recent development of more comprehensive child welfare information systems, data on service provision are expected to improve. However, significant gaps in this information remain and will need to be addressed in coming years. In this section, currently available service data are presented and discussed.

5.1 Children Who Received Services (SDC)
Thirty-two States reported that 321,962 child victims (49.1 percent) received post-investigative services, including in-home services, family preservation services, counseling, parent training, and foster care (appendix E, table E–7). Sixteen States reported that an additional 85,155 children who had unsubstantiated reports received post-investigative services. This represents 17.9 percent of children with unsubstantiated reports (appendix E, table E–8). It is likely that additional children received post-investigative services. The quantity or quality of these services cannot be determined.

Based on data from 10 States, post-investigative services were provided on average (weighted) 56.0 days after CPS received the maltreatment report (appendix E, table E–9).

5.2 Post-Investigation Services by Type of Maltreatment
and Age of Victims (DCDC)
According to case-level data from 16 States, 164,962 child victims (53.4 percent) received services. In the DCDC, a victim is counted as having received services if the services occurred during an investigation or assessment and continued after the investigation was completed or if the services were initiated as a result of the investigation. To link services to specific investigations, only services that were initiated within 90 days of a report disposition date are included.

The proportion of victims receiving services did not vary greatly by type of maltreatment. It ranged from 41.4 percent (46,021) of psychological abuse victims to 55.0 percent (72,725) of neglect victims (table 5–1). However, 59.3 percent (28,735) of children suffering more than one maltreatment in the same report received post-investigation services.

Services provided to child victims did not vary greatly by age of victim. More than half of victims younger than 4 years old (48,619 or 57.0 percent) and victims older than 11 years old (38,552 or 54.1 percent) received services (table 5–2).

Table 5–1 Type of Maltreatment by Receipt of Post-Investigation Services (DCDC)

Maltreatment		Post-Investigation Services		Total
		Yes	No or Unknown
Physical Abuse	Count	24,930	23,953	48,883
	% within Maltreatment	51.0%	49.0%	100.0%
	% within Post-Investigation Services	15.1%	16.7%	15.8%
Neglect	Count	72,725	59,497	132,222
	% within Maltreatment	55.0%	45.0%	100.0%
	% within Post-Investigation Services	44.1%	41.4%	42.8%
Medical Neglect	Count	3,208	2,824	6,032
	% within Maltreatment	53.2%	46.8%	100.0%
	% within Post-Investigation Services	1.9%	2.0%	2.0%
Sexual Abuse	Count	12,238	10,239	22,477
	% within Maltreatment	54.4%	45.6%	100.0%
	% within Post-Investigation Services	7.4%	7.1%	7.3%
Psychological Abuse	Count	4,602	6,502	11,104
	% within Maltreatment	41.4%	58.6%	100.0%
	% within Post-Investigation Services	2.8%	4.5%	3.6%
Other Abuse	Count	18,524	20,988	39,512
	% within Maltreatment	46.9%	53.1%	100.0%
	% within Post-Investigation Services	11.2%	14.6%	12.8%
Multiple Maltreatments	Count	28,735	19,756	48,491
	% within Maltreatment	59.3%	40.7%	100.0%
	% within Post-Investigation Services	17.4%	13.7%	15.7%
Total	Count	164,962	143,759	308,721
	% within Maltreatment	53.4%	46.6%	100.0%
	% within Post-Investigation Services	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

5.3 Children Removed From the Home and Related Court Actions (SDC)
Thirty-one States reported that 109,776 child victims (16.1 percent) were placed in foster care to protect them from further maltreatment (appendix E, table E–10).Fourteen of these 31 States reported that an additional 12,054 children who were not victims (2.0 percent of children with unsubstantiated reports) were placed in foster care (appendix E, table E–11). Some of these placements might have occurred during the investigation of a report that was subsequently determined to be unsubstantiated.

Twenty-six States reported that court actions were initiated for 75,187 maltreatment victims (19.2 percent) (appendix E, table E–12). Court actions may have included States’ filing for temporary custody of the victim, filing for guardianship, or filing a dependency petition. Some States have a legal requirement that the court appoint a representative for every victim for whom court action is taken. In 12 States, 92.6 percent of victims who received court actions had a court-appointed representative.

Only two States reported the average number of out-of-court contacts between the court-appointed representatives and the child victims. The average numbers of contacts for the two States were five and one.

Table 5–2 Victim Age by Receipt of Post-Investigation Services (DCDC)

Child Age		Post-Investigation Services		Total
		Yes	No or Unknown
0-3	Count	48,619	36,729	85,348
	% within Child Age	57.0%	43.0%	100.0%
	% within Post-Investigation Services	29.1%	25.9%	27.6%
4-7	Count	44,386	40,249	84,635
	% within Child Age	52.4%	47.6%	100.0%
	% within Post-Investigation Services	26.5%	28.4%	27.4%
8-11	Count	35,736	31,993	67,729
	% within Child Age	52.8%	47.2%	100.0%
	% within Post-Investigation Services	21.4%	22.6%	21.9%
12-15	Count	30,588	25,570	56,158
	% within Child Age	54.5%	45.5%	100.0%
	% within Post-Investigation Services	18.3%	18.0%	18.2%
16+	Count	7,964	7,188	15,152
	% within Child Age	52.6%	47.4%	100.0%
	% within Post-Investigation Services	4.8%	5.1%	4.9%
Total	Count	167,293	141,729	309,022
	% within Child Age	54.1%	45.9%	100.0%
	% within Post-Investigation Services	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

5.4 Children Who Did Not Receive Services (SDC)
Twenty-eight States reported that 177,686 child victims (39.6 percent) did not receive services from a CPS agency (appendix E, table E–13). Because some non-victims received child protective services and some victims did not receive services, the provision of service could have been influenced by the severity of the maltreatment,court orders, a family’s willingness to receive non-mandated services, or service availability.