Citation

Victor BG, Grogan-Kaylor A, Ryan JP, Perron BE, Gilbert TT. Child Abuse Negl. 2018; 79: 31-41.

Affiliation

School of Social Work, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, 1080 South University Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, United States.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.01.030

PMID

29407854

Abstract

Families that experience domestic violence and parental substance misuse are disproportionately involved with the child welfare system. Prior research suggests that child protective services (CPS) caseworkers are more likely to substantiate maltreatment allegations when domestic violence and parental substance misuse are identified during the investigation, pointing to one possible mechanism for this disproportionate involvement. While previous studies have relied on nationally representative data sets, the current study used administrative records from a large Midwestern child welfare agency that accounts for state-level variation in child welfare policy and practice. A total of 501,060 substantiation decisions made between 2009 and 2013 were examined to assess the influence of caseworker-perceived domestic violence and parental substance misuse on the decision to substantiate reported maltreatment.

RESULTS from multilevel modeling suggest that the identification of domestic violence and parental substance misuse during an investigation significantly increased the probability that an allegation would be substantiated. The implication of these findings for child welfare practice are considered in light of the fact that many child welfare agencies do not consider exposure to domestic violence and parental substance misuse in and of themselves to constitute child maltreatment.

Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Child welfare decision-making; Child welfare policy; Drugs and alcohol; Intimate partner violence; Substantiation outcomes