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Abstract
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There is considerable evidence child maltreatment is associated with significant short- and long-term negative outcomes
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Protecting children from maltreatment should be a clear priority, and there is substantial opportunity for making improvements in child protective services (CPS) to better serve those who they are tasked with protecting. Making progress in this effort requires a closer inspection of the processes in place to identify those children in danger of being harmed and of the potential effectiveness of the current system. Kim and Drake's JAACAP paper examined CPS records to create U.S. estimates for child maltreatment onset and recurrence for children from birth to age 11 years 2
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Over one-third of children are estimated to have a report "screened-in" for investigation or assessment by CPS, and after an initial report is made regarding a child, the probability of a subsequent report is nearly 1 in 2. This alarming rate of maltreatment recurrence points to potential areas for improvement.
Language: en |