Domestic violence as child maltreatment: Differential risks and outcomes among cases referred to child welfare agencies for domestic violence exposure☆

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.12.017Get rights and content

Highlights

  • •

    Assessed risk in CPS cases referred for domestic violence is related to whether DV is the sole allegation or concurrent with other allegations.

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    Cases referred for DV have significantly higher rates of substantiation than cases referred for other maltreatment types.

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    Higher rates of substantiation for DV-referred cases do not translate to higher rates of service provision or out-of-home placement.

Abstract

As awareness has grown regarding the co-occurrence of domestic violence and child maltreatment and the potential deleterious outcomes associated with children's exposure to domestic violence, some public child welfare agencies are expanding their reach to include domestic violence as a form of maltreatment warranting protective intervention. Using nationally representative survey data, this study examines differential characteristics, risks, and outcomes of cases referred to child welfare agencies for domestic violence compared to cases referred for other allegations. Results indicate that child welfare cases alleging domestic violence as a maltreatment allegation have unique profiles of risk, demographics, and outcomes that distinguish them from cases alleging other maltreatment types. In the aggregate, cases reported for domestic violence have higher likelihood of substantiation than other cases, but are no more likely to receive child welfare services, and are less likely to result in out-of-home placement. These findings suggest that for many cases that come to the attention of child welfare agencies due to child domestic violence exposure, substantiated findings of maltreatment do not result in more intensive CPS interventions. Findings from this study suggest that some lower-risk cases reported to child welfare agencies for domestic violence exposure could be appropriately targeted for alternative, non-investigative service approaches.

Section snippets

Introduction: child welfare and domestic violence

Recent decades have seen a shift in the child welfare system's response to domestic violence. Child maltreatment and domestic violence have long been widely acknowledged as social problems, but they were historically regarded as distinct problems with different causes, service systems, and policy contexts (Banks, Hazen, Coben, Wang, & Griffith, 2009; Fleck-Henderson, 2000: Henry, 2017; Kaufman Kantor & Little, 2003; Magen, 1999; Moles, 2008; Schechter & Edleson, 1994; Shlonsky, Friend, &

Data source

This study is a secondary analysis of the Second National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW II), a federally-funded longitudinal multi-informant survey designed to provide comprehensive information on a nationally representative sample of children investigated by U.S. child welfare (CPS) agencies (Dolan, Smith, Casanueva, & Ringeisen, 2011). The NSCAW II includes 5872 children (age birth to 17 at sampling) who were subjects of child welfare investigations or assessments

Results

Weighted and unweighted frequency distributions of all variables are reported in Table 1. The weighted distributions reflect the estimated frequencies in the child welfare population after applying survey weights to adjust for the oversampling patterns in the raw study sample.

The large majority of children in the sample (N = 5055) fell into the third allegation group, reflecting allegations that did not include DV. The distribution of the independent variable is fairly consistent between the

Discussion

Findings from this study suggest that child protection cases alleging domestic violence as a maltreatment allegation, either alone or concurrently with other allegations, have distinct demographic and risk characteristics compared to cases with maltreatment allegations that do not include domestic violence. Further, the presence of DV as a maltreatment allegation is a significant independent predictor of front-end child welfare case decisions.

The three categories of maltreatment allegations

Declarations of interest

None.

Funding

This work was generously supported by a dissertation grant from Soroptimist International.

Acknowledgements

The author extends deep thanks to Jill Duerr Berrick, Jeffrey Edleson, and Jane Mauldon for their guidance and feedback on earlier versions of this manuscript.

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    ☆

    NDACAN Acknowledgement: This document includes data from the National Survey on Child and Adolescent Well-Being, which was developed under contract with the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (ACYF/DHHS). The data have been provided by the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect. The information and opinions expressed herein reflect solely the position of the author. Nothing herein should be construed to indicate the support or endorsement of its content by ACYF/DHHS.

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