Chapter 6
Services
Child Maltreatment 2005
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, home visits, individual and family counseling, and home-maker help.
- 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 are usually based on an assessment of the family's strengths, weaknesses, and needs.
Examples of postinvestigation services include individual counseling, case management,
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) 2005:
- Nearly 2,000,000 children received preventive services;
- More than 60 percent of victims received postinvestigation services; and
- An estimated 317,000 children received foster care services as a result of an investigation.
This chapter presents information about children who received preventive and postinvestigation services. The factors that influence the provision of services also are discussed.
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Preventive Services
For FFY 2005, 25.7 children per 1,000 children in the population received preventive services. This results in a national estimate of nearly 2,000,000 children.3 For FFY 2004, the rate was 26.7 children per 1,000 children in the population based on data from 35 States.
States and local communities 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 programs, as well as by the State programs listed below.
- 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) provides 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; to support networks of coordinated resources and activities to strengthen and support families; and to 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 recipients of services by funding source. Approximately 12.8 percent of child recipients received preventive services funded by Promoting Safe and Stable Families grants and 29.4 percent were funded by the Social Services Block Grant.4 The Child Abuse and Neglect Basic State Grant and the Community-Based Grants for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect provided the preventive services for 1.6 percent and 11.8 percent of children, respectively. More than 40 percent (44.4%) of children and families 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 the planning of ongoing services.5 More than 60 percent (60.4%) of child victims received postinvestigation services. Of the children who were not found to be victims of maltreatment, 26.9 percent of children received such services. These data result in national estimates of 543,000 victims and 707,000 nonvictims who received services.6 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 46 days.7
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. One-fifth of victims (21.7%) were placed in foster care as a result of an investigation compared to 19.0 percent for FFY 2004.8 In addition, 4.5 percent of nonvictims experienced removal. Nationally, it is estimated that 317,000 children were removed from their homes as a result of a child maltreatment investigation.9 Two-thirds (64.4%) of the victims who were removed from their homes suffered from neglect, 9.1 percent from physical abuse, 3.3 percent from sexual abuse, and 16.0 percent from multiple types of maltreatment.10
Court proceedings to determine temporary custody of the victim, guardianship of the victim, or disposition of State dependency petitions were reported as being initiated for 16.1 percent of victims. Court-appointed representatives were assigned to 11.2 percent of child victims.11 Nearly one-third of child victims (28.7%) had received family preservation services and 8.0 percent had received family reunification services within the previous 5 years.12
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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 that were used during table creation is provided below.
Table 6-3
- The average number of days to services was rounded to whole days.
- Total percentages were calculated by dividing the total number of victims who received postinvestigation services by the total number of victims for only those States that reported data for each category and multiplying by 100.
Table 6-4
- Total percentages were calculated by dividing the total number of victims removed from home by the total number of victims for only those States that reported data for each category and multiplying by 100.
Table 6-5
- The category neglect includes medical neglect.
Table 6-6
- Total percentages were calculated by dividing the total number of victims with court action or petition or victims with court-appointed representatives by the total number of victims for only those States that reported data for each category and multiplying by 100.
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.
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 through 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-seven States reported that 1,544,114 children received preventive services for a rate of 25.7. Preventive services include services provided to families who were not the subject of a referral to CPS. When this rate is applied to the national population of 74,502,089, it is estimated that 1,914,704 children received preventive services. Supporting data are provided in table 6-1, which is located at the end of this chapter. back
4 See table 6-2. back
5 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
6 A national estimate of 543,000 victims who received postinvestigation services was calculated by multiplying the national estimate of victims (899,000) by the percent of child victims who received postinvestigation services for the 45 States that reported victim postinvestigation data (60.4%) and dividing by 100. The resulting number was rounded to the nearest 1,000. A national estimate of 707,000 nonvictims who received postinvestigation services was calculated by multiplying the national estimate of nonvictims (2,630,000) by the percent of child nonvictims who received postinvestigation services for the 40 States that reported nonvictim postinvestigation data (26.9%) and dividing by 100. The resulting number was rounded to the nearest 1,000. back
7 See table 6-3. back
8 See table 6-4. back
9 The national estimate of 317,000 children who were removed from their home was calculated by multiplying the national estimate of victims (899,000) by 21.7% and multiplying the national estimate of nonvictims (2,699,000) by 4.5%, adding the resulting two numbers, dividing by 100, and rounding to the nearest 1,000. back
10 See table 6-5. back
11 See table 6-6. back
12 See table 6-7. back
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