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Chapter 6
Services
Child Maltreatment 2006

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 parent's and other caregiver's understanding 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) 2006:

• An estimated 3.8 million children received preventive services;
• Nearly 60 percent of victims received postinvestigation services; and
• An estimated 312,000 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.

Preventive Services

For FFY 2006, 50.7 children per 1,000 children in the population received preventive services. This results in a national estimate of approximately 3.8 million children.³ During 2005, it was estimated that 25.7 children per 1,000 children or approximately 2 million children received preventive services.

This significant increase from 2005 to 2006 of the number of children who received preventive services is due, in part, to improved data collection and estimation. During 2006, State counts of both families and children who received preventive services were used for the national estimate; in prior years only the counts of children were used.^4,5 Some States are able to report the number of families who received services funded by a specific funding source, but are not able to report the number of children.

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, which are described below, as well as by State-funded programs.

• 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; support networks of coordinated resources and activities to strengthen and support families; and 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 child recipients of services by funding source. Nearly 30 percent (27.5%) of children received preventive services funded by Promoting Safe and Stable Families grants, and nearly 20 percent (17.9%) were funded by the Social Services Block Grant.⁶ 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 5.8 percent and 15.3 percent of children, respectively. More than 30 percent (33.5%) of children received services that were paid with "other" sources, including other Federal and State programs.

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.⁷ Nearly 60 percent (58.9%) of child victims received postinvestigation services. Of the children who were not found to be victims of maltreatment, 30.3 percent of children received such services. These data result in national estimates of 533,000 victims and 808,000 nonvictims who received services.⁸ 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 43 days.⁹

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. Approximately one-fifth of victims (21.5%) were placed in foster care as a result of an investigation compared to 21.7 percent for FFY 2005.¹⁰ Although the national percentage of victims who were removed from home or received foster care services at the time of the investigation is 21.5 percent, several States reported more than 40 percent of victims received foster care services.¹¹

In addition, 4.4 percent of nonvictims experienced removal. Nationally, it is estimated that 312,000 children were removed from their homes as a result of a child maltreatment investigation.¹² Nearly two-thirds (63.6%) of the victims who were removed from their homes suffered from neglect, 8.6 percent from physical abuse, 3.2 percent from sexual abuse, and 16.8 percent from multiple types of maltreatment.¹³

Court-appointed representatives were assigned to 12.9 percent of child victims.¹⁴ This number is understood within the context of two other statistics—States report that 15.2 percent of victims were the subject of court proceedings and 21.5 percent were placed in foster care as a result of an investigation. Given the statutory requirement in CAPTA that "in every case involving an abused or neglected child which results in a judicial proceeding, a guardian ad litem...who may be an attorney or a court appointed special advocate...shall be appointed to represent the child in such proceedings," many States are working to improve their reporting of the court appointed representative data element. Nearly one-third of child victims (31.0%) had received family preservation services and 8.1 percent had received family reunification services within the previous 5 years.¹⁵

Factors Influencing the Receipt of Services

A multivariate analysis was used to examine which factors influenced the receipt of services, and among children who received services, which factors influenced the removal of victims from their homes. Three analyses were conducted. The first analysis focused on all victims and examined factors associated with receipt of any postinvestigation service, either in-home, foster care, or both. The second and third analyses focused on only victims who received any postinvestigation services; one examined factors associated with receipt of in-home services only and the other examined factors associated with any placement in foster care. The results of these analyses are the inverse of each other, but they provide two different perspectives on the factors contributing to the type of services provided.

Receipt of Postinvestigation Services
Only some children and families with reports of maltreatment receive postinvestigation services or family reunification services, due to a variety of factors. Including that services are not usually available for all families, and the waiting lists may be very long. The characteristics of a child's case may also influence the receipt of services. Case-level data submissions were analyzed to examine which factors influenced whether or not a victim or the victim's family received postinvestigation services. Highlights of the findings are listed below.¹⁶

• Child victims who were reported with a disability were two times more likely to receive postinvestigation services than children without a disability.¹⁷
• When compared with physical abuse victims, victims of multiple maltreatments were 65 percent more likely and victims of neglect were 20 percent more likely to receive services. Victims of sexual abuse were 24 percent less likely to receive services.
• African-American child victims were 22 percent more likely and Hispanic child victims were 16 percent more likely to receive services when compared with White victims.
• Child victims who were abused or maltreated by nonparental perpetrators were 60 percent less likely to receive postinvestigation services than child victims who were abused or maltreated by their mothers alone. Child victims who were abused by both parents, or by their mothers along with another person, were significantly more likely to receive services than child victims who were maltreated by their mothers alone.

Receipt of In-Home Services
For this analysis, only victims who received any postinvestigation service were included. Findings related to these child victims who received or whose families received only services provided in the home or the community, and not foster care placement, include the following.

• Child victims with reported disabilities were 39 percent as likely to receive only in-home services as child victims without reported disabilities.
• Children who were sexually abused or had "other abuse" types were more likely to receive exclusively in home services than children who were physically abused. Children who were neglected or who were maltreated in more than one way were significantly less likely to receive only in-home services.
• When compared with infants, older children were significantly more likely to receive exclusively in-home services. Children age 8 to 11 were twice as likely to receive in home services.
• Child victims who were abused or maltreated by their fathers were twice as likely to receive only in-home services as child victims who were abused or maltreated by their mothers.
• Victims referred by mental health and educational personnel were more than twice as likely to receive only in-home services as victims who were referred by the social services personnel.

Receipt of Foster Care Services
For this analysis, only victims who received any postinvestigation service were included. Findings related to these child victims who received services include the following.

• Among children who received any services, prior child victims were 63 percent more likely to be placed in foster care than children with no prior victimization.
• Child victims reported with a disability were two and a half times more likely to be placed in foster care than child victims with no reported disability.
• When compared with victims of physical abuse, victims of multiple maltreatments were 79 percent more likely to be placed in foster care, and victims of neglect were 22 percent more likely to be placed in foster care.
• When compared with White child victims, African-American child victims were 27 percent more likely and victims of "other" or multiple races were 52 percent more likely to be placed in foster care.
• Children who were victimized by their fathers were 50 percent less likely to be placed in foster care than children who were victimized by their mothers.
• Victims referred by mental health personnel were 53 percent less likely and victims referred by educational personnel were 50 percent less likely to be placed in foster care than victims referred by social services personnel.

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 6-1

• Beginning with FFY 2006, the total number of recipients of preventive services is computed by multiplying the number of families receiving services by 1.86 and adding this to the number of children receiving preventive services.

Table 6-2

• Beginning with FFY 2006, the total number of recipients of preventive services by funding source is computed by multiplying the number of families receiving services under each funding source by 1.86 and adding this to the number of children receiving preventive services under each funding source.

Table 6-3

• The average number of days to services was rounded to whole days.
• States with an average of less than 1 day to the onset of services are represented with a zero.
• Total percentages were calculated by dividing the total number of victims or nonvictims who received postinvestigation services by the total number of victims or nonvictims and multiplying by 100 for only those States that reported services data.

Table 6-4

• Total percentages were calculated by dividing the total number of victims or nonvictims who were removed from the home by the total number of victims or nonvictims and multiplying by 100 for only those States reporting foster care services.

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.

Table 6-8

• The category of in-home services does not include children with foster care services.
• Logistic regression models associate the contribution of the values within a factor to the outcome of interest (in this case postinvestigation services, in-home services, and foster care placement). Odds ratios indicate the likelihood, relative to the reference group, of the outcome occurring. Odds ratios greater than 1.00 indicate an increased likelihood of occurrence (e.g., victims of prior abuse or neglect were 42 percent more likely than children with no history of prior abuse or neglect to receive postinvestigation services). Odds ratios less than 1.00 indicate a decreased likelihood of occurrence (e.g., victims who were age 16 or older were 48 percent less likely than children younger than 1 year old to receive postinvestigation services).
• The category neglect includes medical neglect.

Chapter 6: Tables

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Footnotes

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 Summary Data Component (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-nine States reported that 3,199,485 children received preventive services for a rate of 50.7 per 1,000 children. 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 74,754,213, it is estimated that 3,790,039 children received preventive services. Supporting data are provided in table 6-1, which is located at the end of this chapter. back
⁴ The number of families who received preventive services was multiplied by the average number of children per family (1.86) and added to the reported number of children to obtain the total number of children who received services in each State prior to estimating the national number. back
⁵ The average number of children per family retrieved October 2007, from http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/hh-fam/tabST-F1-2000.pdf. back
⁶ See table 6-2. back
⁷ 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
⁸ A national estimate of 533,000 victims who received postinvestigation services was calculated by multiplying the national estimate of victims (905,000) by the percent of child victims who received postinvestigation services for the 46 States that reported victim postinvestigation data (58.9%) and dividing by 100. The resulting number was rounded to the nearest 1,000. A national estimate of 808,000 nonvictims who received postinvestigation services was calculated by multiplying the national estimate of nonvictims (2,668,000) by the percent of child nonvictims who received postinvestigation services for the 44 States that reported nonvictim postinvestigation data (30.3%) and dividing by 100. The resulting number was rounded to the nearest 1,000. back
⁹ See table 6-3. back
¹⁰ See table 6-4. back
¹¹ These States are Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, South Dakota, and Washington. back
¹² The national estimate of 312,000 children who were removed from their home was calculated by multiplying the national estimate of victims (905,000) by 21.5% and multiplying the national estimate of nonvictims (2,668,000) by 4.4%, adding the resulting two numbers, dividing by 100, and rounding to the nearest 1,000. back
¹³ See table 6-5. back
¹⁴ See table 6-6. back
¹⁵ See table 6-7. back
¹⁶ The bulleted findings identify those factors that were more than 1.50 or less than 0.50. See table 6-8. back
¹⁷ In general, children with such conditions are undercounted as not every child receives a clinical diagnostic assessment. back

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