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Chapter 6
Services
Child Maltreatment 2000

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. Preventive services are provided to parents whose children are at risk of abuse or neglect. These services are designed to increase child-rearing competence of the parents or caretakers and their level of understanding of the developmental stages of childhood.

Remedial services (postinvestigation services) are offered on a voluntary basis by child welfare agencies or ordered by the courts to ensure the safety of children. These services address the safety of the child and are usually based on an assessment of the family's strengths, weaknesses, and needs.

This chapter examines the number of children who received preventive services and the number who received postinvestigative services. It also examines factors that may influence the provision of services.

PREVENTIVE SERVICES

Data on preventive services are collected both by the number of children and by the number of families. Almost 26.0 children per 1,000 in the population received preventive services.¹ This compares with a rate of 22.3 children per 1,000 in 1999.

When a family receives preventive services so do the children within that family. In order to determine the total number of estimated children who received preventive services, the number of families who received preventive services was multiplied by 1.8 and that total was added to the number of children reported by the States as having received preventive services. This calculation yielded a total national estimate of three million children who received preventive services at a rate of 41.7 children per 1,000.²

Examples of preventive services include respite care, parenting education, housing assistance, substance abuse treatment, day care, home visits, individual and family counseling, homemaker help, transportation, crisis, and domestic violence. Such services are funded through a variety of Federal and State programs. Data were collected regarding children and families who received preventive services funded by the following Federal 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), provide funds to States to improve CPS systems. The grants serve as a catalyst to assist States in screening and investigating child abuse and neglect reports, 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.]-Community-Based Family Resource and Support Grants assist each State in preventing child abuse and neglect and in promoting healthy parent-child relationships by developing, operating, expanding, and enhancing a network of community-based, prevention-focused resource and support programs that coordinate resources among a broad range of human services organizations.
• 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.]-States may use these funds for preventive services such as child day care, child protective services, information and referral, counseling, and employment, 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.³ Variations in use of Federal funds are due to each State's flexibility in determining who will receive services, what services will be offered, and how the services will be provided. Approximately 24.9 percent of children received preventive services under Promoting Safe and Stable Families grants and 19.7 percent under Social Services Block Grants. Community-Based Family Resource and Support Grants and the Child Abuse and Neglect Basic State Grant provided the other identified preventive services for 14.4 percent and 3.7 percent of children, respectively.

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REMEDIAL SERVICES

Remedial services include individual counseling, case management, family-based services (services provided to the entire family, such as counseling or family support), in-home services (such as family preservation), foster care services, and court services.⁴

Only half of the child victims (55.4% or an estimated 478,000) received postinvestigation services that were provided in addition to conducting an investigation or assessment as a response to an allegation of maltreatment. Of the children who were not found to be victims of maltreatment, 18.7 percent or an estimated 385,000 children received postinvestigation services.⁵ This compares to 55.8 percent of child victims and 14.2 percent of child nonvictims who received services in 1999. The weighted average time from the start of investigation to provision of service was 36 days.⁶ This response time compares to a weighted average of 47 days for 1999.

Children may be removed from their homes during or after an investigation. Some children who are removed on an emergency basis may spend a short time in foster care, while other children may spend a longer time. About a fifth of victims (20.8%) were placed in foster care as a result of an investigation or assessment. In addition, 3.5 percent of the children who were not victims of child abuse or neglect were removed from their homes. Nationally, it is estimated that more than 250,000 children were removed from their homes as a result of a child abuse investigation or assessment.⁷

Court proceedings to determine temporary custody of the victim, guardianship of the victim, or disposition of State dependency petitions were initiated for 15.3 percent of victims. Slightly fewer children were reported as having court-appointed representatives (11.8%).⁸

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FACTORS INFLUENCING THE RECEIPT OF SERVICES (DCDC, Child File)

A multivariate analysis was used to examine whether or not the characteristics of a child's case affect how the child is served by the child welfare system, the factors influencing the receipt of services, and the factors influencing the removal of victims from their homes. Future research in this area may include a closer look at how these factors affect specific types of services.

Receipt of Postinvestigation Services

There are several reasons why only some children and families receive postinvestigation services, which include individual counseling, case management, family-based services (services provided to the entire family, such as counseling or family support), in-home services (such as family preservation), foster care services, and court services. For example, there may not be enough services available for families or the waiting lists may be very long.

It has been hypothesized, that the characteristics of a child's case influence the receipt of services.⁹ This hypothesis has been explored by using the case-level data submissions to examine which factors influence whether a child has received postinvestigation services. Highlights of the findings are listed below:

• Victims of multiple maltreatments were more than twice as likely to receive services than victims of only physical abuse. Victims of sexual abuse were less likely than victims of any other type of maltreatment to receive services.
• Victims of prior maltreatment were 80 percent more likely to receive services than children with no prior victimizations.
• American Indian/Alaska Native, African American, Hispanic, and Asian-Pacific Islander, children were respectively 49 percent, 30 percent, 17 percent, and 7 percent more likely to receive services than White children.
• Children reported by medical personnel were 10 percent more likely to receive services than children reported by social and mental health service professionals. Children reported by any other type of reporting source were less likely to receive services.
• Children younger than 4 years old were more likely to receive services.
• A child's sex made no difference in the receipt of services.
• Children maltreated by parents and foster parents were the most likely to receive services.

Receipt of Foster Care Services

The factors associated with children being removed from the home and placed in foster care were very similar to the factors associated with children receiving services. The characteristics of a child's case-maltreatment type, prior victimization, race, report source, age, and sex-had the same influence on the decision to remove a child from the home as on the decision to provide services. However, children who were abused by a foster parent or residential facility staff person were more likely to be removed than children abused by any other type of perpetrator, but they were not more likely to receive services.

The results from these analyses were similar to those from the analysis of 1999 data. This year the relationship of the perpetrator has been included in the analysis.

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SUPPLEMENTARY TABLES

The following pages contain the tables referenced in Chapter 6. Unless otherwise explained, a blank indicates that the State did not submit useable data and a number in bold indicates either a total or an estimate.

Chapter Six: Figures and Tables

Notes

¹ Supporting data are provided in supplementary table 6-1, which is located at the end of this chapter. Back
² Children who received services through more than one program may have been counted more than once. Back
³ See supplementary table 6-2. Back
⁴ Data are reported for services provided within 90 days of the disposition date and therefore, the number of service recipients may be an undercount. Back
⁵ See supplementary table 6-3. Back
⁶ See supplementary table 6-4. Back
⁷ In 1999, the percentages of children placed in foster care were 20.7 of victims and 3.2 percent of nonvictims. See supplementary table 6-5. Back
⁸ See supplementary table 6-7. Back
⁹ See supplementary table 6-8. Back

 

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