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Chapter 5 Services Provided for Child Maltreatment
Victims
CPS service interventions are designed not only to prevent future
occurrences of child maltreatment, but also to remedy whatever harm
might have occurred. Service provision is based on an assessment of
a family's strengths, weaknesses, and needs, which leads to the
development of an appropriate plan addressing child safety. To
implement the plan, CPS provides services directly or arranges
child protective services for clients.
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The services reported in the NCANDS data are defined as
postinvestigative services, initiated within 90 days of the
disposition of an investigation. These data are likely to
underestimate the provision of services because of the complexities
of recording service data.
This chapter identifies the proportions of children reported as
maltreated who received various types of services, such as foster
care, court intervention, and family-based health and mental health
services. The proportion of victims who had received services
previously is also examined. Finally, factors related to the
provision of services are analyzed.
The national figures presented in this chapter are based on data
submitted to the SDC. Appendix E lists the
complete SDC data tables. All statistics presented from the SDC can
be examined in detail by State submission. National estimates have
been calculated when fewer than 51 jurisdictions reported a given
item. For each estimate, a supporting table showing how the
estimate was calculated is presented in appendix
G. DCDC data are used to describe the factors related to
service provision.
5.1 Service Receipt and Types of Service
Nationally, an estimated 409,000 child victims received
postinvestigative services, and an estimated additional 211,000
children who were subjects of unsubstantiated reports also received
services.1 Figure 5-1 shows
the variation in the percentages of victims who received services
in each State. The majority of States reported that between 25 and
75 percent of victims were service recipients.
The median response time from report to start of service was 29.0
days; the mean response time was 39.0 days.2
The type of service most frequently identified for child victims
and their families was case management, followed by therapeutic
services, such as counseling, mental health and substance abuse
treatment, and family-based services, for example, family support,
family preservation, and home-based services. (See figure 5-2.) In some cases, foster care was
used to protect the child and to provide an interval for family
members to improve conditions that caused a child to be removed
from the home. Nationally, an estimated 144,000 child victims were
placed in foster care to protect them from further maltreatment. An
additional estimated 33,000 children who were not victims were
placed in care and supervision of the child welfare agency; some of
these latter placements may have occurred during the investigation
of a report subsequently determined to be unsubstantiated. These
estimates are likely to undercount the number of entries into
foster care because of the limited follow-up period after
investigation.
Juvenile court involvement in CPS cases is another possible
intervention. Court actions, which can include proceedings to
determine temporary custody of the victim, guardianship, or
disposition of State dependency petitions, were initiated for an
estimated 191,000 maltreatment victims.3 In the 12
reporting States, most victims who were the subjects of court
actions (81.9%) had court-appointed representatives.
Some victims of maltreatment had received family preservation
services or had been reunified with their families during the 5
years prior to 1998 reports. In the 13 reporting States, 21.8
percent of victims had received family preservation services within
the previous 5 years. In 15 reporting States, 5.5 percent of
victims had been reunited with their families after a stay in
foster care within the previous 5 years. Family preservation
services are designed to prevent the placement of children outside
the home while ensuring their safety. In general, these services
are characterized by their intensity, their short duration, and
their extensive range of therapeutic and support services to meet
the needs of families in crisis.
5.2 Factors Influencing Receipt of Services
There are several factors reported in the DCDC data that are
associated with the provision of postinvestigative services, as
illustrated in table 5-1. The "Odds Ratio"
column in the table reflects the relative importance of each
category within the factors, when controlling for all other
factors. The categories associated with provision of services can
be summarized:
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Victims of multiple types of maltreatment were 43.3 percent more
likely, and victims of neglect 16 percent more likely, to have
received services than victims of physical abuse;
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Victims from families categorized as having financial problems
or receiving public assistance were 138.2 percent more likely to
have received services than victims from families not identified as
having financial need;
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Prior victims were 51.8 percent more likely to have received
services than children with no prior victimization;4
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Children belonging to the "Hispanic" and "Asian/Pacific
Islander" categories were 33.9 percent and 39.6 percent,
respectively, less likely to have received services than "White"
children, although no significant differences in service usage were
seen for "African-American" or "American Indian/Alaska Native"
children;
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Children who were reported by medical personnel as maltreated
were 30.5 percent more likely to have received services, and
children reported by law enforcement personnel or education/day
care staff were approximately 19 percent less likely to have
received services, than were children reported by social
services/mental health personnel;
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Younger children, from birth through age 3, were the most likely
to have received services. Compared to them, all older age
categories were 20.0 percent less likely to have received services;
and
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No differences were found between service provision for boys
compared to girls.
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