Domestic Violence As Child Maltreatment: Differential Risks and Outcomes of Cases Reported to Child Welfare Agencies for Domestic Violence Exposure
As awareness has grown regarding the potential deleterious outcomes associated with children’s exposure to domestic violence (DV), some child welfare agencies are expanding their reach to encompass DV as a type of maltreatment. Research to date has not fully determined how or whether cases referred to child welfare for DV differ from cases referred for more traditional forms of maltreatment. Understanding the unique features of DV-referred cases and their pathways through the child welfare system may help inform front-end system responses.
This study addresses two research questions: 1) What are the differential demographics, risk factors, and outcomes of CPS cases reported for DV compared to cases reported for other maltreatment types? and 2) Is the presence of DV as a maltreatment allegation an independent predictor of key child welfare outcomes after controlling for demographic and risk variables?
Methods:
Using baseline data from the second National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW II), this study examined comparative characteristics and outcomes of child welfare investigations based on whether DV was reported as an alleged abuse type. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted on three separate outcome variables representing key child welfare decision points: substantiation, service provision, and out-of-home placement.
The primary predictor variable was whether DV was reported as an alleged abuse type in the child welfare referral (per caseworker report). To create this independent variable, all NSCAW II cases (N=5,872) were sorted into one of three groups: 1) those in which DV was the only reported maltreatment allegation (DV-only) , 2) those in which DV was alleged concurrently with at least one other maltreatment type (DV+other), and 3) those in which only other maltreatment was alleged (no-DV).
Results:
Child welfare cases reported for DV have unique demographics, risk factors, and outcomes that distinguish them from cases alleging other maltreatment types.
- Demographics: DV-only and DV+other cases are associated with children in younger age categories, and children of color are overrepresented in both DV-referred groups compared to their proportions in the full sample.
- Risk: A clear pattern emerged in which many covariate risk factors (including multiple risk-related caregiver characteristics as well as direct caseworker assessments of risk) are most likely to be present in the DV+other group and least likely to be present in the DV-only group.
- Case outcomes: In crude and adjusted models, both DV-only cases (adjusted OR: 3.7; p<0.001) and DV+other cases (adjusted OR: 2.9; p<0.01) have significantly higher odds of substantiation than no-DV cases, but despite higher substantiation rates, they are no more likely to receive child welfare services, and they are significantly less likely to result in out-of-home placement.
Implications:
These findings suggest that some lower-risk cases reported to child welfare agencies for DV (and particularly those reported for DV-only) could be appropriately targeted for alternative, non-investigative service approaches. Since high rates of substantiation do not translate to concomitant rates of service provision or removal, some DV-referred cases could potentially be diverted out of child welfare pathways that lead to substantiation without further intervention.