Impact of Child Exposure to Domestic Violence on Initial Removal Decisions in Child Welfare Services

Background & Purpose: It is estimated that between 16-29 percent of American children are exposed to domestic violence during childhood. Researchers find that children exposed to this type of violence typically exhibit higher rates of emotional and behavioral problems and are at greater risk for child maltreatment than their non-exposed peers. These findings have led some family advocates and policymakers to conclude that child exposure to domestic violence (CEDV) is a form of child maltreatment warranting public intervention, however, little is known about how child welfare systems respond to CEDV, particularly in the absence of other threats to child safety. This study uses administrative child welfare data to examine how CEDV impacts initial removal decisions in California’s child welfare system.

Method: This descriptive study was based on the full population of families referred to and investigated by California child welfare agencies in 2011. Data from California’s statewide child welfare administrative data systems CWS/CMS and WebSDM were linked to examine indications of CEDV among investigated families, corresponding safety threats, and initial removal decisions. Referrals were counted as CEDV-indicated if the investigating child welfare worker found that CEDV existed in the home and posed a threat of serious physical and/or emotional harm to the children in the home and this was indicated on the WebSDM safety assessment, that is CEDV was assessed as a safety threat. Referrals that indicated CEDV but no other safety threats were categorized as CEDV-only, referrals that indicated CEDV and another safety threat were categorized as CEDV-plus. Agencies that did not utilize WebSDM during the study period were excluded from the study (4 of 58 county child welfare agencies were excluded). Referrals without completed WebSDM safety assessments were also excluded. In total, data for 161,340 investigated families were examined.

Results: Among referrals with one or more safety threats identified at time of investigation, 26.6% (10,238) indicated CEDV as a threat to child safety. Among these, 59.3% (6,069) were indicated as CEDV-only, while 40.7% (4,169) were indicated as CEDV-plus. Few CEDV-only referrals resulted in out-of-home placement (less than 5%), however, when CEDV occurred in conjunction with one or more safety threats, removals were more frequent. The two most common threats to co-occur with CEDV were caregiver failure to protect (43.1%) and caregiver substance abuse (42.0%). Among referrals where CEDV and these safety threats co-occurred, more than half (54.7% and 53.7% respectively) resulted in removal.

Conclusions and Implications: This study finds that CEDV is a frequently identified safety threat among families with investigated child maltreatment referrals; however, CEDV alone rarely results in removal of children from their homes. More research is needed to better understand the relationship between CEDV and caregiver failure to protect and how their co-occurrence impacts removal decisions. Study findings have implications for child welfare practice and policy-making relating to family violence.