Children with Autism Involved in the Child Welfare System: Racial, Economic and Living Area Disparities

Background/purpose: It has been well-documented that children identified with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are more likely to be white and from middle-class and upper-class families, suggesting disparities in access to diagnosis.  Significant disparities are also known within the child welfare population. However, due to the lack of specific diagnostic information in child welfare datasets, little is known specifically about children with ASD who are involved in child welfare. Thus, in order to explore the involvement in child welfare of children with ASD, it is necessary to merge data from multiple service systems. The purpose of this study is to explore child welfare involvement of children with ASD, including racial/ethnic and income disparities, as compared to children without disabilities and children with disabilities other than ASD.

Methods: This secondary data analysis uses statewide data from the Department of Education and the Department of Human Services. All children enrolled in 2^nd and 3^rd grade in the 2015/16 school year were included in the study (n=137,797). Children with ASD were identified (n=2778), and children with other disabilities and children without disabilities were used for comparison. Retrospective analysis of child welfare involvement was conducted, including involvement rates, allegation type, and descriptive characteristics. Statistical analysis methods include frequency, chi-square, ANOVA and logistic regression.

Results: Children with ASD have higher rates of child welfare involvement (18%) than children without disabilities (11%), but not as high as children with other disabilities (24%). Racial, economic and living area disparities were found in the sample of children with ASD who were involved in child welfare as compared to those who were not involved. African American (30%), Native American (48%), children from very low-income families (34%), and children residing in rural areas (25%) had higher rates of child welfare involvement.  Additionally, children with ASD had higher rates of a physical abuse allegation than the other groups (31%), however, when controlling for race/ethnicity and income, Black children (OR = 0.565, p = .047) and children from very low-income families (OR=0.484, p = 0.004) had lower odds of a physical abuse allegation as compared to White children and children not from low-income families.

Conclusions/implications: As children from low-income families are more likely to experience neglect in the general population, it is notable that children with ASD in this sample had the lowest rates of neglect, despite having higher rates of being from families with very low incomes, suggesting a potential unique impact of ASD on allegation type that differs from the general population. Moreover, while Black children had high rates of child welfare involvement, they had higher odds of having a neglect allegation compared to White children, even when controlling for income. Therefore, there appears to be a race/ethnicity factor in the types of allegations for children with ASD. In addition to providing descriptive and prevalence data for children with ASD involved in child welfare which fills a gap in the literature, these surprising findings regarding physical abuse allegations have implications for preventive and responsive services for families of children with ASD.