Abstract: State Variation of Neglect Child Protection Reports (Society for Social Work and Research 28th Annual Conference - Recentering & Democratizing Knowledge: The Next 30 Years of Social Work Science)

Schedule:

Friday, January 12, 2024

Independence BR C, ML 4 (Marriott Marquis Washington DC)

* noted as presenting author

Rebecca Rebbe, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC

Wan-Ting Chen, MS, Doctoral student, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC

Bianca Olivares, BSW, MSW Student, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC

Lindsey Palmer, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT

Background & Purpose:

In the United States, three out of every four reports to child protection systems (CPS) include an allegation of neglect. Yet, given the federalist approach to child protection that gives states the authority to decide how to define and respond to child maltreatment (Vandervort, 2020), there is potential for neglect reports to differ across states in terms of frequency, concerns, and response. The aim of this paper is to describe state variation of investigated reports of neglect in the United States.

Methods:

We used data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System Child File (NCANDS) and Child Trends for state child populations for the years 2015-2019. We calculated rates of investigated and substantiated neglect reports per 1,000 children in the population. We categorized and quantified as percentages the co-occurring maltreatment allegation types for neglect reports by state. Four types of co-occurring maltreatment allegation were included in the study: (1) neglect and physical abuse, (2) neglect and sexual abuse, (3) neglect and other maltreatment, and (4) neglect only. We used one-way ANOVA to test for differences in neglect rate means by categorization of neglect definitions identified in the literature and by the quartiles of 2019 Kids Count State Rankings for Child Well-Being. We tested for differences in substantiation rates by the evidence level threshold in the State Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) Policies Database using one-way ANOVA.

Results:

Rates of investigated and substantiated neglect reports varied by state. The rate of CPS reports with a neglect allegation per 1,000 children ranged from 1.37 to 113.79 (M = 36.72, SD = 22.23). The rate of neglect reports that were substantiated per 1,000 children ranged from 0.19 to 22.02 (M = 5.27, SD = 0.19). Co-occurring child maltreatment allegations also varied. The allegation type with neglect only had the highest average percent ranged from 24.05 to 99.91 (M = 77.60, SD = 14.17); the co-occurring neglect and sexual abuse allegations had the lowest average percent and ranged from 0.02 to 9.60 (M = 2.88, SD = 1.85). The one-way ANOVA tests identified statistically significant differences of investigated neglect rates for state child well-being rankings (F(3) = 3.22, p < 0.05) and statistically significant differences of neglect substantiation rates by neglect definition category (F(2) = 3.99, p < .05). There was not a statistically significant difference in substantiation rates by evidence level threshold.

Conclusion & Implications:

Reports of neglect vary between states by numerous measures. This indicates that the breadth and scope of child protection systems, and thus the number of families they interact with, differs by states. These findings suggest that states differ in their conceptualizations of and responses to child neglect. We identified some possible explanations for the differences, but further research is needed to further explicate these variations.