Session: Towards a Broader Understanding of US National Incidence of Child Maltreatment: Four Studies Using Administrative Data (Society for Social Work and Research 29th Annual Conference)

In 2022 there were 4,276,000 referrals to the child welfare system involving 7,530,000 children mostly made by mandated reporters. Accurately detecting child maltreatment is important to both protect children and prevent unnecessary investigations and involvement by the child welfare system. This symposium presents a series of papers on different aspects of detecting child maltreatment using several administrative datasets including the State Child Abuse and Neglect Policies Database (SCAN), The Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), and the U.S. Census Bureau data. These data sources allow researchers to examine characteristics of maltreatment reports, results of the Child and Families Services Reviews, and innovative data linkages across data sources. This symposium presents four secondary data analyses focused on the accurate detection and reporting of child maltreatment.

The first paper examines child maltreatment that occurs while a child is in out-of-home care (for example, while in placement with a non-parent caregiver, in group care, or in a residential treatment setting) using NCANDS data.

The second paper examines whether families who are reported to the child welfare system receive services equitably across racial/ethnic groups. Using data from Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) -3, this paper examines the child welfare agency performance by racial subgroups to examine disparities and the role of state and county level factors.

The third paper uses NCANDS and AFCARS data to establish a comprehensive historical database to accurately capture sequences of child maltreatment reports. This project addresses existing data limitations and hindered data linkages while enhancing useability of the data.

The fourth paper examines the relationships between mandated reporting policies and rates of reporting and likelihood of substantiation. This paper uses NCANDS and SCAN to examine how different mandated reporting policies are associated with the accurate detection of maltreatment.

The four papers in this symposium provide a holistic view of the available data on detection and accurate reporting of child maltreatment in the United States. Each paper will provide an overview of methods used, the findings, and research, practice, and policy implications.