The Overlap between Domestic Violence and Child Maltreatment: Findings from National CPS Hotline Data

Background and Purpose: Domestic violence (DV) often co-occurs with child maltreatment (CM). Understanding this overlap is complicated because prevalence rates for both concerns vary depending on sampling and measurement. Studies measuring this overlap have typically relied on state-specific administrative or survey samples, lacking national scope. This study has two main goals. First, we explore the overlap of DV and CM by first assessing the face validity of the DV indicator in the NCANDS Child File, a national record of children investigated by child protective services (CPS). Second, we examine distinctive characteristics and child-welfare outcomes of families with DV indications.

Methods: We used children’s report records from the FY 2016 Child File national data, along with prior and later (longitudinal) CPS records using the Report and Placement Integrated Data System (RAPIDS). RAPIDS is a program that compiles annual NCANDS Child Files and Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) data, allowing researchers to track children’s longitudinal CPS records. We used frequency analysis and logistic regression analysis (1) to select states with plausible DV data, (2) to compare families with and without DV indications, and (3) to examine the relationship of DV to substantiation, foster care placement, and re-report.

Results: While many states do not capture DV concerns in CM records, we found that 26 states met a conservative threshold with 5% of investigated children including an indication of DV. Using these 26 states, we found that 12.5% of investigated children lived in homes with noted DV. Compared to children without DV concerns, these children were younger (6.73 vs. 7.81 years), from larger families (3.16 vs. 3.04 children), and lived in somewhat lower-income counties ($54.2K vs. $55.2K), highlighting their vulnerability. There were also over twice as likely to be in a report originating from law enforcement. Children with noted DV had higher rates of index case substantiation (41.21 vs 15.66%) and foster care placement (8.29 vs 3.77%). Following the Index report, the re-report rate (47.60% vs. 44.96%) was also slightly higher for those with documented DV, with these relationships persisting in multivariate models.

Conclusions and Implications: Children with DV concerns are particularly vulnerable and more likely to become involved with CPS, highlighting the need for greater attention to this group. However, only about half of the states met a conservative reporting benchmark, and many failed to report any DV cases at all. This study underscores the importance of accurately recording DV data and calls for further research on DV within the context of CM.