Child Neglect

Child Neglect: Cross Sector Service Paths & Outcomes (CSSPO)

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Principal Investigator: Melissa Jonson-Reid, Ph.D.
Funders: The National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of Justice, and the U.S. Department of Education
Timeframe: 09/00-02/04
Affiliation: The Center for Mental Health Services Research

Project Staff:      Brett Drake, Ph.D., Co-PI
                            Shirley Porterfield, Ph.D., Investigator
                            James Herbert Williams, Ph.D., Investigator
                            Ed Spitznagel, Ph.D., Statistician
                            Lu Han, Data Manager
                            Brian McKean, Project Coordinator

Participating Organizations:
                            Missouri Department of Social Services
                            Missouri Department of Family Services
                            Missouri Department of Youth Services
                            Missouri Department of Health
                            Missouri Department of Corrections
                            St. Louis City School District
                            St. Louis County Special School District
                            St. Louis City Juvenile Court
                            St. Louis County Juvenile Court
                            St. Louis City Police Department
                            St. Louis County Police Department
Project Contact: Melissa Jonson-Reid
                            (314) 935-4953
                            jonsonrd@gwbmail.wustl.edu

Project Update as of 12/01/2004
Stage: Completed

Description
Despite the recent increase in the attention paid to child neglect, we lack even a basic understanding of the services received by neglecting children and families. This study, “Child Neglect: Cross Sector Service Paths & Outcomes” (CSSPO), addresses this problem through a large-scale longitudinal analysis of cross-sector service utilization by neglected children and their families which is linked to outcomes at the family (e.g. family reunification, etc.) and child (e.g. death, incarceration) levels. The need for and benefits of such a project are clear. In their review and analysis of child abuse and neglect from a developmental psychopathology perspective, Cicchetti & Toth (1995) state, “In examining the needs of maltreating families, it becomes clear that integration and coordination of services are critical if intervention is to be effective” (p.555). The study uses administrative data to model paths and outcomes in three areas:

1. Cross-sector service utilization patterns (sequence, volume, co-occurrence, duration and predisposing factors) among neglected children, other subtypes of maltreated children and comparison children in families receiving income maintenance. This is a necessary prerequisite to any considered reevaluation of child welfare policy, and is also necessary in any effort to rationalize the currently fragmented public sector.

2. The relationship of service patterns to later child and adolescent outcomes (e.g. mortality, involvement with special education, major health problems, delinquency, recurrent involvement with child welfare (subsequent reports and foster care spells), and receipt of income maintenance for adolescent pregnancy). Of particular interest is whether neglected children experience heightened risk for such outcomes as compared to children reported for other maltreatment types or poor children not reported for maltreatment while controlling for service use and child, family and community characteristics.

3. The association between family level child welfare outcomes (such as reunification) and child and adolescent outcomes (such as juvenile corrections involvement). It is vital to policy and program development that we understand how family level outcomes (reunification, family preservation) set forth by the child welfare system are associated with child level outcomes. For example, if a positive family outcome like family reunification does not mitigate negative child level outcomes than this has implications for aftercare coordination of services designed specifically to target child level needs.

» Searchable Database of Child Abuse and Neglect References
Includes more than 500 journal articles, books, book chapters, reports, conference proceedings, and web-based sources.

How to search

1. After you have clicked on the link to the database below, select "CANBibliography.enl" from the pull-down menu by
     the word "Search".
2. Slect the button "Advanced Search".
3. Click the down arrow under "Field to Search", and click once on your choice.
      (You can search by author name, journal title, article title, year of publication, or keyword.)
4. Type some words in "Data to Locate"
     Keyword search tip: Because some keywords are a part of a multi word phrase, sometimes you must enter the multi
     word phrase (for example: child neglect, child development, family relation).

To proceed to the searchable database, click on this link: http://128.252.132.4:8000/rmwp

» On-line Bulletin Board
In order to promote interaction and exchange of ideas with our agency partners, we are working on a special on-line bulletin board just for our agency partners. Later preliminary findings will become available via the public web site.

Publications

Onset of Juvenile Court Involvement: Exploring Gender-Specific Influences of Maltreatment and Poverty [In Press]. Children and Youth Services Review.

Hovmand, P.S., Jonson-Reid, M., Drake, B. (2007). Mapping Service Networks. Journal of Technology in Human Services, 25, 1-21.

Jonson-Reid, M., Chance, T., Drake, B. (2007). Risk of Death Among Children Reported for Nonfatal Maltreatment. Child Maltreatment, 12, 86-95.

Drake, B., Jonson-Reid, M., Sapokaite, L. (2006). Re-reporting of child maltreatment: Does participation in other public sector services moderate the likelihood of a second maltreatment report. Child Abuse & Neglect, 30, 1201-1226.