Re: drug-exposed infants, differential response programs

[Michelle Johnson <mjohnson@xxxxxxxx>]

Dr. Barth and Claudia Fercello:

1. According to DHHS' Child Abuse and Neglect State Statutes Series through December,
1998, approximately 10 states have enacted specific reporting procedures to be
followed for drug-exposed infants. Specific procedures are attached and also available
from NCCAN's website.

2. In addition to Louisiana, Washington, Missouri, Virginia, Nevada, and Florida have
also passed legislation or implemented pilot projects authorizing multiple track
responses to child maltreatment reports. According to the National Conference on State
Legislatures, several other states are crafting similar legislation. You may want to
visit their website at www.ncsl.org for more information. The American Humane
Association and the Center for the Study of Social Policy have also been tracking
these reforms and may be able to answer Dr. Barth's question about the handling of
drug-exposed infant reports.

You may find the following references useful:

Waldfogel, J. (1998). Rethinking the paradigm for child protection. The Future of
Children, 8 (1), 104-119. (Available on-line at www.futureofchildren.org)

Christian, S. (1997). New directions for child protective services: Supporting
children, families and communities through legislative reform. Washington, DC:
National Conference of State Legislatures.

English, D., Wingaard, T., Marshall, D., Orme, M., & Orme, A. (2000). Alternative
responses to child protective services: Emerging issues and concerns. Child Abuse &
Neglect, 24 (3), 375-388.

Institute of Applied Research. (November, 1997). Child protection services: Family
assessment and response demonstration. Impact evaluation: Final report. St. Louis, MO:
Author. (314/645-7444)

Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services. (1996). Family services
response system: Status report. Author.

According to Virginia's Department of Social Services, Virginia Tech is conducting
their MRS evaluation and should have a report available soon.

With much aloha,
Michelle A. Johnson, MSW
Honolulu, HI

> Date: Sat, 13 May 2000 19:20:15 -0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)
> From: rbarth@email.unc.edu (Rick Barth)
> To: Child Maltreatment Researchers <CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu>
>
> I'm trying to identify states that:
>
> 1.  Are requiring that children tested positive for drugs/alcohol at birth are
> reported to child welfare services
>
> 2.  Are providing dual track/family assessment services to their lower threat
> (typically neglect) cases
>
> 3.  Any states that are doing both and whether they are referring the drug-exposed
> chidlren and their families to the family assessment track and how that's working.
>
> So, if anyone has a tip on recent reports that summarize the status of state
> approaches to providing services to drug-exposed newborns OR has a tip on reports
> that summarize the status of "dual track/family assessment track" systems, I'd be
> much obliged to get that information
>
> And, if anyone has experience with #3 above, I'd be thrilled to hear from them.
>
> Thank You,
>
> Rick Barth
> University of North Carolina
> School of Social Work
>
> Richard P. Barth, Ph.D.
> Frank A Daniels Professor
> Jordan Institute for Families
> School of Social Work
> 301 Pittsboro Rd
> University of North Carolina
> Chapel Hill, NC  27599-3550
> (v) 919 962 6516
> (f)        962 1486

Fercello, Claudia wrote:

  If you know of a differential/alternative/dual track response to child
  protection in your state, would you please let me know?  Also, would you let
  me know if an evaluation of the program is planned or has been conducted.

  Thanks.

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