Announcing availability of a new NDACAN dataset

["Elliott G. Smith" <egs1@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

The National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect would like to announce 
the availability of dataset number 83, "Decision-Making in Child Protective 
Services: A Study of Effectiveness, Phase 1, 1997." This study was 
conducted by Diana J. English, Ph.D., and colleagues of the Washington 
State Department of Social and Health Services, and funded by the 
Children's Bureau, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Using data obtained by the Office of Children's Administration Research in 
the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, 
investigators compared substantiated child protective services (CPS) 
referrals to those classified as inconclusive or unsubstantiated. The 
primary objectives of the study were to examine the decision-making 
criteria used by CPS workers and to assess the effectiveness of criteria 
associated with major CPS decisions. Factors influencing decisions and 
subsequent outcomes for families such as re-referral, recurrence, and 
placement were examined.

The analytic dataset was drawn from all CPS referrals accepted for 
investigation between July 1, 1994 and June 30, 1995. Of the 41,652 calls 
CPS accepted for investigation during the target year, 12,978 met a defined 
set of criteria for inclusion in the dataset. In addition to abuse history 
and demographic data, the file contains the results of a 37-item risk 
assessment tool, known as the Risk Factor Matrix. The tool includes 
assessments in the following domains:  child characteristics; severity of 
abuse or neglect; chronicity; caretaker characteristics; caretaker 
relationship; social and economic factors; and perpetrator access.

Additional information regarding this dataset will soon be available on the 
NDACAN website (www.ndacan.cornell.edu). In the meantime, please contact me 
directly for more information.

Thanks,
Elliott Smith

------------------------
Elliott G. Smith, Ph.D.
Project Manager
National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect
Family Life Development Center
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY  14853
Phone: 607.255.8104  E-mail: egs1@cornell.edu  Web: www.ndacan.cornell.edu