Re: Child Neglect

["Anna K. Hagemeister" <ahagemei@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mr. Lyle:

I am writing from St. Paul - actually the U of MN School of Social 
Work's Center Against Violence and Abuse (MinCAVA).  Since I am 
working with Drs. Sandra Beeman and Jeffrey Edleson here on the 
overlap of child maltreatment and domestic violence, I have a 
question about your stats.  

How many of those coded as "child neglect" are under "failure to 
protect?"  It's been our experience in data we've analyzed from other 
metropolitan county sources that 1/3 - 1/2 of the "Child Neglect" 
cases are coded as "failure to protect." And we have also found a 
very high relationship between those same cases and domestic violence 
going on in the home. The DV perpetrator may not be the biological 
parent of the child, nor legally married to the child's mother, but 
the case may often come in to CPS under mother's failure to protect.

With the new changes in MN state law about reporting suspected child 
maltreatment where a child has been exposed to/witnessed domestic 
violence, I am guessing the MN counties will see a rise in "child 
neglect."

If you'd like to talk more with us.  The office is at 612-624-0721.

Anna Hagemeister, MA
Research Assistant/Project Coordinator

> Date:          Mon, 30 Aug 1999 09:15:58 -0500
> Reply-to:      CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@xxxxxxxxxxx
> From:          "Lyle, Gene" <Gene.Lyle@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To:            Child Maltreatment Researchers <CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject:       Child Neglect
> X-To:          "'CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@xxxxxxxxxxx'"
>                <CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@xxxxxxxxxxx>

> We have seen a rather dramatic increase in the past few years in the
> proportion of families in Ramsey County (St. Paul, MN) being assessed by our
> Department for reported child neglect (as opposed to child abuse, e.g.,
> physical, sexual). Many of these are Educational Neglect cases (children
> failing to attend school) but when you dig into them a bit you find that Ed
> Neglect is just the tip of the iceberg. In our attempts to understand this
> increase and its implications for our agency and the community, we're
> looking for references regarding child neglect outcomes, e.g., studies that
> have assessed the long-term impacts of child neglect and any interventions,
> program changes, etc. that may have been implemented as a result of research
> studies and recommendations growing out of those studies. We're just
> beginning our search now and would appreciate being directed toward any
> relevant materials that experts in the field might recommend. We're not
> limiting our perspective to Ed Neglect but at the broad category of child
> neglect in general.
> 
> Thanks in advance for any contributions to our quest.
> 
> Gene Lyle
> Office of Performance Measurement & Evaluation
> Ramsey County Community Human Services Dept.
> St. Paul, MN
> 
> 
> 
***********************************************
Annelies Hagemeister, M.A.
Research Assistant, School of Social Work
Graduate Student, SSW and Family Social Science
University of Minnesota
St. Paul, MN  55108
612-624-8796
hage0044@xxxxxxxxxx

The whole is greater than 
the sum of its parts.