Child Neglect: Cross Sector Service Paths and Outcomes (1993-2001)

Dataset Number: 116
Investigator(s): Johnson-Reid, M.
Abstract: "Child Neglect: Cross Sector Service Paths & Outcomes" was the first phase of a project that is part of a competitive renewal (scheduled to end in 2008). Using administrative data drawn from education, health, juvenile corrections and social service agencies, this study compared cross sector service paths and outcomes of children in families receiving AFDC and reported to child welfare agencies (1993-1994) compared to a group of children matched by birth year and county of residence in families receiving AFDC, but not reported to child welfare agencies. Children were born 1982 through 1994 and were all under the age of 12 at the study onset. The total number of children in the sample is 10,187. Of the total sample, 5,087 of the children were in the Maltreatment/AFDC group and 5,100 children were in the AFDC Only group. The first phase study AIMS compared maltreated to non-maltreated children according to: (1) Cross-sector service use (sequence, frequency, co-occurrence & duration); (2) The relationship of service patterns to child and adolescent outcomes (e.g. mortality, foster care entry, entry into Special Education, etc.); (3) The association between certain caretaker level outcomes (e.g., permanent exit from AFDC) and child and adolescent outcomes. The AIMS were also examined according to type of maltreatment within the maltreated sample group. Key findings indicate that a report of maltreatment does contribute to the risk of special education entry, death, and entry into juvenile corrections above and beyond poverty. Overall, low-income children who also had maltreatment reports had higher rates of service use and negative outcomes across systems. The children in the maltreated group also entered more service systems on average than the low-income only group. A caretaker's permanent exit from a first spell on AFDC was associated with lower risk of certain negative outcomes like juvenile court petitions. This relationship was stronger for the low-income only group. In general, first reports of neglect, physical abuse or mixed type maltreatment were equally likely to result in later poor outcomes. However, children reported for neglect and mixed type (majority includes neglect) maltreatment were more likely to have recurrent reports of maltreatment and recurrent reports were associated with more negative outcomes.
Download User's Guide (Data Codebook): PDF
List of Publications: 116 Jonson-Reid Publications

  Back to List