New Directions in Child Abuse and Neglect Research (2014) / Chapter Skim
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8 Child Abuse and Neglect Policy
8 Child Abuse and Neglect Policy
Pages 349-384
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From page 349... ...
Related research needs are detailed as well. Policy change in the child protection arena frequently has resulted from a synergistic set of factors: (1)
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From page 350... ...
The report includes a nine-page "Proposed National Child Protection Policy" and a call for an appropriate federal research agency to determine the cost of implementing such a policy, as well as the cost of not doing so. To help prevent child abuse and neglect, the report's recommendations also include the first call by a blue-ribbon federal panel for national implementation of universal voluntary neonatal home visitation (what the report calls a "dramatic new federal initiative aimed at preventing child maltreatment")
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From page 351... ...
• How can policy promote fairness in child protective interventions, recognizing, for example, that some families come from different cultures whose practices may not coincide with what is covered by child protection laws? • What is the appropriate balance between the due process rights of parents not to have child abuse or neglect case records preserved by child protection agencies in cases that are very old or in which a report of abuse or neglect was not substantiated and the authority of states to maintain appropriate central registries of child abuse and neglect case-related data that might later be used as part of child protection efforts?
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From page 352... ...
They also designate those who must report suspected child abuse and neglect, or make all citizens with reason to suspect abuse and neglect mandated reporters. State laws addressing the abuse and neglect of children were passed in all 50 states following the 1962 amendments to the Social Security Act that required all states to include child protection in their child welfare systems (Myers, 2008)
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From page 353... ...
Important research-appropriate policy issues affecting hundreds of thousands of children annually relate to such topics as • mandatory reporting; • child abuse central registries (record-keeping repositories) and re lated issues of constitutional rights; • education of potential child abuse and neglect reporters, sometimes tied to health professional licensing; • the use of safety and risk assessment instruments by child protec tive services agency personnel; • training in child abuse and neglect and family violence in medical and other professional schools; • organization of child protection service delivery at the state or county government level; • adoption of new approaches to working with families in which child abuse and neglect is suspected, such as differential response and family group decision making; • in increasing numbers of states, replacing the traditional process of making substantiation decisions in all cases of reported child abuse and neglect that are investigated with an assessment process that does not label parents as having abused or neglected their child; 1 U.S.C.
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FEDERAL LAWS AND POLICIES This section reviews key federal laws and policies designed to address the incidence and consequences of child abuse and neglect that have been enacted over the last several decades and suggests areas in which future research is needed. The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act In 1974, CAPTA3 authorized, among other things, very modest funds for a state grant program focused on initial child protective intervention in cases of suspected abuse or neglect; Congress has since appropriated these funds annually.
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From page 355... ...
Although few states have such limiting language in their definitions of what must be reported, there is no evidence on whether this limiting language results in abused and neglected children falling through the cracks or whether child protective services agencies receive large numbers of reports in which the harm to children is not considered serious. Likewise, the committee has seen no research on how the CAPTA definition of sexual abuse, which was broadened to include acts related to the production of child pornography, statutory rape, and prostitution of children, has affected the protection of those children.
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From page 356... ...
For example, state legislatures have broadened the scope of who must report suspected child abuse and neglect, penalized the making of false reports of abuse and neglect, extended access to child protective services records to members of multidisciplinary child protection teams, required cross reporting of cases by child protective services to the police (and vice versa) , and required that a child's guardian ad litem be an attorney.
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From page 357... ...
Except for the support of the Children's Bureau in studying the implementation of differential response and some statewide studies of that practice reform, however, the committee is unaware of any investment in research to determine how these CAPTA-promoted best practices are being implemented across the country. One eligibility requirement of CAPTA that has been studied involves important state citizen oversight of child protective services.
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; (3) the number of children referred to child protective services for prenatal drug or alcohol exposure; and (4)
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CAPTA discretionary funding for demonstration projects Although it is very limited, each year CAPTA discretionary funding is used to support individual grants for state and local child abuse and neglect-related projects. CAPTA requires these discretionary grant projects "to be evaluated for their effectiveness." Funded projects must provide for such evaluations either as a stated percentage of their demonstration grant funding or as a separate grant or contract entered into by HHS for the purpose of evaluating that project or a group of projects.
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From page 360... ...
At each periodic reauthorization of CAPTA, members of Congress have added provisions to the law requiring (through additions to State Grant eligibility requirements) that state and county child protective services systems do more, but always without providing any increased federal resources.
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facility." This makes this provision, in essence, the federal lands equivalent of the state mandatory reporting law requirement of CAPTA. The VCAA language about reporting (i.e., what to report, when to report, who must report, cross-reporting obligations, immunity for reporters, penalties for failure to report, and training requirements for prospective reporters)
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From page 362... ...
Although this law was intended to reduce system-related child trauma, the committee is unaware of any studies of the implementation of its provisions. Laws on Reporting and Responding to Child Abuse in Indian Country7 The Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act of 1990 was enacted to address the perceived lack of reporting of child abuse and neglect by Indian nations.
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From page 363... ...
Finding: The Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act established mandatory reporting of child abuse and neglect on In dian lands, but no research has examined the incidence of or responses to child abuse and neglect on Indian lands. Finding: The Indian Child Welfare Act established tribal authority over decisions to place American Indian children in out-of-home care,
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Laws Establishing Definitions of Child Abuse and Neglect, Laws Defining Drug Use as a Form of Child Abuse and Neglect, and Laws Pertaining to Witnessing Domestic Violence As previously discussed in this chapter, CAPTA establishes a minimum threshold for the definition of child abuse and neglect beyond which states are free to develop their own variations. These state definitions, established by state legislative and child protective departmental authority, consistently include definitions of physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and emotional abuse (CWIG, 2011b)
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From page 365... ...
Nearly all states have laws within their child protection statutes that address the issue of substance use by parents. CAPTA funding is predicated on having procedures in place for notification of child protective services when babies are born exposed to substances and on having plans in place for their safe care.
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Perhaps for this reason, many states do not address domestic violence issues within their child protection laws. Several studies have been conducted on legislative and policy shifts related to identifying children who witness domestic violence.
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Although data are not available with which to compare abuse and neglect rates before and after specific child abuse and neglect laws were established, the more recent passage of laws identifying substance abuse and domestic violence as child abuse and neglect related could be explored. Studies could also examine underlying mechanisms thought to explain the impact of these phenomena on untoward outcomes.
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anonymity or confidentiality of reporters and the reporting documents. In 2012, pursuant to a mandate in the 2010 CAPTA reauthorization, HHS began studying the issue of liability of those who assist child protective services in their investigations or otherwise become involved in the child protection process after an initial report is made.
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. In Minnesota, state law requires child protective services agencies to inform mandated reporters periodically about definitions and rules and any additional definitions or criteria approved by the county board (Alter et al., 2012)
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previous reports of suspected abuse and neglect had been ruled out by child protective services (Alter et al., 2012)
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. The Washington Risk Model, a comprehensive decision-making tool established in 1987, was found by researchers not only to provide the risk information required in the central electronic data system but also to serve as an organizational framework for child protective services workers (English et al., 2002)
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Criminal Sentencing Laws Criminal penalties for child physical and sexual abuse vary considerably across states, and they are presumed to be dependent on the nature 10 Medical diagnosis refers to "medical assessment of suspected child abuse or neglect to arrive at a diagnosis, and systems for medical diagnosis to refer to programs that are established to foster the process of medical diagnosis" (Socolar et al., 2001, p.
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Disclosure of Confidential Child Abuse and Neglect Records Federal funding through CAPTA requires states to keep records of child maltreatment confidential to protect the rights of the child and the child's parents or legal guardians. State statutes vary with respect to the persons or entities allowed access to the central registry and other child protective services agency records of abuse and neglect.
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Some have been critical, as in a white paper by the Evan B Donaldson Adoption Institute, which suggests that safe haven laws have not been shown to be effective in minimizing unsafe infant abandonment; that the laws are limited by their inability to address the underlying causes of infant abandonment; and that the laws can interfere with aspects of child welfare policy, particularly with adoption statutes (Evan B
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From page 375... ...
Child Abuse and Neglect Central Registries Registries that maintain statewide information on individual child abuse and neglect cases remain a needed policy-related research focus. In addition, Section 633 of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act required HHS to establish a national child abuse registry and to conduct a feasibility study regarding implementation issues.
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From page 376... ...
found that in Michigan, policy changes made after an initial phase of reviews of child fatalities due to abuse and neglect appeared to have positive impacts. Decreases were seen in fatalities among children familiar to child protective services, and specific policy changes appeared to result in improved professional practice.
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suggest that it is important to consider whether changes proposed by the review panel could reasonably be expected to affect child abuse and neglect-related fatalities. A number of changes in state law, policy, and procedures during this time impacted child protective services procedures, including training, supervision, and peer review.
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From page 378... ...
Finding: State laws differ significantly in defining child abuse and ne glect. Very little research has examined the impacts of state definitions of child abuse and neglect on child safety, including the effects of in stituting state definitions; changing state definitions to include educa tional neglect, medical neglect, parental substance abuse, or exposure to intimate partner violence; and differences among state definitions.
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No research establishes that any state's statutory scheme for releasing records leads to better protection of children. Finding: No rigorous evaluations have examined the impact of safe haven laws on infant abandonment or death.
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CONCLUSIONS The heterogeneity of state laws on child abuse and neglect offers an opportunity for a natural experiment that could help illuminate what does and does not work. The impact of policy change could be examined by studying state variations in such areas as mandated reporters, definitions of abuse and neglect, inclusion of the witnessing of intimate partner violence, and other elements included in state laws, as well as the range of penalties.
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From page 381... ...
2002. Causes and consequences of the substantiation decision in Washington state child protective services.
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2012. Analysis of state laws regarding mandated reporting of child maltreatment with appendix.
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2000. The child welfare challenge: Policy, practice, and research, 2nd ed.
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