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Child Maltreatment Investigations and Family Well-being
Katherine Rittenhouse, David Simon, Lindsey Lacey ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This working paper studies what happens to children's health when a child maltreatment report is investigated by the child protection system in the United States. It compares children just above and just below the threshold at which a referral is automatically "defaulted" into an investigation. Children just above the threshold had fewer injuries and more preventative care in the two months after the referral. The paper also finds that investigations make it more likely that a parent is jailed. The authors suggest the investigation itself, not child removal or parental involvement with the justice system, explains the health improvement.
Key points
- Over one third of children in the U.S. are investigated by child protection services by age 18.
- Children just above the default-investigation threshold had fewer injuries in the two months after referral.
- The same children had more preventative care in that period.
- Effects were consistent across child gender, race and age.
- Investigations increased the likelihood that a parent was jailed.
Limitations
The abstract does not give sample size, effect sizes, data sources or the time period studied. Results cover only the two months after referral and children near the threshold, so they may not apply to longer-term outcomes or to other children or countries.
Abstract
Over one third of children in the U.S. are investigated by the child protection system (CPS) by age 18, but the effects of this interaction on families and children are largely unknown. Investigations aim to protect children from harm and direct services to families in need. However, they also bring the implicit threat of child removal, which can generate both stress and institutional distrust among affected families. Using a regression discontinuity design, we study the impacts of this interaction on child health. Children who are just above the threshold for being “defaulted” into an investigation see a reduction in injuries and an increase in preventative care in the two months following the referral. Effects are consistent across child gender, race and age. Finally, investigations increase the likelihood that a parent is jailed, suggesting that investigations also detect criminal activity within the home. An exploration of mechanisms suggests that it is the investigation, rather than home removal or parental criminal justice system involvement, which improves child health.<br><br>Institutional subscribers to the NBER working paper series, and residents of developing countries may download this paper without additional charge at <a href="http://www.nber.org/papers/w34334" TARGET="_blank">www.nber.org</a>.<br>
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Child protection system investigation following a maltreatment referral, where referrals above a threshold are automatically "defaulted" into investigation
- Population
- Children in the U.S. referred to the child protection system
Key finding
Reduction in injuries in the two months after referral for children just above the threshold
Rittenhouse et al. · Crossref · 1 Jan 2025