Peer-reviewed article
Child maltreatment and social welfare service involvement is linked to higher rates of criminal cautions and convictions by early adulthood.
Leyland A, Webb CJR, Hughes N, Bennett M ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined 1.7 million children born in England between 1995-1998 to understand whether involvement with child welfare services protects children from later criminal justice contact. Children who received any child welfare service intervention had significantly higher odds of receiving criminal cautions or convictions by early adulthood. Girls showed even higher risks than boys at all levels of service involvement. The findings suggest that while welfare services identify vulnerable children, they do not prevent criminalization of these young people.
Key points
- Children referred to or receiving child welfare services had 1.86 to 4.21 times higher odds of criminal justice contact by early adulthood
- Girls receiving welfare services had higher odds of criminalization (2.15-5.69) compared to boys (1.75-3.52)
- Child welfare service involvement reflects higher levels of need but does not protect young people from criminalization
- Study analyzed whole-population administrative data linking Department for Education and Ministry of Justice records
- Criminal justice contact included any caution or conviction received by 2020
Limitations
The study documents an association between welfare service involvement and later criminal justice contact but cannot definitively establish causation or determine whether the elevated risk is due to service involvement itself, the underlying vulnerabilities that trigger service involvement, or other unmeasured confounding factors. The analysis does not examine the quality, type, or duration of welfare interventions received.
Abstract
Background Child maltreatment is a major public health issue. Child welfare services are provided to many children at risk of maltreatment to try and prevent negative outcomes and serious long-term harm. The excess risk of criminal justice contact among children receiving these welfare services is not well established and less is known about differences between male and female children, making effective health policy responses difficult. Methods The study analyses linked whole-population administrative data from the Department for Education and Ministry of Justice in England N = 1,708,565 for children born between 1995 and 1998. Multilevel logistic regression models for the whole population, and male and female subgroups, predict the odds of receiving any criminal caution or conviction by 2020 across all levels of child welfare service involvement, while accounting for other covariates. Findings Children referred to or receiving any intervention from child welfare services have increased odds of contact with the criminal justice system, OR 1.86 [1.83, 1.93] to OR 4.21 [4.08, 4.33]. With higher odds for girls at all levels of social welfare involvement OR 2.15-5.69, compared to boys OR 1.75-3.52. Conclusions Risk of criminal justice involvement is increased for those referred to or receiving a child welfare service intervention. While this reflects the higher levels of need identified by child welfare services, it also indicates that engagement of child welfare services does not protect young people from criminalisation. Strategies are needed to address the consequences for these young peoples' health.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Child welfare service referral and interventions provided to children at risk of maltreatment
- Population
- 1,708,565 children born in England 1995-1998, with analyses by sex (male and female subgroups)
Key finding
Children with any child welfare service involvement had odds ratios of 1.86 to 4.21 for criminal cautions or convictions
A et al. · Europe PMC · 14 Nov 2025