Peer-reviewed article
Does paternal criminal legal system involvement increase children's risk of child protective services contact? Evidence from Wisconsin linked administrative data.
Font SA, Turney K, Wildeman C ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined why children whose fathers have criminal justice involvement are more likely to be reported to child protective services. Using data on over 103,000 Wisconsin children followed from birth to age 12, researchers found that the risk of CPS contact was highest immediately after police encounters with fathers. The main reason was mandatory reporting laws requiring law enforcement to report to CPS. The study found that ongoing incarceration alone was not the key driver; instead, the overlap between criminal justice and child protection systems appears largely mechanical rather than due to criminal justice involvement itself causing harm to children.
Key points
- CPS contact risk was highest in the month of a police encounter with the father
- Most CPS reports following police contact came directly from law enforcement, indicating mandatory reporting mechanisms
- Ongoing paternal incarceration was not associated with higher CPS reports than other ongoing criminal legal system involvement
- CPS reports were actually less likely during periods of ongoing criminal legal system involvement than immediately before
- CPS reports from law enforcement were more likely when paternal criminal contact involved domestic violence, drugs, or child victimization
Limitations
The study is observational and cannot determine whether paternal criminal justice involvement causally harms children or whether the association is purely driven by reporting processes. The study also cannot fully explore long-term developmental outcomes for children or distinguish between substantiated and unsubstantiated CPS reports.
Abstract
Background Research shows a strong overlap between paternal criminal legal system (CLS) involvement-especially incarceration-and children's involvement with Child Protective Services (CPS) and foster care placement. Objective To examine three explanations for the CLS-CPS overlap: (1) selection processes where a common set of factors drive CLS and CPS involvement, (2) mechanical processes, such as mandatory reporting by law enforcement to CPS, or (3) consequences that stem from paternal CLS involvement, such as reduced economic resources or increased harsh parenting. Participants and setting The sample is 103,107 Wisconsin children and their parents followed from birth through age 12. Methods We use discrete time hazard models to model time-varying associations between paternal CLS contact and children's CPS reports and foster care entry. Results The odds of CPS contact and foster care entry were highest in the month of a police encounter. This was largely due to CPS reports from law enforcement, suggesting the core role of mechanical processes. Ongoing paternal incarceration did not differ from ongoing noncustodial CLS involvement in its associations with CPS reports or foster care entries. CPS reports were less likely to occur during periods of ongoing CLS involvement than in the period immediately preceding CLS contact. CPS reports from law enforcement were more likely when paternal CLS contact was due to domestic violence, drugs, or child victimization. Conclusions The CLS-CPS overlap is not specific to paternal incarceration and may largely be driven by mandatory reporting laws following police contact.