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>
The aim of this paper is to highlight major shifts in research regarding children and childhood as a narrative of the author. It starts from presenting a retrospective of child poverty research in Estonia, and it is demonstrated how it has developed from the social and political acknowledgement of poverty as a social issue in the early 1990s. Then it revisits main shifts in theory and methodology of childhood research and reaches international comparative approaches to child subjective and relational well-being.
The global community is facing multisystemic challenges, the youngest generations additionally burdened by unprecedented risks shaping their future. In the context of change and instability, resilience is a necessary element of children’s physical and mental health, their development and well-being. Building multisystemic resilience means ensuring that all systems children and youth exist in, from families and schools to countries and ecosystems, are able to cope with, adapt to, and transform, in response to current and future shocks and stresses. The article presents recent theories and research on multisystemic resilience and approaches to strengthening and building resilience. The author encourages the readers to analyze ways in which they can act within their own communities to create more resilient environments, networks and support systems that nurture the well-being of children and help them not only adapt to, but also thrive in, the world as it is today.
