Exploring The Relationship Between Services And The Recurrence Of Child
Maltreatment
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Diane DePanfilis
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School of Social Work
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University of Maryland
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525 West Redwood St.
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Baltimore MD 21201
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410-706-3609
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FAX: 410-706-6046
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ddepanfi@ssw.umaryland.edu
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Susan Zuravin
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School of Social Work
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University of Maryland
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525 West Redwood St.
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Baltimore MD 21201
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410-706-3608
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FAX: 410-706-6046
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szuravin@ssw.umaryland.edu
Despite the fact that the success of Child Protective Services (CPS) intervention
has been suggested to be synonymous with cessation of child maltreatment
and that the federal government now requires states to report on the degree
to which children are safe from recurrences of child maltreatment, there
has been little effort to examine how services affect this outcome.
Objective: Building on a previous model of recurrence,
this study examined the relationship of services to the likelihood of child
maltreatment recurrence in an urban jurisdiction.
Method: This non-concurrent prospective study selected 434 subject
families who met study eligibility requirements from 1181 families randomly
selected from the 2902 families who had experienced a substantiated report
of child abuse or neglect during the sampling year. Data were collected
and coded from archival sources for five years following the index report.
Data were analyzed with the Cox Proportional Regression Model.
Results: Case characteristics that predicted recurrence
were: child vulnerability, family stress, partner abuse, and social support
deficits. After examining the potential effect of nine service-related
variables only attendance at services predicted recurrence while controlling
for other variables in the model. Families who were noted to attend
the services identified in their service plans were 33% less likely to
experience a recurrence of child maltreatment while their case was active
with CPS.
Conclusions: Implications of this and other research suggests
that actively engaging families in a helping alliance and helping them
accept and receive services may reduce the likelihood of future maltreatment.