Barbara Needell
Center for Social Services Research
School of Social Welfare
120 Haviland Hall
Berkeley CA 94720-7400
US
Phone: (510) 642-1893

Paul J. Gruenewald
Prevention Research Center
1995 University Ave Ste 450
Berkeley CA 94704
USA
Phone: (510) 486-1111
FAX: (510) 644-0594
Email: paul@prev.org

Neighborhood alcohol and drug availability may present a unique way of intervening in neighborhoods with high rates of child maltreatment.  The passage of the Adoption and Safe Families Act (AFSA) in 1997 changed the landscape for the child welfare system in the United States by using time limits to hold counties more accountable for achieving permanent placement outcomes for children in foster care.  One challenge to fully implementing this legislation is the number of children in foster care due to parental substance abuse and the nature of substance abuse recovery is such that it is often marked by several relapse and treatment episodes.  Despite this, research has not been conducted that examines the role of the neighborhood characteristics related to drug and alcohol availability on rates of child abuse and neglect.  This study begins to address this lack of research by studying the relationship between alcohol outlet density and police incidents of drug produ!
ction, sales, and possessions, and neighborhood rates of child abuse and neglect.  Data from substantiated reports of child abuse and neglect in 304 block groups in a northern California city were analyzed using spatial regression techniques.  This study found that higher concentration of bars and higher incidents of drug possession were positively related to rates of child maltreatment in neighborhoods when controlling for neighborhood impoverishment, child care burden, and residential instability.  These results suggest that the neighborhood substance availability may deserve special attention when developing preventative interventions to reduce child abuse and neglect in neighborhood areas.