How can county-level maltreatment report rates better inform child welfare practice?

Abstract

Building on knowledge about community-level characteristics associated with child maltreatment, this study identifies new ways that county-level variation in child maltreatment report rates can be used to assess the adequacy and equity of child welfare services. With data from multiple sources linked to maltreatment data from NCANDS, multi-level models identified county and state-level characteristics associated with county-level maltreatment reports. Characteristics previously found to be associated with child maltreatment reports at the community level were associated at the county level. Further, most counties with high risk characteristics for child maltreatment also had high child maltreatment report rates. Still, 16 counties in the highest risk quartile for child maltreatment were in the lowest quartile of maltreatment reports. Findings illustrate additional ways that national child maltreatment data can be used to inform child welfare practitioners and policymakers and inspire data-informed efforts to improve child welfare services.