Responding to child maltreatment: Comparison between the USA and China

Abstract

A recent study estimated that over one‐fourth of Chinese children have suffered maltreatment (Fang et al., 2015). However, the current child welfare policy in China is limited to orphans, abandoned children, and children with disabilities. Also, there is very little comparative research in China on Chinese and other countries’ child welfare systems. The purpose of this study was to analyze applicable US and Chinese child welfare policies, identify gaps in Chinese policy regarding child maltreatment, and make recommendations for a policy agenda for improving child welfare in China based on cultural values and existing policy structures. Results show that China has considerable capacity to make improvements in child protective services, foster care, and adoption policies. Based on the results of this study, several implications are provided to develop China's child maltreatment policy to increase children's outcomes of well‐being, safety, and permanency.Key Practitioner Message: • To understand the background and system of current Chinese child maltreatment policy; • To review US child maltreatment policy and its implementation to identify gaps in the Chinese child maltreatment system; • To provide policy suggestions to develop Chinese child maltreatment policy and provide recommendations for social work education and practice in China.