Risk assessment in child abuse prevention program

Abstract

j Karen McCurdy ; MA, is principal analyst, National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse, 332 South Michigan Avenue, Suite 1600, Chicago, IL 60604. With tims child have States over of been protective in child 1 1992 overwhelmed million maltreatment (McCurdy services children by & (CPS) confirmed the in Daro, the number agencies United 1994), vicof tims of child maltreatment in the United States in 1992 (McCurdy & Daro, 1994), child protective services (CPS) agencies have b n v rwh lm d by he umb r o children in need of both protection and treatment services. Experts in the field have begun to acknowledge the need for prevention in addition to child protection and treatment services to stem the increasing incidence of maltreatment ( Ayoub, Willett, & Robinson, 1992; U.S. General Accounting Office, 1992). To address this problem, many agencies have begun to target prevention services to high-risk communities with elevated levels of child abuse and other negative health outcomes for children. This strategy attempts to efficiently use scarce resources by focusing on the areas thought to be in greatest need of prevention services. Determining which families in such communities are at high risk for child abuse has proved, however, to be a complex and challenging undertaking. Numerous theoretical models exist that suggest that certain personal, familial, and environmental factors contribute to an increased likelihood of maltreatment. For example, learning theories suggest that individuals who have been raised in abusive or neglectful environments or have had limited experiences with positive relationships are likely to replicate these parenting behaviors with their own children (Steele, 1987). Individuals under stress or lacking the emotional or financial capacity to deal with the demands of child rearing may lash out at their children (Straus & Kantor, 1987). Still others argue that social policies that fail to nurture positive human interactions and leave communities without adequate social, health, or educational infrastructures create an environment ripe for abusive and violent behaviors (Garbarino, 1988). These theories have led to the development of various risk assessment models, most of which have been directed toward predicting a parent's likelihood of reabusing his or her child (McDonald & Marks, 1991; Schene & Bond, 1989). CPS agencies in at least 42