Child Maltreatment Epidemiology
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Supporting Maltreatment Prevention
Kempe’s focus is understanding the prevalence and incidence of maltreatment in order to support maltreatment prevention throughout the world.
Projects & Studies
The Arctic Childhood Study
A study of violence and health in indigenous Sámi and non-Sámi children and youth in Arctic Norway – a mixed method cohort study design.
Study Principal Investigator: Ketil Lenert Hansen, Arctic University of Tromso, Norway
Kempe Consultation and Fulbright Specialist: John Fluke
The Arctic Childhood Study aims to fill a major gap of knowledge about the experiences of abuse and neglect among indigenous Sámi children and youth. The proposed study is the first longitudinal research project of its kind in Norway with a particular focus on all forms of violence against Sámi and non-Sámi children and youth in the high north, including the conceptual framework for implementing Indigenous methodology. The study is highly relevant to the Arctic region of Norway and Sámi and non-Sámi children as violence rates are higher in the north. We aim to fill the gap of evidence-based knowledge in the field of these serious problems.
The study has a mixed methods design, including process evaluation of pilot-study, and combines qualitative and quantitative data, applying Indigenous collective-informed research. Research activities includes scoping review of abuse and neglect among youth in the Arctic, languages translation of I-Cast questionnaires, pilot-study of Norwegian and Sámi languages questionaries with focus group discussions, and main study with predominantly cohort study design, using surveys with long-term follow-up in order to explore a broad range of child maltreatment, health and culturally specific experiences.
The design of the study, with a strong focus on indigenous methodology, facilitates the involvement of Sámi youth and non-Sámi youth and contribute to the development of a better understanding of violence and its consequences, the proposed study explores cultural risk and protective factors and their relation to abuse and neglect in order to gain knowledge about how to prevent these negative exposures to Arctic children and youth. Culturally appropriate and effective prevention approaches are needed for indigenous children and youth. The results of the study may have implications for families, advocate groups, school professionals, health sector, administrators, and policy makers responsible for early identification and prevention programs in child and adolescent health sectors in Norway. The results of this investigation can be used to design appropriate and maximally beneficial intervention strategies to reduce and prevent violence, bases on rigorous Norwegian data on violence and health.
US Report And Placement Integrated Data System (RAPIDS)
The new US Report And Placement Integrated Data System (RAPIDS) data construction algorithms combine data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) and the Adoption and Foster Care Reporting System (AFCARS) into a single, linked longitudinal dataset. Records in the dataset encompass child maltreatment reports and foster care spells for a unique child. Kempe faculty are working with colleagues at Washington University – St. Louis and University of Illinois Urbana – Champaign to build out the infrastructure required for informed and open-source use of these new programs. The RAPIDS program can transform existing NCANDS and AFCARS data into a single, user-friendly dataset for use by researchers who have existing data use agreements with the National Data Archive for Child Abuse and Neglect (NDACAN). The team will also build and test linkages to policy and census data files to enhance policy relevant analyses of child maltreatment incidence.
A historical database that accurately captures longitudinal sequences of all maltreatment reports and foster care cases nationally over a decade and a half is a critical advancement for CM surveillance in the US. RAPIDS data, together with the new linkages to policy and census information, are a significant improvement over the raw NCANDS and AFCARS data. A child’s entire lifetime trajectory (during the 2005 and onward timeframe) of maltreatment reports and spells in care will be available using RAPIDS. These linked data have the potential to support a wide range of relevant research questions.
Our team is taking an open-source approach and making the programs widely available. The project includes these objectives:
- build comprehensive user infrastructure for RAPIDS (including fully documented algorithms and a user’s guide);
- conduct and disseminate initial RAPIDS analyses for research questions of relevance which will form the basis for developing training materials;
- determine and summarize the feasibility of integrating RAPIDS with CDC data, the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD), and other data sources;
- create training materials and conduct an in-person user training workshop; and
- develop broad recommendations to support future research.
Find Out More
For more information, please contact:
Dr. Rebecca Orsi-Hunt
CU Anschutz PI
[email protected]
Please also reference the first article published using RAPIDS data in the journal Child Maltreatment:
Drake, B., Fluke, J. D., Kim, H., Orsi, R., & Stubblefield, J. (2022). What Proportion of Foster Care Children Do Not Have CPS Reports? A Preliminary Look. Child Maltreatment, 27(4), 596-604. doi: 10.1177/10775595211033855.
View here.
In this study we found that surprising numbers of children in out-of-home care in child protective services (CPS) systems lack a preceding maltreatment allegation, with large levels of state variability.
The Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN)
The Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN) is a 14-year longitudinal study of the etiology and consequence of child maltreatment. Launched in the 1990s, LONGSCAN was made up of a consortium of five sites across the US and a study coordinating center located at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Comprehensive assessments of children, their parents, and their teachers occurred during face-to-face interviews at child ages 4, 6, 8, 12, 14, 16, and 18. Maltreatment history was collected from multiple sources, including CPS record reviews at least every two years. Yearly telephone interviews allowed sites to track families and assess yearly service utilization and life events. The baseline sample included 1,354 children. Domains of assessment included (but not limited to) child behavior, psychological/psychiatric disorders, substance use, sexual risk behaviors, health, violence and aggression, criminal behavior, resilience factors, parenting, and exposure to violence throughout the course of the study. The National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect (NDACAN) make a restricted dataset available to members of the research community who meet eligibility criteria and agree to the requirements of the data license.
Colorado Community Response (CCR)
Project Abstract:
In 2013, Colorado Community Response (CCR) was selected as part of a group of cornerstone prevention programs formed or expanded under Governor Hickenlooper’s master child welfare plan, “Keeping Kids Safe and Families Healthy 2.0”. The goal of prevention programs, such as CCR, is to reduce the likelihood of entry or reentry into the child welfare system and prevent child maltreatment. The theory of change is that by engaging at-risk families in voluntary services the risk of child maltreatment will be mitigated by strengthening families’ protective factors, building social capital, increasing financial stability and self-sufficiency, and improving family functioning and well-being. The CCR program provides comprehensive case management services with a focus on assisting families to access to concrete services, including one-time cash assistance (i.e. flex funds), by leveraging both formal systems and informal resources to meet their needs.
The Social Work Research Center (SWRC) in the School of Social Work at Colorado State University (CSU) and the Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect (Kempe Center) were selected by CDHS as the evaluation team for CCR. After completing a four-month pre-pilot, the CCR pilot evaluation officially began in November 2014 with the first cohort of 12 sites. An additional cohort of nine sites was brought on in July 2015 and the evaluation was implemented in those sites at the time of program start-up. The evaluation found that families who complete CCR are enhancing protective factors, building social capital, increasing stability, improving family functioning and self-reliance, and receiving concrete supports. Child welfare re-involvement, as measured by subsequent founded assessments and out-of-home placements, was also lower for CCR completers than families with similar demographics and case characteristics who did not complete CCR.
