TY - JOUR
T1 - Lifetime risk of child protection system involvement in South Australia for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children
T2 - 1986–2017 using linked administrative data
AU - Segal, Leonie
AU - Nguyen, Ha
AU - Mansor, Mahayaudin M.
AU - Gnanamanickam, Emmanuel
AU - Doidge, James C.
AU - Preen, David B.
AU - Brown, Derek S.
AU - Pearson, Odette
AU - Armfield, Jason M.
PY - 2019/11
Y1 - 2019/11
N2 - BackgroundChild
protection services exist to reduce potential harms from child
maltreatment. Many jurisdictions produce annual data on child protection
system (CPS) involvement, leaving a gap in knowledge of lifetime
involvement.ObjectiveTo describe lifetime involvement in CPS, by type of contact.ParticipantsAll 608,547 children born in South Australia (SA), Australia between 1986 and 2017.MethodsA
retrospective cohort design using linked administrative data to report
cumulative incidence of CPS involvement from birth to age <18 (or
June30 2017) by Aboriginal status. CPS involvement was categorised into
notifications (3 levels), investigations, substantiations and
out-of-home care (OOHC). Cumulative incidence curves were derived for 5
birth cohorts.ResultsAcross
childhood (to age <18 years), substantiated maltreatment was
experienced by 3.2–3.6% of non-Aboriginal and 19–25% of Aboriginal
children, 7 times reported annual substantiation rates. For most CPS
categories CPS involvement increased until 2010, and was occurring
earlier in life. By age 3, 0.5% of non-Aboriginal and 4.5% of Aboriginal
children born 1986–1991 were the subject of a substantiation compared
with 1.9% and 15% of non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal children,
respectively, born 2010–2017. Incidence rates beyond age 3 were similar.
OOHC contact was similar across cohorts, with ˜1.5% of non-Aboriginal
and 12.7% of Aboriginal children ever-placed in care.ConclusionsData
linkage is an essential tool for understanding life course involvement
with the CPS and describing trends not observable from annual snapshots.
Such information is critical for burden of disease estimates, informing
policy and monitoring CPS performance.
AB - BackgroundChild
protection services exist to reduce potential harms from child
maltreatment. Many jurisdictions produce annual data on child protection
system (CPS) involvement, leaving a gap in knowledge of lifetime
involvement.ObjectiveTo describe lifetime involvement in CPS, by type of contact.ParticipantsAll 608,547 children born in South Australia (SA), Australia between 1986 and 2017.MethodsA
retrospective cohort design using linked administrative data to report
cumulative incidence of CPS involvement from birth to age <18 (or
June30 2017) by Aboriginal status. CPS involvement was categorised into
notifications (3 levels), investigations, substantiations and
out-of-home care (OOHC). Cumulative incidence curves were derived for 5
birth cohorts.ResultsAcross
childhood (to age <18 years), substantiated maltreatment was
experienced by 3.2–3.6% of non-Aboriginal and 19–25% of Aboriginal
children, 7 times reported annual substantiation rates. For most CPS
categories CPS involvement increased until 2010, and was occurring
earlier in life. By age 3, 0.5% of non-Aboriginal and 4.5% of Aboriginal
children born 1986–1991 were the subject of a substantiation compared
with 1.9% and 15% of non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal children,
respectively, born 2010–2017. Incidence rates beyond age 3 were similar.
OOHC contact was similar across cohorts, with ˜1.5% of non-Aboriginal
and 12.7% of Aboriginal children ever-placed in care.ConclusionsData
linkage is an essential tool for understanding life course involvement
with the CPS and describing trends not observable from annual snapshots.
Such information is critical for burden of disease estimates, informing
policy and monitoring CPS performance.
KW - Child maltreatment
KW - Child protection system
KW - Longitudinal cohort
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85071186070&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://purl.org/au-research/grants/NHMRC/1103439
U2 - 10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.104145
DO - 10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.104145
M3 - Article
C2 - 31465961
AN - SCOPUS:85071186070
SN - 0145-2134
VL - 97
JO - Child Abuse and Neglect
JF - Child Abuse and Neglect
M1 - 104145
ER -