Nico Trocmé

Pathways to the Overrepresentation of Aboriginal Children in Canada’s Child Welfare System

This study compares child welfare services provided to Aboriginal (Indian) and Caucasian children in Canada. The findings suggest that child welfare reports involving Aboriginal children are more likely to be classified as suspected or substantiated than reports for Caucasian children. Aboriginal children also are twice as likely to be placed in foster care. This overrepresentation in out‐of‐home placement is explained statistically by socioeconomic, child, parent, and maltreatment characteristics. In addition, these variables play a significant role in accounting for higher rates of case substantiation among Aboriginal children. These factors may reflect the multiple disadvantages experienced by Aboriginal families.

Methodological Challenges in Measuring Child Maltreatment.

OBJECTIVE This article reviewed the different surveillance systems used to monitor the extent of reported child maltreatment in North America. METHODS Key measurement and definitional differences between the surveillance systems are detailed and their potential impact on the measurement of the rate of victimization. The infrastructure requirements, quality of information, timely access to data and the usefulness for child welfare policy are compared and contrasted and a summary table of the type of information by each system is presented. RESULTS Two studies collect data regarding the extent and nature of child maltreatment using survey methodology reported to professionals: the United States National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS) and the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS), and the United States National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) uses administrative data methods to collect annual case-level and state data. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS The purpose of this comparison is to assist researchers and policy analysts with interpreting data from these studies as well as to help officials from other countries in developing surveillance systems that are appropriately adapted to their needs.

Child Maltreatment Investigations Among Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal Families in Canada:

This comparative analysis of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal families uses a 1998 Canadian study of child maltreatment cases to identify important differences: Aboriginal families face worse socioeconomic conditions, are more often investigated because of neglect, less often reported for physical or sexual abuse, and report higher rates of substance abuse. At every decision point in the cases, Aboriginal children are over represented: investigations are more likely to be substantiated, cases are more likely to be kept open for ongoing services, and children are more likely to be placed in out-of-home care. Findings suggest the development of neglect intervention programs that include poverty reduction and substance misuse components.

The Canadian child welfare system response to exposure to domestic violence investigations

OBJECTIVE While child welfare policy and legislation reflects that children who are exposed to domestic violence are in need of protection because they are at risk of emotional and physical harm, little is known about the profile of families and children identified to the child welfare system and the systems response. The objective of this study was to examine the child welfare systems response to child maltreatment investigations substantiated for exposure to domestic violence (EDV). METHODS This study is based on a secondary analysis of data collected in the 2003 Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS-2003). Bivariate analyses were conducted on substantiated investigations. A binary logistic regression was also conducted to attempt to predict child welfare placements for investigations involving EDV. RESULTS What emerges from this study is that the child welfare systems response to EDV largely depends on whether it occurs in isolation or with another substantiated form of child maltreatment. For example, children involved in substantiated investigations that involve EDV with another form of substantiated maltreatment are almost four times more likely than investigations involving only EDV to be placed in a child welfare setting (Adjusted Odds Ratio=3.87, p<.001). CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that the involvement of child welfare has not resulted in the widespread placement of children exposed to domestic violence. The Canadian child welfare system is substantiating EDV at a high rate but is concluding that these families do not require child protection services. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS There is debate in the literature about how the child welfare sector should respond to cases involving exposure to domestic violence. Contrary to conventional wisdom, this study finds that children who are the subject of investigations involving substantiated exposure to domestic violence are less likely to be removed from their home than children experiencing other forms of maltreatment. Strategies need to be developed to counter misperceptions about the intrusiveness of child welfare, and discussions need to take place about when it is appropriate for child welfare to become involved when children are exposed to domestic violence.

Differentiating Between Substantiated, Suspected, and Unsubstantiated Maltreatment in Canada

The decision to substantiate is a key factor in determining eligibility for services and decisions to press criminal charges or to remove a child, and it is frequently the basis for selecting samples of maltreated children or to measure recidivism or intervention effectiveness. Although there is a growing body of research on case substantiation in the United States, few studies have examined this decision in other jurisdictions. Using data from the 2003 Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect, this study examines the profiles of a national sample of 10,010 investigations. Multivariate analyses reveal that substantiation decisions are generally made in a fashion that is relatively consistent with the clinical characteristics of cases. Along with severity of harm, parent risk factors, and housing risk factors, police referrals are among the most important predictors of case substantiation. Cases involving multiple forms of maltreatment are also more likely to be substantiated.

Perceptions of child maltreatment by parents from the Indian subcontinent: Challenging myths about culturally based abusive parenting practices

Clinicians and researchers emphasize the importance of recognizing differential cross-cultural definitions of child maltreatment, cautioning awareness that some ethnic groups may use harsher methods to discipline their children. Using a mixed-method research approach, based on questionnaire and focus group data, 29 parents of South Asian descent provided input on their attitudes toward child discipline, maltreatment, and neglect. Study findings suggest that South Asian parents do not differ significantly from other populations in their judgment of appropriate parenting approaches; that is, persistent and excessive use of physical discipline was considered to be inappropriate, behaviors of parents that may have negative emotional consequences for children were recognized as inappropriate, and lack of proper supervision of children was seen as a concern. Notably, though, participants voiced their reluctance to contact child protective services should they encounter families struggling with abuse. Implications for practice and directions for future research are suggested.

Development and Preliminary Evaluation of the Ontario Child Neglect Index

The Child Neglect Index is designed to provide child welfare practitioners and researchers with a validated and easy-to-use instrument that specifies type and severity of neglect. Field testing shows that the validity and reliability of this one-page index compare favorably with the Child Well-Being Scales. Although the Child Neglect Index was designed within the context of Ontarios child welfare laws, the instrument and the structured expert-based method used to develop it can be easily applied to other jurisdictions.

Should child protection services respond differently to maltreatment, risk of maltreatment, and risk of harm?

OBJECTIVE To examine evidence available in large-scale North American datasets on child abuse and neglect that can assist in understanding the complexities of child protection case classifications. METHODS A review of child abuse and neglect data from large North American epidemiological studies including the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS), the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), and the National Incidence Studies of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS). RESULTS The authors of this paper argue that recent evidence from large North American epidemiological studies examining the incidence of child abuse and neglect demonstrate that children and families identified as being at risk of maltreatment present with as many household and caregiver concerns as investigations that are substantiated. CONCLUSIONS In order to continue to develop appropriate services and policies for vulnerable children the authors urge continue definitional clarity for research in child maltreatment that considers the exemplars or indicators of categories, in tandem with parental and child characteristics which can provide one source of evidence-basis to meaningful child protection case classifications. Continued monitoring, refined by the dilemmas faced in practice, are critical for a continued public health investment in childrens well-being, predicated upon upholding childrens rights.

Shifting definitions of emotional maltreatment: an analysis child welfare investigation laws and practices in Canada.

OBJECTIVE Although there is growing evidence that the emotional dimensions of child maltreatment are particularly damaging, the feasibility and appropriateness of including emotional maltreatment (EM) in child welfare statutes continues to be questioned. Unlike physical and sexual abuse where investigations focus on discreet incidents of maltreatment, EM is not as easily defined and delimited. Through a review of legislation and child welfare investigation practices in Canada, this paper examines (1) whether Canadian child welfare services respond to EM with the same level of perseverance as with other forms of maltreatment and (2) the extent to which the introduction in 2008 of a more specific EM taxonomy distinguishes between EM and family problems that could lead to EM. METHOD Following an analysis of the legislative framework for EM across Canada, investigations practices in Canada are examined using data from the 1998, 2003 and 2008 cycles of the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS). Using data from the 2008 cycle, EM investigations are compared to other maltreatment investigations for all of Canada (N=15,980). Changes in EM investigations over time are then compared using data from the three cycles of the study, excluding Québec because of limited data availability in 2003 (N=5,360 in 1998, 11,562 in 2003 and 14,050 in 2008). RESULTS EM is included as a form of reportable maltreatment in all provincial and territorial statutes in Canada. Over 11,000 cases of EM were substantiated in Canada in 2008, at a rate of 1.86 cases per 1,000 children. While EM investigations were substantiated at a lower rate as other forms of maltreatment, a higher proportion of EM cases were referred for specialized services, kept open for on-going child welfare services, lead to an out of home placement, and lead to an application to child welfare court. Using a broad definition of EM the number of investigations classified as EM in Canada, excluding Québec, nearly tripled from 1998 to 2003. In 2008, using more specific definitions focusing on caregiver definitions, the number of investigations classified as EM nearly returned to their 1998 level, with nearly twice as many cases being classified as risk of future maltreatment. CONCLUSION EM is a well established category for child welfare intervention in Canada, however, more emphasis should be given to distinguishing between EM and family problems that place children at risk of EM.

Differentiating between child protection and family support in the Canadian child welfare system's response to intimate partner violence, corporal punishment, and child neglect

Rates of reported child maltreatment nearly doubled in Canada over the period 1998-2003, an increase that reflects growing awareness of the harmful effects of an expanding array of parental behaviors, including corporal punishment, lack of supervision, and exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV). Some of these situations may benefit from voluntary family support programs outside of the child welfare system. Analyzing a sample of 11,807 investigations, this paper compares cases where the sole concern is exposure to IPV, or hitting a child, or neglect, or other forms of investigated maltreatment. Situations where exposure to IPV or potentially abusive hitting were the sole reason for investigation presented with fewer risk factors and were less likely to lead to ongoing child welfare interventions compared to other maltreatment investigations. While situations involving alleged neglect presented a higher risk profile and elicited a more intensive child welfare response than did exposure to IPV or hitting, opportunities for alternative services were nevertheless identified. The study also found that visible minority families were overrepresented in cases involving hitting and that Aboriginal families were overrepresented in cases involving neglect. Overall the findings support the development of alternative response programs in Canada.