Using Census and administrative data for 2052 Census tracts in a large urban county, this study explores the relationship between several indicators of social organization and neighborhood rates of child maltreatment for 0- to 5-year-olds. Spatial regression models demonstrate that neighborhoods with a higher percentage of 3- and 4-year-olds attending preschool or nursery school, both locally and in adjacent neighborhoods, had lower rates of early maltreatment referrals and substantiations. Neighborhoods with more licensed child care spaces relative to child care need, as defined by the number of 0- to 5-year-old in the neighborhood with working parents, had lower rates of early child maltreatment referrals. However, neighborhoods with a greater spatial density of child care center spaces, defined as the number of licensed child care center spaces or "slots" per square mile, had higher rates of early child maltreatment referrals. Neighborhoods characterized by concentrated socioeconomic disadvantage, inadequate resources for informal child supervision, and ethnic heterogeneity experienced higher rates of early child maltreatment referrals and substantiations, while neighborhoods with larger concentrations of affluent residents and immigrants experienced lower rates. These results point to the importance of community context in understanding child maltreatment risk. They also suggest that early care and education resources may deserve special attention when developing community-based prevention programs to reduce the maltreatment of young children.

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Using a sample of 438 parents in Los Angeles County, CA, this study examines the role of proximity to social services in child neglect. In an extension of social disorganization theory, it seeks to understand the potential sources of support in neighborhoods for families. It uses ordinary least squares regression to examine driving distance from parents’ residences to four types of services (child care, domestic violence, mental health/substance abuse, and poverty). The results show an association between proximity to mental health and substance abuse services and parents’ self-reported neglectful behaviors. Additionally, higher levels of socioeconomic disadvantage (poverty, unemployment, and low education), having older children, respondents being male, and respondents being older parents are associated with higher levels of child neglect, while being white is associated with lower levels. Overall, the findings suggest a potentially protective role of geographic access to mental health and substance abuse services in child maltreatment. Additional research on the pathways through which proximity to services influences child neglect is needed.

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