Police Involvement in Child Protective Services Investigations: Literature Review and Secondary Data Analysis

Abstract

This article examines the relationship of police and child protective services (CPS) coinvolvement to the outcomes of child maltreatment investigations. It reviews practice and empirical literature and conducts a secondary analysis of a national CPS data set. Most sources argue that coordination of the two agencies improves investigations and benefits children and families. Yet, sources also report friction between these agencies, interference with each other's job, and concerns that police involvement increases child removal. In the CPS case data, allegations were more likely to be judged credible when police also investigated and families were also more likely to receive various services. For neglect cases, multi-disciplinary decision making, but not police involvement per se, was linked to child removal. Across studies, police do not appear to hinder CPS effectiveness and may actually promote it. Their investigations should be coordinated in every community.

Correlates of joint child protection and police child sexual abuse investigations: results from the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect–2008

“…Like Cross et al, 17 we found that substantiation of maltreatment, severity of maltreatment, placement in care, involvement of the child welfare court and referrals of a family member to specialized services were more likely in joint investigations. We can only speculate on the reasons, given the nature of the data, but the mandate of joint investigations is to ensure safety and protection of children.…”

“…This is similar to findings from USA and the United Kingdom. 14,16,17,30 Being female (for the victims) and male (for the perpetrators) are established risk factors for child sexual abuse 31 and are associated with police involvement. Most research indicates that females are exposed to sexual abuse more often than are males.…”

“…One U.S. study found that the majority of sexual abuse investigations were a joint effort (45%) compared to other types of investigations including physical abuse (28%) and neglect (18%). 17 The credibility of an allegation was strongly predicted by police involvement in the investigation. In addition, caregiver alcohol and/or drug abuse, the severity of abuse, and active domestic violence often increased police involvement.…”

“…The selection of variables was guided by the work of Cross et al 17 as well as by hypotheses about factors that would increase the likelihood of a joint investigation (see Table 1). 29 Types of maltreatment included exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV), emotional abuse, neglect, physical abuse and sexual abuse.…”

“…Moreover, it was more likely that services would be provided to the child/ family if there was a police investigation. 17 No such study has been conducted in Canada. A case vignette study that assessed attitudes towards incidents of incest found that the police focussed on collecting evidence whereas child protection workers concentrated on the safety of the child and long-term implications for the family.…”