Quantifying Severity of Maltreatment, Adversity, and Trauma From Child Protective Services Case Record Files

Abstract

Children referred to child protective services (CPS) for allegations of abuse or neglect often have diverse experiences of maltreatment, adversity, and trauma. Severity of these experiences is associated with greater mental health impairment and increased risk of revictimization and other adversities. Although aspects of these experiences are often captured during CPS investigations and stored in case records as narrative documents, much of this information is underutilized in estimating risk and service planning. The current study extracted case record information from a randomly selected sample of 100 families, with 150 children referred to CPS during a 12-month period. The Yale-Vermont Adversity in Childhood Scale (Y-VACS) was applied to extracted information for quantifying severity of various forms of childhood maltreatment, adversity, and trauma. Study aims were to examine (a) the scope and severity of maltreatment, adversity, and trauma types and their associations; (b) linkages between severity and CPS allegation types and outcomes; and (c) the utility of severity in predicting new allegations of abuse or neglect within 12 months of referral. Results indicated feasibility in quantifying severity of maltreatment and other adversities from case record information and revealed associations between adversity severity and CPS allegation types and outcomes. Severity of psychological intimate partner violence and neglect were predictive of new allegations of abuse or neglect within 12 months of referral. Findings support moving beyond an incident-based CPS strategy to one that better incorporates case record information to assess risk.

Introduction to the Special Issue on the Intersection of Intimate Partner Violence and Child Maltreatment

“…The authors reported that calls with indication of current IPV were more likely to be screened in and subsequently substantiated-likely reflecting a higher level of initial risk assessment. This aligns with work showing that a case history of IPV, even if not the primary purpose of the report, is predictive of repeat allegations of abuse and neglect (Grasso et al, 2019). In the Rebbe et al study, a subset of reports containing IPV co-occurred with physical abuse allegations, more than half co-occurred with neglect, which underscores the unique circumstances in which risk assessment and decision-making must account for IPV.…”

Do Trajectories of Sensation Seeking Vary by Sex and Child Maltreatment Subtypes?

“…Because maltreatment often happens in the context of other adversities (Grasso et al, 2019; Radford et al, 2013; Ramos-Olazagasti et al, 2017), we adjust for family socioeconomic status (household classified by information on income/number of household residents as above or below the U.S. federal poverty guidelines); parental psychopathology (any psychological or emotional problem); and parental alcohol/drug abuse problems (yes/no). We also control for study context represented by study site (Puerto Rico/South Bronx) and maternal education (less than high school/at least high school/at least some college education).…”

A Trauma-Informed Approach to Assessment, Case Conceptualization, and Treatment Planning for Youth Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence

“…More than a third of domestic violence-related arrests involve children who are directly present (Reaves, 2017). Studies that conduct thorough reviews of case records report that the majority of children involved with child protective services have documented IPV exposure in their lifetime (Grasso et al, 2019). Further, more than half of older children and adolescents involved with juvenile justice services have experienced IPV at some point in their lives (Ford et al, 2013b).…”