NCJ Number
247191
Journal
Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 38 Issue: 5 Dated: May 2014 Pages: 868-874
Date Published
May 2014
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This study assessed the impact of child-maltreatment reporting policies and reporting-system structure on four aspects of entry into the child protection system: the maltreatment referral rate; the percentage of referrals screened in for investigation, the screened-in report rate, and the substantiated report rate.
Abstract
The study found evidence of a link between certain reporting-system structures and State-level measures of screening and substantiation; however, no link was found between reporting-system structure and the overall referral rate. The reporting-system structure apparently exerts its effect through the screening and substantiation behavior of system employees rather than reporters' behavior. On average, centralized systems screened in an additional 10 percent of reports compared to decentralized or hybrid systems. These findings may indicate a fundamentally different mindset within these systems. In decentralized systems, the same unit receives, screens, and investigates reports of child maltreatment. In centralized systems, the central unit receives and screens reports, and the local unit investigates the reports. In a centralized system, the employees receiving reports may be more likely to make screening decisions without regard to the resources within the local investigating unit. Therefore, the screener in a decentralized system may be more hesitant to screen in a report when the local investigative unit is under-resourced or is overwhelmed with high caseloads. The centralized system has the highest percentage of cases screened in for investigation. Hybrid systems represent another structure available to administrators. These systems take several different forms, with some using the State office as the primary entry for reports while others use the local office as the primary entry point. 5 tables and 17 references