NCJ Number
240806
Journal
Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 36 Issue: 6 Dated: June 2012 Pages: 471-480
Date Published
June 2012
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This study investigated the nature and severity of injuries associated with supervisory neglect and physical harm for children involved with the child welfare system in Canada.
Abstract
Major findings from the study on the characteristics of supervisory neglect and substantiated maltreatment include the following: in 2008, 44 percent of neglect cases involved failure to supervise - physical harm; 15 percent of all maltreatment cases involved supervisory neglect, and 48 percent of supervisory neglect cases were substantiated as compared to other types of neglect (45 percent); housing and caregiver characteristics were more often identified as risk factors in cases of neglect compared to physical abuse and other maltreatment cases; and younger children, ages 1-2, were more at risk for supervisory neglect compared to older children. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the nature and severity of injuries associated with supervisory neglect and physical harm for children involved in the child welfare system in Canada. Data for the study were obtained from a sample of investigations (n=15,980) that were being tracked as part of the 2008 Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS). The investigations involved children up to 15 years old at 112 sites across the country. Analysis of the data was conducted to compare the number of substantiated cases of primary supervisory neglect to other types of neglect, physical abuse, and other maltreatment cases. The findings indicate that while certain child risk factors might play a role in supervisory neglect cases involving physical harm, the majority, 96 percent, of supervisory neglect cases substantiated by the child welfare system in Canada do not involve incidences of physical harm. Implications for policy are discussed. Tables and references