Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-r5zm4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-17T05:04:46.840Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Repeated reports to child protection: Interpreting the data

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 February 2016

Clare Tilbury*
Affiliation:
School of Social Work and Social Policy, University of Queensland, Qld 4072. Email: c.tilbury@social.uq.edu.au

Abstract

This article examines data regarding three performance indicators that cast light on child protection intake and assessment processes, when children are reported to child protection agencies because of concerns about abuse or neglect. Rates of renotification, substantiation, and resubstantiation are examined. What do the data reveal about whether intervention is effective in keeping children safe from further harm and whether investigative resources are targeted to priority cases? The policy implications are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Aldgate, J. & Hill, M. (1995) ‘Child welfare in the United Kingdom’, Children and Youth Services Review, 17, 5/6, 575597.Google Scholar
Audit Commission (1994) Seen But Not Heard, HMSO, London.Google Scholar
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) (2001) Family support services in Australia 2000, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Canberra.Google Scholar
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) (2002a) Child Protection Australia 2000-01, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Canberra.Google Scholar
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) (2002b) Guidelines for Interpretation of Child Protection and Out-of-Home Care Performance Indicators, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Canberra, www.aihw.gov.au/childyouth/childprotection/index.html Google Scholar
Carter, N., Klein, R. & Day, P. (1992) How organisations measure success: the use of performance indicators in government, Routledge, London.Google Scholar
Clark, R. (1995) ‘Child protection services in Victoria’, Family Matters, 40, 2223.Google Scholar
Colton, M., Drury, C. & Williams, M. (1995) Children in Need: Family support under the Children Act 1989, Avebury, Aldershot.Google Scholar
Department of Health (1995) Child Protection: Messages from Research, HMSO, London.Google Scholar
English, D., Marshall, D., Brummel, S. & Orme, M. (1999) ‘Characteristics of repeated referrals to child protective services in Washington State’, Child Maltreatment, 4, 4, 297307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
English, D., Wingard, T., Marshall, D., Orme, M. & Orme, A. (2000) ‘Alternative responses to child protective services: emerging issues and concerns’, Child Abuse and Neglect, 24, 3, 375388.Google Scholar
Faver, C.A., Crawford, S.L. & Combs-Orme, T. (1999) ‘Services for child maltreatment: Challenges for research and practice’, Children and Youth Services Review, 21, 2, 89109.Google Scholar
Fluke, J.D, Yuan, Y-Y.T & Edwards, M. (1999) ‘Recurrence of maltreatment: an application of the national child abuse and neglect data system’, Child Abuse and Neglect, 23, 7, 633650.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Freeman, R. (1999) ‘Recursive politics: prevention, modernity and social systems’. Children and Society, 13, 232241.Google Scholar
Gibbons, J., Conroy, S. & Bell, C. (1995) Operating the child protection system, HMSO, London.Google Scholar
Johnstone, H. (2000) The national child protection data collection: What does ten years worth of data tell us?, paper presented at the 7th Australian Institute of Family Studies Conference, Sydney.Google Scholar
Little, M. (1999) ‘Prevention and early intervention with children in need: Definitions, principles and examples of good practice’. Children and Society, 13, 304316 Google Scholar
Munro, E. (1999) ‘Protecting children in an anxious society’, Health, Risk and Society, 1, 1, 117127.Google Scholar
Packman, J., Randall, J. & Jacques, N. (1986) Who Needs Care? Social Work Decisions about Children, Basil Blackwell, Oxford.Google Scholar
Parton, N., Thorpe, D. & Wattam, C. (1997) Child Protection: Risk and the Moral Order, Macmillan, Basingstoke UK.Google Scholar
Parton, N. & Mathews, R. (2001) ‘New directions in child protection and family support in Western Australia: a policy initiative to re-focus child welfare practice’, Child and Family Social Work, 6, 97113.Google Scholar
Pecora, P.J., Fraser, M.W., Nelson, K., McCroskey, J. & Meezan, W. (1995) Evaluating Family-Based Services, Aldine de Gruyter, New York.Google Scholar
Poertner, J., McDonald, T.P. & Murray, C. (2000) ‘Child welfare outcomes revisited’. Children and Youth Services Review, 22, 9/10, 789810.Google Scholar
Queensland Department of Families (2002) Statistical Services Unit, 4 October 2002.Google Scholar
Steering Committee for the Review of Commonwealth/State Service Provision (SCRCSSP) (2002) Report on Government Services 2001, AusInfo, Canberra.Google Scholar
Thorpe, D. (1994). Evaluating Child Protection, Open University Press, Buckingham.Google Scholar
Tilbury, C. (2002) ‘Performance measurement in child protection’. Australian Social Work, 55, 2, 136146.Google Scholar
Tomison, A.M. (1999) Ensuring the protection of children: the role of child protection services in the identification, assessment and treatment of maltreated children, paper presented at NSW Department of Community Services ‘Entry parameters to child and family services’ workshop, 2223 March 1999, Sydney.Google Scholar
Tunstill, J. (1995) ‘The concept of children in need: The answer or the problem for family support?’, Children and Youth Services Review, 17, 5/6, 651664.Google Scholar
Van Soelen, S. (1994) Future Directions in Child Protection, unpublished paper presented at ‘Child Protection in Context’ conference, 22 November 1994, n.p.Google Scholar
Victorian Department of Human Services (2002) An Integrated Strategy for Child Protection and Placement Services, Community Care Division, DHS, Melbourne.Google Scholar
Waldfogel, J. (1998) ‘Rethinking the paradigm for child protection’, The Future of Children, 8, 1, 104119.Google Scholar
Whittaker, J.K. (1991) ‘The leadership challenge in family-based services: policy, practice and research’, Families in Society, May, 294300.Google Scholar