NCJ Number
186901
Date Published
April 1999
Length
45 pages
Annotation
This study assesses the feasibility of conducting a pilot project in British Columbia (Canada) that would collect data pertinent to the prevention of child abuse and neglect; this is considered the first step toward creating a national information system on the prevention of child abuse and neglect.
Abstract
The pilot project would ascertain the types of information relevant to criminal offenses related to child abuse and neglect currently recorded and reported and not recorded and reported; investigate the linkage of relevant data sources that could provide a more comprehensive view of the criminal justice system's response to child abuse and neglect for the purpose of developing empirically based crime prevention initiatives; and ascertain whether similar information could be provided in other Canadian jurisdictions. The scope of this feasibility study is limited to the database systems used to collect and aggregate information from the five major components that compose the criminal justice system in British Columbia. After assessing current data-collection tools, the feasibility study recommends that the pilot project develop a new data-collection tool that specifically targets information relevant to the processing of child abuse and neglect cases by the criminal justice system. Such a tool could be designed with national requirements in mind but tested within the context of a provincial pilot project. Appended British Columbia child abuse and neglect criminal code offenses and information needs