NCJ Number
226924
Journal
Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 33 Issue: 2 Dated: February 2009 Pages: 84-93
Date Published
February 2009
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This study explored the association between mothers’ experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV) and multiple reports of children to Child Protective Services (CPS).
Abstract
Findings showed that among mothers who were reported to CPS as the alleged perpetrator of child maltreatment, almost half had experienced physical violence from their partner. Children of mothers who had experienced IPV were twice as likely as children of mothers without IPV to have re-reports to CPS where the mother was the alleged perpetrator of the new episode of maltreatment. Children of mothers who had experienced IPV were re-reported in a shorter time than children of women without IPV. The higher risk and speedier re-reports of child maltreatment associated with IPV highlights the need for universal assessment and provision of services for IPV among all families being investigated by CPS. Data were collected from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being on 5,501 children ages 0-14 randomly selected from 97 counties nationwide between October 1999 and December 2000. The analysis included 1,236 families in which caregivers were the alleged perpetrators of the child maltreatment and the biological mothers, adoptive mothers, or stepmothers of children not placed in out-of-home care; cases investigated by local CPS agencies included both opened and unopened cases. Tables, figure, and references