Transitions from AFDC to child welfare in California

doi:10.1016/S0190-7409(99)00055-9

Children and Youth Services Review

Volume 21, Issues 9–10, September–October 1999, Pages 815-841

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0190-7409(99)00055-9 Get rights and content

Abstract

Probability matching software was employed to link AFDC histories for children with birth records, child abuse reporting data, and foster care data. A total of 63,768 children entering AFDC between 1990 and 1995 in 10 California counties were followed to determine subsequent child welfare involvement. Within 5 years of AFDC entry, 27% of children had child abuse referrals, 22% had child abuse investigations, 8% had child welfare cases opened, and 3% were placed in foster care.

Although relatively few children transition from welfare to foster care, AFDC child entrants who later experience child welfare events and their mothers are more likely than others to have certain characteristics such as single parent family structure, larger family size, low birthweight, and late or no prenatal care. Total time on aid and the number of spells on aid are positively associated with child welfare events. It will be important to monitor these findings as welfare reform progresses. Administrative data analysis can suggest ways to effectively target services when fiscal limitations prohibit universal support.

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Dual-system families differed from CWS-only families on demographics including mother’s age, child race/ethnicity, and child age. Controlling for demographics, multivariable survival analyses revealed that dual-system involvement was associated with increased risk of a re-report while successful FP completion was associated with decreased risk of a re-report. An interaction effect of dual-system involvement by FP completion was tested but not significant, and the effect of FP completion was similar for CWS-only families and dual-system families. Our findings highlight the vulnerability of dual-system families and suggest that successful FP completion can help protect against the risk of a maltreatment re-report for both dual-system families and CWS-only families.
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According to the Fourth National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect, the population at highest risk of child maltreatment and child protective services (CPS) involvement is children living in or near poverty, where children in low socioeconomic status households are five times more likely to experience maltreatment than children in higher socioeconomic status families (Sedlak et al., 2010). An adverse correlation also exists between child maltreatment and other measures of economic hardship such as welfare receipt (Brown, Cohen, Johnson, & Salzinger, 1998; Jones & McCurdy, 1992; Martin & Lindsey, 2003; Needell, Cuccaro-Alamin, Brookhart, & Lee, 1999); unemployment (Gillham et al., 1998); single-parent family structure (Berger, 2005; Chaffin, Kelleher, & Hollenberg, 1996; Gelles, 1992; Mersky, Berger, Reynolds, & Gromoske, 2009; Sedlak & Broadhurst, 1996); and experiencing food shortages and difficulty with paying for clothing, housing, utilities, or other important bills (Courtney, Dworsky, Piliavin, & Zinn, 2005; Slack, Lee, & Berger, 2007; Slack et al., 2003, 2004; Yang, 2015). Empirically, there is evidence that income loss, through reductions in welfare benefits, is associated with an increased risk of involvement with the child welfare system (Paxson & Waldfogel, 2003; Shook, 1999; Slack et al., 2003; Slack et al., 2007).
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^☆: This research was made possible through the support of the Smith Richardson Foundation. Special thanks to Jill Duerr Berrick, Director of the Center for Social Services Research, for her support and thoughtful comments, to Richard P. Barth for his continued guidance from afar, and to Michael Armijo for his stewardship of an incomparable programming staff.

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ArticleTransitions from AFDC to child welfare in California☆

Abstract

Clinical Psychology Review

Child Abuse and Neglect

Child Abuse & Neglect

Child Abuse & Neglect

Child Abuse & Neglect

Children and Youth Services Review

Child Abuse & Neglect

Children and Youth Services Review

The effects of welfare reform on teenage parents and their children

The Future of Children

Predicting growth in child abuse and neglect reports in urban, suburban, and rural counties

Social Service Review

Poverty and women's mental health

American Psychologist

Welfare reform: Two years later

Child maltreatment risk among adolescent mothers: A study of reported cases

American Journal of Orthopsychiatry

Children and welfare reform. Issue brief I: How welfare reform can help or hurt children

Economic stress, coercive family process, and developmental problems of adolescents

Child Development

Effects of child neglect on children

Criminal Justice and Behavior

Community level factors and child maltreatment rates

Child Development

Geographic concentration of poverty and risk to children in urban neighborhoods

American Behavioral Scientist

Welfare reform and child welfare sevrices

Race and child welfare services: Past research and future directions

Child Welfare

A preliminary study of some ecological correlates of child abuse: The impact of socioeconomic stress on mothers

Child Development

The significance of ethnic and cultural differences in child maltreatment

Journal of Marriage and Family

High-risk neighborhoods and high-risk families: The human ecology of child maltreatment

Child Development

Single mothers and their children: Summary and recommendations

Child abuse and violence in single parent families: Parent absence and economic deprivation

American Journal of Orthopsychiatry

Article
Transitions from AFDC to child welfare in California☆