Effect of child protective services system factors on child maltreatment rereporting

This study examined how child protective services (CPS) systems respond to initial and subsequent reports in the context of child maltreatment rereporting and to what extent CPS system factors are associated with the risk of rereporting after controlling for abuse type and child and family factors. This study followed 67,243 families who were reported to the CPS agencies in seven counties in Florida for child abuse and neglect over a period of 5.4 years and found that 14,218 families had one or more child maltreatment rereports. Key findings include that CPS system factors were significantly different from initial report to subsequent reports. Five CPS system factors, reporting source, contact by CPS workers, investigative level at intake, postinvestigation services, and duration ofCPS involvement were significantly associated with the risk of child maltreatment rereporting. Multivariate analyses found that CPS system factors were substantially different for three categories ofrereporting, unsubstantiated rereports, substantiated rereports, and recurrence reports. Interpretations and implications for practice are discussed.