Child Maltreatment Recurrence Points to Urgent Need to Improve Systems for Identification and Prevention

There is considerable evidence that child maltreatment is associated with significant short- and long-term negative outcomes.¹ Protecting children from maltreatment should be a clear priority, and there is substantial opportunity for making improvements in child protective services (CPS) to better serve those they are tasked with protecting. Making progress in this effort requires a closer inspection of the processes in place to identify children in danger of being harmed and of the potential effectiveness of the current system. The article by Kim and Drake² published in the Journal examined CPS records to create US estimates for child maltreatment onset and recurrence for children from birth to age 11 years. More than one-third of children are estimated to have a screened-in report for investigation or assessment by CPS, and after an initial report is made regarding a child, the probability of a subsequent report is nearly 1 in 2. This alarming rate of maltreatment recurrence points to potential areas for improvement.