Child safety assessments during a caregiver's evaluation in emergency departments after intimate partner violence

Physical abuse of children is reported to occur in 30%-60% of homes with intimate partner violence (IPV). IPV in adult victims presenting to emergency departments (EDs) represents a critical opportunity to evaluate for child safety.

The primary objective was to determine the frequency of child safety assessments (CSAs), defined as any documented inquiry about the presence of children in the household, when adults presented to EDs for IPV. The secondary aims were to assess (1) the impact of demographic factors, ED type, and social work (SW) involvement on the likelihood of CSAs; (2) the nature of children's exposure; and (3) the frequency of child protective services (CPS) reports.

We performed a chart review of encounters with ICD-10-CM codes for patients aged 18-60 with IPV presenting to three EDs in Connecticut from 2017 through 2019.

CSAs were completed in 179/277 encounters (78.9%) and were more likely to be completed in encounters with SW involvement than without (162/171 [94.7%] vs. 17/56 [30.3%], p < 0.001). A total of 143 children lived in the home at the time of the incident; of the 107 children for whom the nature of exposure was known, 10 (9.3%) were physically involved and 26 (24.2%) were direct witnesses to the violence. CPS reports were made in 52.4% of the encounters in which children lived in the home.

CSAs were omitted in one-fifth of encounters for IPV. Given the high prevalence of children involved in IPV episodes, ED encounters for IPV represent an opportunity to improve the safety of children.