Intergenerational child maltreatment and the case for intensified support for child protection involved families

The profound and enduring consequences of child abuse and neglect (CAN) are well documented. A major, and largely unaddressed problem remains the intergenerational transmission of CAN. While substantial community resources are allocated to families caught up in intergenerational cycles of child maltreatment, the vast majority of funds are spent addressing downstream consequences. Comparatively few resources are invested in intensive support for high-risk families to maintain the family unit, prevent continuance of CAN, and disrupt the harm cascade, and intergenerational transmission. Our purpose in this discussion paper is to consider the case for CAN prevention through intensified support for high-risk families. We first outline the evidence of intergenerational transmission of child maltreatment and its causal mechanisms, and present recent data on budget expenditure on child protection involved families to illustrate financial investment across the prevention consequence spectrum. We then consider what might be the impediments to recalibration of policy and practice towards intensified support for high-risk families. We discuss legal frameworks, economic considerations of efficiency, international obligations, and practical and resource barriers. Our key message is that law, economics, policy and theory all justify and actually require greater levels of intensified support for high-risk families, but that access to secure funding is the key challenge. We present implications for policy makers and practice sectors.