Evaluation of CPS compliance with legally required review of investigations by CAPs.
Journal
Child abuse & neglect
ISSN: 1873-7757
Titre abrégé: Child Abuse Negl
Pays: England
ID NLM: 7801702
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
10 2021
10 2021
Historique:
received:
09
02
2021
revised:
04
06
2021
accepted:
09
06
2021
pubmed:
29
6
2021
medline:
19
3
2022
entrez:
28
6
2021
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
There is significant variability in Child Protective Services (CPS) utilization of medical-forensic experts. In 2016, Missouri legislation (HB 1877) mandated that CPS investigators submit screening forms to a Child Abuse Pediatrician (CAP) to review children < 4 years investigated for abuse. Compliance with this mandate is unknown. To measure compliance with HB 1877, hypothesizing that urban counties would have better compliance than rural counties. This retrospective study included evaluation of screening forms completed by Missouri CPS and submitted to Missouri CAPs during February, July and September of 2017. Compliance was measured in three ways. Compliance Measure 1 (CM1) was the number of screening forms versus the number of eligible CPS investigations. Compliance Measure 2 (CM2) was the average number of days from an abuse report until form submission, and Compliance Measure 3 (CM3) was the percentage of forms with complete information. Urban and rural counties were classified by 2010 census data. t-Tests were used to compare compliance measures between urban and rural counties. Overall compliance with CM1 was 69% with 1496 screening forms submitted and 2170 child maltreatment investigations for children less than 4 years of age. For CM2, mean days from abuse report to form submission was 30 days. For CM3, 60.5% of statewide forms were complete. There was no significant difference between rural and urban county compliance. Limited compliance with HB 1877 demonstrates the necessity of continued monitoring and improvement for optimal efficacy of legal mandates.
Sections du résumé
BACKGROUND
There is significant variability in Child Protective Services (CPS) utilization of medical-forensic experts. In 2016, Missouri legislation (HB 1877) mandated that CPS investigators submit screening forms to a Child Abuse Pediatrician (CAP) to review children < 4 years investigated for abuse. Compliance with this mandate is unknown.
OBJECTIVE
To measure compliance with HB 1877, hypothesizing that urban counties would have better compliance than rural counties.
PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING
This retrospective study included evaluation of screening forms completed by Missouri CPS and submitted to Missouri CAPs during February, July and September of 2017.
METHODS
Compliance was measured in three ways. Compliance Measure 1 (CM1) was the number of screening forms versus the number of eligible CPS investigations. Compliance Measure 2 (CM2) was the average number of days from an abuse report until form submission, and Compliance Measure 3 (CM3) was the percentage of forms with complete information. Urban and rural counties were classified by 2010 census data. t-Tests were used to compare compliance measures between urban and rural counties.
RESULTS
Overall compliance with CM1 was 69% with 1496 screening forms submitted and 2170 child maltreatment investigations for children less than 4 years of age. For CM2, mean days from abuse report to form submission was 30 days. For CM3, 60.5% of statewide forms were complete. There was no significant difference between rural and urban county compliance.
CONCLUSIONS
Limited compliance with HB 1877 demonstrates the necessity of continued monitoring and improvement for optimal efficacy of legal mandates.
Identifiants
pubmed: 34182279
pii: S0145-2134(21)00236-2
doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105163
pii:
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
105163Informations de copyright
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