Disentangling Neglect from Poverty Across Definitions, Outcomes, Interventions, and Policy Recommendations
- Summary:
The majority of referrals received by child protective services (CPS) agencies include allegations of child neglect. Yet, statutory definitions of neglect encompass a broad range of circumstances, including children going without adequate food, shelter, or medical care. As such, there are growing concerns that CPS inadvertently (and even unfairly or harmfully) investigates and intervenes on the sole basis of poverty. Lost in current discourse is research evidence that might help delineate the distinction between poverty and neglectful parenting. These distinctions include the nature and manifestations of neglect that come to the attention of CPS, the consequences of neglect for children’s health and development, and how CPS can most effectively identify and respond to the needs of children and families presenting for neglect. This series of presentations is designed to bring together experts in child protection to present evidence on these topics, with a focus on essential information for CPS agencies, family courts, guardians ad litem and child advocates, and other professionals with responsibility for the health and safety of vulnerable children as well as policymakers contending with these issues.
Watch the recording here: Disentangling Neglect Summit
- Starts:
- Apr 22, 2022
- 10:30 AM
View PowerPoint for each session here:
Dr. Sarah FontDr. Brett Drake
Dr. Jody Todd Manly
Dr. Brenda Jones Harden
Dr. Howard Dubowitz
Dr. Melissa Jonson-Reid
Dr. Antonio Garcia
Dr. Sheree Toth
Dr. Melissa Osborne
Dr. John Fluke
Dr. Darcey Merritt
Agenda:
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Dr. Jennie Noll, Pennsylvania State University
Session 1: Neglect Defined
Assessing Neglect in the Context of Poverty
Dr. Sarah Font, session chair, Pennsylvania State University
Child Maltreatment and Poverty
Dr. Brett Drake, Washington University in St. Louis
Definitions and Conceptualizations of Child Neglect
Dr. Jody Todd Manly, University of Rochester
Q&A, moderated by Dr. Sarah Font
Session 2: Consequences of Neglect
Poverty and Neglect: Unique and Overlapping Effects on Children’s Outcomes
Dr. Brenda Jones Harden, session chair, University of Maryland
Considerations in Assessing Child Neglect
Dr. Howard Dubowitz, University of Maryland
Systems outcomes following maltreatment: The role of neglect, abuse and poverty
Dr. Melissa Jonson-Reid, Washington University in St. Louis
Q&A, moderated by Dr. Brenda Jones Harden
Session 3: Neglect Prevention/Intervention
What will It Take to Prevent and Mitigate the Effects of Neglect?
Dr. Antonio Garcia, session chair, University of Kentucky
Poverty or Neglect? Promoting Caregiver Sensitivity
Dr. Sheree Toth, University of Rochester
Preventing Neglect through Evidence-Based Parenting Programs: Research from SafeCare
Dr. Melissa Osborne, Georgia State University
Q&A, moderated by Dr. Antonio Garcia
Session 4: Recommendations for Next Steps
Policy and Measurement Changes to Disentangle Poverty and Neglect
Dr. Rebecca Rebbe, University of Southern California
Paradoxes, Pendulums, and Potential: Provoking Enabling Policy in Child Protection Decision-Making
Dr. John Fluke, University of Colorado
CPS = Child Poverty Surveillance
Dr. Darcey Merritt, New York University
Final Thoughts and Recommendations
Dr. Melissa Jonson-Reid, session chair, Washington University in St. Louis
Q&A, moderated by Dr. Melissa Jonson-Reid
Closing Remarks
Dr. Jennie Noll, Pennsylvania State University
Speaker Bios:
Sarah Font, PhD is an associate professor in sociology at Penn State. Her research focuses on various issues related to child maltreatment and the child welfare system, including the measurement of child maltreatment, the causes and effects of involvement with the child protection and foster care systems, case-level decision-making, and system effectiveness.
Dr. Brett Drake, is a Professor of Data Science for the Social Good in Practice at the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. His substantive area is child maltreatment and public child welfare systems, with an emphasis on early system contacts, including reporting and substantiation. He formulated the popular “Harm / Evidence” model of substantiation and has a particular interest in poverty and its strong association with child maltreatment. Dr. Drake’s work features the incorporation of geographic variables (e.g. neighborhood poverty) into child maltreatment research, and explores a range of policy issues, such as mandated reporting, and questions of class and racial bias in child welfare reporting. Recent work involves key epidemiological studies including the first-ever national estimate of the number of children contacted by CPS. He is co-author, along with his wife, Melissa Jonson-Reid of “After the Cradle Falls” a text on child maltreatment (Oxford Press) aimed at a general audience. Dr. Drake had several years of field experience as a child protective services worker.
Jody Todd Manly, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist who is currently the Clinical Director at the Mt. Hope Family Center and a Senior Research Associate in the Psychology Department of the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York. She is the Administrative Core Co-Director for the TRANSFORM National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, and Co-PI of a TRANSFORM treatment evaluation study designed to prevent child maltreatment. In conjunction with Dante Cicchetti and Douglas Barnett, Dr. Manly developed a maltreatment classification system that is now being used by research laboratories around the world to operationally define dimensions of child maltreatment. Dr. Manly has published in the area of child maltreatment and evidence-based interventions. She has been a Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator on several federally-funded research projects on the linkages among attachment, trauma, depression, child maltreatment, poverty, domestic violence, and community violence with a broad age range of children from infancy through adolescence, from a lifespan developmental approach. Mt. Hope Family Center is a member of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, where Dr. Manly works with U.S. trauma experts on provision of evidence-based trauma treatments. In partnership with Alicia Lieberman and colleagues at the University of California in San Francisco, Dr. Manly and her colleagues at Mt. Hope Family Center have evaluated Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP), a trauma treatment program for children 0-5 and their caregivers, and have supported the dissemination and training in this effective intervention model. Dr. Manly has conducted numerous local, US, and international trainings on the impact of trauma on children’s development and on implementation of evidence-based trauma treatment for young children and their families. She has more than thirty-five years of experience in providing clinical services to children who have experienced trauma and their families, and in conducting research with children exposed to violence and maltreatment. She was honored to be appointed as Executive-at-Large for the World Association for Infant Mental Health (WAIMH, 2016-2020) and continues to be inspired by the dedicated people around the world who are working on behalf of young children and their families.
Brenda Jones Harden is the Alison Richman Professor for Children and Families, at the University of Maryland School of Social Work. She directs the Prevention and Early Adversity Research Laboratory, where she and her research team examine the developmental and mental health needs of young children who have experienced early adversity and toxic stress, particularly those who have been maltreated, are in foster care, or have experienced other forms of trauma. A particular focus is preventing maladaptive outcomes in these populations through early childhood programs. She has conducted numerous evaluations of such programs, including early care and education, home visiting services, parenting interventions, and infant/early childhood mental health programs. Dr. Jones Harden is a scientist-practitioner who uses research to improve the quality and effectiveness of child and family services and to inform child and family policy, especially in the areas of home visiting, infant/early childhood mental health, and child welfare. She is currently the President of the Board of Zero to Three, and serves on various federal, state, and local advisory boards. She received a PhD in developmental and clinical psychology from Yale University and a Master’s in Social Work from New York University.
Dr. Howard Dubowitz, pending
Melissa Jonson-Reid, PhD MSW is the Ralph and Muriel Professor of Social Work at Washington University’s George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Associate Dean for Transdisciplinary Faculty Affairs, and Director of the Center for Innovation in Child Maltreatment Research, Policy and Training (NICHD P50HD096719). She was a school social worker and project director of a program called Foster Youth Services in two California school districts that served youth in child welfare and probation care prior to entering academia and also worked as a counselor with adult victims and perpetrators of IPV. Her research and evaluative work has two primary foci: (1) research on cross-sector service response for low income and maltreated populations including studies using linked administrative data as well as intervention/prevention studies in collaboration with community agencies to look for opportunities to improve services and policy to improve longer term outcomes (including preventing later violent behaviors and victimization). Related to this focus, she a substantial history of funded service system research using longitudinal administrative data- with a particular interest in child neglect (e.g., PI: “Child Neglect: Cross Sector Service Use and Outcomes” NIH R01 90CA15910; and “Child Neglect: Cross Sector Services and Young Adult Outcomes” NIH R01 MH061733-04A1) and policy relevant work, (e.g., Intervening in Child Neglect: A Microsimulation Evaluation Model of Usual Care(ACF 90 CA1832). (2) Her second focal area is child maltreatment prevention, working in collaboration with various community-based organizations such as home visitation (e.g., Early Childhood Connections, 1R34MH083871-01A1; Enhancing Nurse Home Visiting to Address Vulnerabilities and Prevent Maltreatment HRSA R62MC24947), community family service agencies (Evaluation of PACT-STL, RWJF P20-03097). She has authored and co-authored over 110 peer-review articles and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare. She co-teaches a course on Transdisciplinary Problem-solving in Child Maltreatment and authored a book After the Cradle Falls (with Brett Drake and published by Oxford University Press) transforming evidence for lay audiences to better understand child maltreatment and the child welfare system.
Antonio Garcia (he/him), PhD, MSW, is an Associate Professor at the University of Kentucky College of Social Work, and Faculty Associate of the Center on Trauma and Children in the UK College of Medicine. His research is guided by his experiences as a former Child Protective Services Worker and Supervisor in Washington State. Having broad inter-disciplinary training in Psychology, Social Work and Services Research in inter-professional contexts, he is committed to using research evidence to effectively engage Black, Indigenous, Latino and other People of Color (BILPOC) in culturally relevant, evidence-informed services and programs. In addition to examining their experiences of system involvement, he relies on the lived experiences of agency providers and leaders to inform the development of structural and systemic strategies that will increase engagement in services and ultimately mitigate the effects of trauma exposures among BILPOC. Going forward, he intends to examine if culturally tailored dissemination and implementation strategies achieve his long-term objective –- to mitigate racial inequities in service provision across child and family systems of care; and in turn, promote positive psychosocial outcomes for Black and Brown youth and families. Dr. Garcia capitalizes on his research and practice experience to educate the next generation of social workers dedicated to promoting child safety, permanency, and well-being.
Sheree L. Toth, Ph.D. is the Executive Director of Mt. Hope Family Center and Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Rochester. Throughout her career, she has been committed to bridging research and clinical practice and has worked extensively with children and families from diverse and impoverished backgrounds through the provision and evaluation of intervention and prevention services. Under Dr. Toth’s leadership, Mt. Hope Family Center has conducted rigorous and innovative empirical research with maltreated children and their families for nearly 40 years. The Center also conducts numerous trainings locally and nationally on the implementation of evidence-based treatments by translating research into practice. Most recently, Dr. Toth was award a P-50 Capstone Grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to establish the Center as one of three national centers on child abuse and neglect. Dr. Toth has published over 150 articles addressing the developmental consequences of child maltreatment and the impact that Major Depressive Disorders exert on offspring. This body of work has significantly advanced the field’s understanding of the plasticity of developmental processes as a function of intervention.
Melissa Osborne, PhD is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing at Georgia State University. An epidemiologist by training and former Child Protective Services worker, her program of research is in the area of pediatric violence and injury prevention, particularly child maltreatment and firearm access and injury in the pediatric population. In her doctoral and postdoctoral work at the National SafeCare® Training and Research Center, Dr. Osborne collaborated on federally-funded studies of the home-visiting program, SafeCare, including studies of SafeCare’s effectiveness in improving parenting outcomes and studies of technology-based SafeCare adaptations. The overarching goal of her research is to better inform prevention strategies that help keep children and adolescents safe and healthy at home.
Rebecca Rebbe, PhD is an assistant professor at the University of Southern California School of Social Work. Rebecca’s research examines the measurement of and community responses to child maltreatment. Her research is informed by 7 years of post-MSW practice working with families involved with child welfare systems, in both the public and private sectors. Rebecca has training using demographic methods and specializes in using population-based linked administrative datasets to better understand child maltreatment. Rebecca is the principal investigator of the NICHD-funded research project “The impact of COVID-19 on child maltreatment-related medical encounters and system responses using linked administrative data” (1R21HD105907-01).
Dr. John Fluke is Associate Director for Systems Research and Evaluation at the Kempe Center with joint appointments as a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and the Department of Epidemiology at the Colorado School of Public Health. Dr. Fluke’s research is focused on child protection decision-making and child maltreatment epidemiology. He is known internationally for his innovative and informative research and evaluation work in the areas of child welfare administrative data analysis, workload and costing, and performance and outcome measurement for children and family services. For the US government he has been PI or key staff for research and evaluation projects focused on improving the evidence base for various interventions with the US Health and Human Services Children’s Bureau, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA), the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), and with the US Agency for International Development (USAID). He has also worked on projects sponsored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Casey Family Services Foundation, the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, and program evaluation projects for governmental child welfare agencies such as Colorado, New York City, Texas, Utah, and Washington. He has participated in numerous internationally based efforts to improve the global capacity to understand the epidemiology of child maltreatment including work with Canadian, Balkan, EU, German, Saudi Arabian, and Unicef data sources. He is the author or co-author of more than 70 peer reviewed publications, as well as numerous book chapters and reports. He has co-edited two books National Systems of Child Protection through Springer Press and Decision Making and Judgement in Child Welfare and Protection: Theory, Research, and Practice through Oxford University Press.
Dr. Darcey Merritt is an Associate Professor at NYU Silver School of Social Work and a Faculty Fellow at the School’s McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research. She is also a Co-Editor in Chief for Children and Youth Services Review (CYSR), a member of the editorial board for Child Maltreatment, a member of the Board of Directors of the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR), a Board member of the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA), a Board member of the Citizens’ Committee for Children of NY, and Chairperson of the NYU Tenured/Tenure-Track Faculty Senate. Dr. Merritt has extensive experience as a practitioner in child welfare systems, and research interests including child maltreatment prevention and experiences of those served by public child welfare systems. Specifically, her research focuses on parenting in socio-economic context, considering the impact of working memory on parental decision-making. She is dedicated to providing empirical and meaningful knowledge useful to bolste the well being of children and families, through contributing their voices in the discussion of prevention methods. Her most innovative scope of research, An Elicitation Analysis of Parental Perspectives Regarding Child Neglect has recently been funded for an R21 mechanism by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD, NIH, 2019-2022), relying on data collection from the New York Foundling. Dr. Merritt’s research has been widely published in high impact journals. Dr. Merritt earned her MSW and PhD in social welfare from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and her BA from Sarah Lawrence College.
Melissa Jonson-Reid, PhD MSW is the Ralph and Muriel Professor of Social Work at Washington University’s George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Associate Dean for Transdisciplinary Faculty Affairs, and Director of the Center for Innovation in Child Maltreatment Research, Policy and Training (NICHD P50HD096719). She was a school social worker and project director of a program called Foster Youth Services in two California school districts that served youth in child welfare and probation care prior to entering academia and also worked as a counselor with adult victims and perpetrators of IPV. Her research and evaluative work has two primary foci: (1) research on cross-sector service response for low income and maltreated populations including studies using linked administrative data as well as intervention/prevention studies in collaboration with community agencies to look for opportunities to improve services and policy to improve longer term outcomes (including preventing later violent behaviors and victimization). Related to this focus, she a substantial history of funded service system research using longitudinal administrative data- with a particular interest in child neglect (e.g., PI: “Child Neglect: Cross Sector Service Use and Outcomes” NIH R01 90CA15910; and “Child Neglect: Cross Sector Services and Young Adult Outcomes” NIH R01 MH061733-04A1) and policy relevant work, (e.g., Intervening in Child Neglect: A Microsimulation Evaluation Model of Usual Care(ACF 90 CA1832). (2) Her second focal area is child maltreatment prevention, working in collaboration with various community-based organizations such as home visitation (e.g., Early Childhood Connections, 1R34MH083871-01A1; Enhancing Nurse Home Visiting to Address Vulnerabilities and Prevent Maltreatment HRSA R62MC24947), community family service agencies (Evaluation of PACT-STL, RWJF P20-03097). She has authored and co-authored over 110 peer-review articles and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare. She co-teaches a course on Transdisciplinary Problem-solving in Child Maltreatment and authored a book After the Cradle Falls (with Brett Drake and published by Oxford University Press) transforming evidence for lay audiences to better understand child maltreatment and the child welfare system.