child maltreatment

• Who is a mandated reporter?

  Someone who is legally required to report any child abuse or neglect to appropriate authorities. (teachers, social workers, law enforcement, etc.)
• What are mandated reports required to do?

  Report any suspected child abuse or neglect to protective services of law enforcement. They must provide as much details as possible about the situation, which includes any evidence or observations that led to their suspicion.
• A researcher is conducting an RCT to test whether their treatment for anxiety works under well-controlled conditions. What stage of the Stage Model would his research fit under?

  
  

  A) Stage 0: basic research

  B) Stage 2: Efficacy

  C) Stage 4: Effectiveness

  D) Stage 5: implementation and dissemination

  B) Stage 2: Efficacy
• True or false: The stage model of intervention research requires that researchers follow the stages in sequential order, from stage 0 to stage 5.

  False
• The first of this course about the etiology (or causes) of child maltreatment is best-aligned with which stage of the stage model?

  
  

  A) Stage 0- Basic research

  B) Stage 1- Intervention generation

  C) Stage 4- Effectiveness

  D) Stage 5: Implementation & Dissemination

  A) Stage 0- Basic research
• What is the purpose of the California evidence-based clearinghouse for child welfare?

  
  

  A) Provide funding for implementation of evidence-based practice

  B) Evaluate and disseminate information about the effectiveness of treatments

  C) Develop new interventions for children exposed to trauma

  D) All of the above

  B) Evaluate and disseminate information about the effectiveness of treatments
• Which of the following statements is TRUE about the "Nurse Family Partnership"?

  
  

  A) NFP is rated as "Well-supported by research evidence" (Level 1).

  B) The target population is first-time, low-income mothers.

  C) Improving pregnancy outcomes is one of the program goals of NFP.

  D) All of the above

  D) All of the above
• The US Advisory Board on Child Abuse and and Neglect aimed to:

  
  

  A) Develop stronger procedures for justifying foster care.

  B) Evaluate the nation's progress on children's safety and develop a vision for improvement.

  C) Address poverty by providing families with cash supplements.

  D) All of the above

  B) Evaluate the nation's progress on children's safety and develop a vision for improvement.
• What is an example of research that helped inform a community-level prevention approach?

  
  

  A) Evidence that attachment patterns may influence parenting behavior.

  B) Evidence that maltreatment leads to changes in children's neural development.

  C) Evidence that maternal depression can interfere with effective parenting.

  D) Evidence that exosystem factors can potentiate risk for maltreatment.

  D) Evidence that exosystem factors can potentiate risk for maltreatment.
• "To ensure that every child and every parent would know that if they had a reason to celebrate, worry, or grieve, someone would notice, and someone would care..." is the motto for which prevention program?

  
  

  A) Strong communities for children

  B) Triple P

  C) Violence interrupters

  D) Nurse-family partnership

  A) Strong communities for children
• Which of the following is a role of outreach workers in the Strong Communities prevention model?

  
  

  A) To provide intensive parent coaching to individual families who are considered at risk for maltreatment

  B) To conduct initial interviews following suspicions of child maltreatment

  C) To organize campaigns aimed at increasing family involvement in community activities

  D) Both (a) and (c)

  C) To organize campaigns aimed at increasing family involvement in community activities
• What is a similarity between the Positive Parenting Program (Triple P) and Strong Communities?

  
  

  A) Both have been shown to result in more normative patterns of cortisol regulation through randomized clinical trials

  B) Both focus on the role that parents' own traumas play in how they parent

  C) Both have demonstrated reduced rates of population-level maltreatment, relative to a control condition

  D) All of the above

  C) Both have demonstrated reduced rates of population-level maltreatment, relative to a control condition
• What is an example of high foster parent commitment?

  
  

  A) A foster parent who is willing to take in many children to their home, without getting attached to them.

  B) A foster parent who thinks about a foster child as their own.

  C) A shift caregiver who keeps their emotional distance from children in their care.

  D) Both (a) and (b)


  B) A foster parent who thinks about a foster child as their own.
• In the TED Talk shown in lecture, Molly McGrath Tierney makes which of the following recommendations regarding the child welfare system?

  
  

  A) Foster care should be the primary approach to intervention for vulnerable children.

  B) Foster care parents should be paid higher rates for their efforts.

  C) Prevention efforts should be enhanced so that supports can be available to families before foster care is necessary.

  D) All of the above


  C) Prevention efforts should be enhanced so that supports can be available to families before foster care is necessary.
• TRUE or FALSE: Using random assignment (like was used in the Bucharest Early Intervention Project) allows you to draw causal conclusions between the manipulated variable and the outcome variable(s).

  True
• For which of the following findings did timing of foster care placement NOT matter for children in the Bucharest Early Intervention Project?

  
  

  A) Secure attachment

  B) RAD- inhibited type

  C) RAD- disinhibited type

  D) IQ

  B) RAD- inhibited type
• In the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, if children were placed into foster care before 24 months, their brain activity (alpha/theta power) looked most similar to:

  
  

  A) Never institutionalized children (i.e., showing almost full catch-up)

  B) Institutional care as usual group (i.e., showing no benefit of foster care vs. orphanage care)

  C) Children placed in foster care after 24 months (i.e., showing no benefit of early placement in foster care vs. late placement)

  D) Both b and c

  A) Never institutionalized children (i.e., showing almost full catch-up)
• In the documentary Foster, thirteen-year-old Denyshia described how being abandoned by her parents made her question whether she would ever be loved. This is an example of how foster care may affect a child's:

  
  

  A) Internal working model of attachment

  B) Risk for autism

  C) Hostile attribution bias

  D) All of the above

  A) Internal working model of attachment
• What is an example of foster parent "commitment" (as defined by Dr. Dozier's studies, discussed in the 4.8.24 lecture) seen in the documentary Foster?

  
  

  A) DCFS social worker, Ms. Chandler, providing close mentoring to her child and adolescent clients

  B) Zoila, Mary's foster mother, expressing that she wanted to be Mary's final placement and to watch her grow up and get married

  C) Ms. Beavers serving as a foster parent to many children for over 20 years

  D) All of the above


  B) Zoila, Mary's foster mother, expressing that she wanted to be Mary's final placement and to watch her grow up and get married
• Consistent with data shared in class on 4.8.24, in the documentary Foster, a caseworker shares that the majority of cases that come into contact with DCFS are due to:

  
  

  A) Substance abuse

  B) General neglect

  C) Physical abuse

  D) Sexual abuse


  B) General neglect
• In the documentary Foster, Ms. Chandler shared about her experiences participating in Nurse Family Partnership when she had her first son, Noah. What is Nurse Family Partnership?

  
  

  A) A substance abuse group for parents involved in the child welfare system

  B) A trauma-focused prevention program for survivors of domestic violence

  C) A home-visiting program that sends nurses to support first-time low-income mothers during pregnancy and the postpartum period

  D) A parent support group hosted in pediatric settings for parents who experienced maltreatment themselves

  C) A home-visiting program that sends nurses to support first-time low-income mothers during pregnancy and the postpartum period
• In the documentary Foster, Reanne's and Chris' caseworker, Ms. Regina, explained that the case plan/goal for their child was [???], which is the most common case goal for children within the child welfare system, as discussed in class on 4/8/24.

  
  

  A) Adoption

  B) Long-term placement in foster care

  C) Termination of parental rights

  D) Family reunification

  D) Family reunification
• Reporting process


  1. Mandated reporters are required to report suspected maltreatment when in their professional capacity, they are presented with reasonable cause to suspect maltreat

  2. Physician, dentist, resident, intern, nurse

  3. Social worker, therapist

  4. Teachers and school staff

  5. Police officers

  6. Anyone can make a report protected under good faith law
• When to report


  1. Victim under 18

  2. Reasonable suspicion of abuse or neglect, if one does not report must be convinced without a doubt
• Reporting process


  1. Immediate verbal report call to cps

  2. Worker will guide through a series of questions

  3. Follow up with a written report or documentation
• Involving caregivers


  • Conflicting views about whether to involve caregiver
  • How would one involve the caregiver
  • Preparation for call, collaborative process
  • Discussion of confidentiality at start of treatment
• Child protective services


  • Receive reports of abuse and neglect
  • Conduct assessments and investigations
  • Evaluate safety and risk of the child
  • Assess family strength, needs, resources
  • Develop case plan
  • Coordinate services
• Investigation


  1. Does the information meet guidelines for child maltreatment that warrant further investigation?

  2. What urgency must the agency respond with?

  3. CPS workers determines how to proceed

  4. Only about 33% are investigated
• Investigation questions


  • Did maltreatment occur,who was responsible
  • Does the evidence meet the requirements of the law
  • What are weaknesses of the evidence
  • What must be done to protect the child?
• Investigation


  1. Primarily conducted by CPS, sometimes police

  2. Interviews with family and friends

  3. Medical information/records

  4. Safety assessment
• Factors of potential harm to children


  • Protective capacities of the family
  • Factors that indicate protective capacities
• Challenges with interviewing children


  • Difficulty understanding questions
  • Reluctance to discuss
  • Suggestibility
  • Majority of children under report
  • Phased approach to build rapport with child in order to eliminate false answers
• Investigation process


  1. Preparation

  2. Information gathering

  3. Closure
• Outcome


  • Unsubstantiated: unfounded, not indicated
  • Substantiated: founded, indicated
• Only about 20% of substantiated cases end up in foster care