State-Level Variation in the Cumulative Prevalence of Confirmed Maltreatment and Foster Care Placement, 2004–2015

Youngmin Yi , Cornell University
Natalia Emanuel, Yale University
Jane Waldfogel, Columbia University
John E. Leventhal, Yale University
Hedwig Lee, Washington University in St. Louis
Christopher Wildeman, Cornell University

We use data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System and the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System and synthetic cohort life tables to estimate state-level cumulative risks of confirmed maltreatment and foster care placement for U.S. children. Results indicate that there is great cross-state variation, with overall confirmed maltreatment risks ranging from less than 1% to 21% and foster care placement risks ranging from 2% to 9%. Racial disparities in confirmed maltreatment and foster care placement are smallest in the Southeast, where the disparities rarely exceed 1:1, and tend to be largest in the upper Midwest, where disparities routinely approach and sometimes exceed 4:1. Taken together, these preliminary findings indicate that there is great state-level and racial/ethnic variation in CPS contact that may have implications both for our understanding of population-level health and racial disparities therein.

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 Presented in Session 235. Social Aspects of Place and Health