Maltreatment Experiences among Young People with Dual System Involvement

One in 3 children in the United States will have had contact with child protective services (CPS) by age 18, and those with CPS involvement have an increased likelihood of entering the juvenile justice system at some level. Although the heightened risk of crossing from one system to the other is well documented, the relationship between specific maltreatment types (e.g., physical abuse, sexual abuse, or neglect) and subsequent juvenile justice system involvement is unclear (Baidawi & Sheehan, 2019; Bright & Jonson-Reid, 2008; Park, 2022). Linked CPS and youth justice system records in South Australia showed that the odds of being convicted for a crime before adulthood were higher for young people with prior substantiated allegations of physical and emotional abuse, but odds were lower for young people with a substantiated sexual abuse report (Malvaso et al., 2017). Whereas, linked CPS and state corrections records in California showed that children with an initial neglect report were more likely to be incarcerated compared with young people who were initially reported for physical or sexual abuse (Jonson-Reid & Barth, 2000). A study conducted using data from Rhode Island found that types of maltreatment did not significantly predict the likelihood of juvenile justice system involvement (Vidal et al., 2017). Taken together, the results of studies exploring allegation types and juvenile justice system involvement vary.

An added complication is that the relationship between specific allegation types and later juvenile justice system involvement may differ by gender (Baidawi et al., 2021; Bright & Jonson-Reid, 2008). A study conducted in the Midwest showed that the relationship between maltreatment type and juvenile court delinquency petitions showed that educational neglect was significantly associated with delinquent petitions for boys, whereas, among girls, all maltreatment types were equally likely to result in delinquency petitions (Bright & Jonson-Reid, 2008). An Australian study of dual system youth found a greater prevalence of emotional and sexual abuse among females compared to males, but it did not find gender differences in the prevalence of other maltreatment types (Baidawi & Sheehan, 2019). These divergent findings elevate the need to explore the relationship between maltreatment type and juvenile justice system involvement.

Young people with dual system involvement may have multiple contacts with CPS (Herz et al., 2021) and therefore, may experience multiple allegation types prior to contact with probation. Multiple types of allegations (i.e., multitype maltreatment, cross-type maltreatment, polyvictimization) may be documented due to repeat CPS involvement, and although there are some differences in how states categorize and classify specific kinds of allegations, a single CPS report can include multiple types of allegations. This makes it difficult to understand whether and how allegation types or repeated maltreatment over time may be related to subsequent juvenile justice system involvement. The number of child maltreatment reports has been shown to be related to a subsequent delinquency petition (Jonson-Reid et al., 2012). Malvaso et al. (2017) found a heighted risk of conviction for young people with multiple types of maltreatment but did not explore specific groupings of multiple types of maltreatment. An exploration of different groupings of multiple maltreatment types could enhance understanding of the relationship between allegation type and dual system involvement.

This study built on prior literature by exploring the relationship between allegation types (documented between birth and age 18) and later juvenile justice system involvement using the expanded hierarchical type (EHT) classification scheme (Lau et al., 2005). EHT is a classification scheme developed for determining the type of maltreatment in a child’s history that best predicts differences in developmental outcomes. These classifications are based upon single or multiple allegation types that have been found to be common or associated with more deleterious outcomes when compared with single maltreatment types (Lau et al., 2005). Examining a single type of maltreatment may mask multiple subtypes of co-occurring or sequential maltreatment. This coding scheme accounts for variations in multiple types of maltreatment (e.g. neglect and physical abuse).

The current analysis is an exploratory study that aims to further understand the relationship between allegation types and dual system involvement by age 18. This work leverages a cohort of young people who experienced CPS involvement between birth and age 18 and builds upon an initial study that found among all young people who had contact with CPS in Los Angeles County between birth and age 18, 5.0% experienced a delinquency court petition (Herz et al., 2023). That study showed variations in the prevalence of dual system involvement by gender race and ethnicity but did not examine allegation type. This work aligns with research that shows the likelihood of justice system involvement varies by gender and race/ethnicity among children who experience maltreatment (Cho et al., 2019; Cutuli et al., 2016; DeGue & Spatz Widom, 2009). The current study extended this work and leveraged the EHT framework to better understand the relationship between single and multiple types of maltreatment allegations and subsequent dual system involvement across gender and race and ethnicity.

Method

CPS records from the California Child Welfare Services/Case Management System were used to prospectively follow all children born between 1998 and 2001 with a history of at least one investigated CPS report by age 18 (through 2019). These records were probabilistically linked to Los Angeles County’s juvenile probation records (2008 through 2019) to document any subsequent juvenile court petition by age 18. Young people whose CPS report preceded juvenile justice involvement were excluded (n = 348), to allow for a prospective analysis, resulting in a study population of 228,251 young people. Data were available through university–agency data-sharing agreements with the California Department of Social Services and the Los Angeles County Probation Department. This study was approved by state and university committees for the protection of human subjects, and a petition for research was approved by the Juvenile Dependency Court of the Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Variables

Demographic variables included gender (boy, girl) and race and ethnicity (Hispanic, non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic White, other or missing), as documented in CPS records. Allegations were documented by CPS records and included if the allegation was investigated by CPS and occurred before age 18 years or prior to the first probation petition date. Allegations were dichotomized into a single type maltreatment if the young person had only received one allegation type between birth and age 18 or multiple maltreatment types if two or more allegation types were documented. Allegation types were also categorized according to the EHT classification scheme (Lau et al., 2005), which differentiates between a single maltreatment type and combinations of maltreatment types (neglect with physical abuse, sexual abuse with another maltreatment type, neglect only, physical abuse only, emotional abuse only, sexual abuse only, and other maltreatment). In instances of documented neglect, physical abuse, and sexual abuse for the same young person, they were categorized as both neglect with physical abuse and sexual abuse with another maltreatment type. Other maltreatment was defined as any allegation type or types that fell outside the EHT classification scheme (e.g., sibling at risk, neglect with emotional abuse). These classifications have been found to be common or associated with more deleterious outcomes when compared with single maltreatment types (Lau et al., 2005).

System involvement was defined as CPS only or dual system. CPS only was defined as young people with any level of CPS involvement (in the form of a child abuse or neglect investigation, substantiated allegation, case, or placement in foster care) and no delinquency court petition before age 18. Dual system was defined as young people with CPS involvement who were subsequently petitioned to the delinquency court. We included dual system involvement that overlapped and involvement that was non-concurrent.

Analysis

Descriptive tabulations were provided and display the distribution of gender, race/ethnicity, and allegation types. The CPS only and dual system groups were compared using chi-square analyses to assess statistically significant bivariate differences by dual system involvement. Additionally, a generalized linear model (GLM) was constructed to assess the magnitude of the relationship between key variables and dual system involvement. The GLM calculated the relative risk of dual system involvement by specifying a Poisson distribution and log link and using a robust standard error adjustment, which corrects for wide estimated confidence intervals (Zou, 2004). Results are presented as adjusted risk ratios with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Statistical analyses were completed with Stata 16.1.

Results

Table 1 displays the gender and race/ethnicity of the population and the most common allegation types for young people with CPS only and dual system involvement. The results show the large proportion of boys with dual system involvement as well as the disproportionate representation of Black young people, among those with dual system involvement. Neglect only and neglect with physical abuse were the most common allegations in the full population, aside from other maltreatment. Other maltreatment was defined by EHT as any allegation type or types that were uncommon or had lower risk of negative developmental outcomes (e.g., sibling at risk or neglect with emotional abuse). The categories with multiple types of allegations (i.e., neglect with physical abuse, sexual abuse with another maltreatment type) were the most common and significantly more common among young people with dual system involvement than among young people with CPS involvement only. Specifically, 44.2% of young people with dual system involvement had experienced both a neglect and physical abuse allegation, compared with 21.3% of young people with CPS involvement only, χ2(1, n = 228,251) = 3,100.0, p < 0.001. Further, 22.7% of young people with dual system involvement experienced sexual abuse with another maltreatment type, compared with 11.1% of young people with CPS involvement only, χ2(1, n = 228,251) = 1,100.0, p < 0.001. We found that 84.4% of young people who experienced sexual abuse with another maltreatment type also experienced an investigation for neglect.

Table 2 displays the allegation types for young people with dual system involvement by gender. The differences between boys and girls by allegation type were significant at the p < 0.001 level for all types except sexual abuse only (the smallest category). The greatest difference was between girls and boys with dual system involvement—38.6% of girls experienced sexual abuse with another maltreatment type, compared to 16.2% of boys, χ2(1, 1, n = 10,881) = 643.0, p < 0.001.

Almost half of the young people in the study population (47.0%) experienced multiple types of maltreatment. Table 3 shows that among young people with CPS involvement only, 46.0% experienced multiple types of maltreatment, with some variation across gender and race and ethnicity. In comparison to young people with CPS involvement only, two thirds of those with dual system involvement experienced multiple kinds of maltreatment (68.2%), χ2(1, n = 288,251) = 2000.0, p < 0.001). Table 3 shows that among young people with dual system involvement, girls (compared to boys) and non-Hispanic Black youth (compared to other races and ethnicities) were overrepresented among young people with multiple types of maltreatment. Specifically, among girls with dual system involvement, 77.1% experienced more than one allegation type by age 18, compared with 64.5% of boys, χ2(1, n = 10,881) = 445.8, p < 0.001. Black young people with dual system involvement were significantly more likely to experience multiple maltreatment types by age 18 (75.3%), higher than the proportion of young people with dual system involvement who were White (69.7%) or Hispanic (67.0%).

Table 1 Allegation Types for Young People with CPS Contact from Birth (1998-2001 Birth Cohorts) Through Age 18 and those with Dual System Involvement
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Table 2 Allegation Type Among Young People with Dual System Involvement, by Gender
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Table 3 Single and Multiple Types of Maltreatment Among Young People with CPS Only and Dual System Involvement
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Table 4 Relative Risk of Dual System Involvement among Young People with CPS Involvement
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Discussion

Using linked CPS and probation administrative data from Los Angeles County, this study documented allegation types from birth to 18 years old for a cohort of young people born between 1998 and 2010 with CPS involvement and compared the number and type of allegations between young people with CPS involvement only and those with dual system involvement. Three key findings emerged.

First, young people with dual system involvement were more likely than those with only CPS involvement to have a history of multiple allegation types. This aligns with prior literature that has documented that experiencing multiple types of maltreatment (compared to a single maltreatment type) was related to heightened risk of dual system involvement (Malvaso et al., 2017). Relatedly, the frequency of CPS involvement was tied to increased risk of juvenile justice system involvement (Jonson-Reid et al., 2012; Malvaso et al., 2017). The current study showed the risk of having experienced more than one allegation type by age 18 was especially heightened among girls and Black young people of both genders with dual system involvement. More than three quarters of girls and Black youth with dual system involvement experienced more than one maltreatment type. This aligns with prior literature showing that among young people with dual system involvement, girls and Black youth have the most extensive CPS histories (Dierkhising et al., 2019; Herz et al., 2021; Herz & Fontaine, 2013). This also aligns with research finding young people of color are overrepresented in CPS (Wildeman et al., 2014) and juvenile justice (Ryan et al., 2007) systems. Ryan et al. (2007) showed how overrepresentation in CPS and juvenile justice systems are interrelated by identifying a child welfare bias within the juvenile justice decision-making process. As a consequence of this bias, young people with delinquency cases originating in CPS were more likely to enter camps and secure residential facilities. Delinquency cases that did not originate within CPS were more likely to receive community probation, remaining at home with services and support. Efforts to address CPS involvement should address the factors that lead to this overrepresentation. Families in all communities should have access to early, supportive services. Strategies should aim to reduce dual system involvement with particular attention to Black young people and decrease overrepresentation. If efforts to provide families with access to adequate supports are successful, these strategies may reduce repeat CPS involvement and yield subsequent reductions in juvenile justice system involvement.

Second, allegation types differed for young people with CPS only and dual system involvement, and EHT-designated maltreatment categories were related to the risk of dual system involvement. Research has suggested that experiencing multiple kinds of victimizations, rather than a specific kind of allegation, was more predictive of trauma symptoms than any particular kind of victimization (Finkelhor et al., 2007). The current study used EHT categories to assess combinations of maltreatment types. Using this lens, the data showed that young people who experienced allegations of neglect with physical abuse or sexual abuse with another maltreatment type were more likely than young people with other allegation types to experience dual system involvement. Policies and programs that aim to address complex needs that may result from multiple kinds of victimizations may reduce the likelihood of ongoing and dual system contacts.

The large proportion of young people with dual system involvement who had multiple allegation types may reflect the presence of different kinds of family stressors in the home or due to contextual factors and elevates the need for supportive, community-based services to preserve families. Young people with dual system involvement commonly experienced both physical abuse and neglect or sexual abuse with another maltreatment type (predominately neglect).  Neglect allegations can be associated with stressors including parental substance use, parental mental illness or witnessing domestic violence (Palmer et al., 2022). Co-occurring neglect allegations could reflect the difficulties parents may have when dealing with stressors in providing the supervision, attention and protection needed to help children as they develop into adolescence and transition to adulthood. The results of the current study highlight the need for community-based support for both young people and their caregivers that ideally would be offered prior to escalation to physical or sexual abuse.

Third, a significant portion of young people with dual system involvement experienced a maltreatment allegation related to sexual abuse, and young people who had experienced sexual abuse allegations almost always had experienced another allegation type. One in 4 young people with dual system involvement and 1 in 3 girls with dual system involvement experienced a sexual abuse allegation. Prior research has established that experiences of sexual abuse are tied to mental and behavioral health issues in adolescence and stressed the importance for child sexual abuse survivors to receive and complete treatment (Noll, 2021). The current study provides evidence of how common sexual abuse is among young people with dual system involvement and should facilitate discussion of targeted services for youth with traumatic sexual experiences.

Limitations

The strengths and limitations of this study are both related to the use of administrative data. The advantage of using this linked administrative dataset is that it allowed for an examination of the allegation history for the life course of a cohort of young people. However, the allegation types documented by CPS may not accurately reflect the maltreatment experienced by the young person and do not adequately reflect complete victimization profiles (Finkelhor et al., 2007). Some maltreatment is not identified, reported, or documented, contributing to false negatives in the categorization of allegation type. On the other hand, allegations that did not occur may be reported and documented. Research also shows that race and poverty are factors in which children are reported to CPS (Rebbe et al., 2022), which may have influenced the types of maltreatment documented in the current study. Further, research has shown that the maltreatment allegations categories used by CPS do not adequately reflect the heterogeneity and complexity of maltreatment experienced (Mennen et al., 2010; Palmer et al., 2022). Future research using self-report data or a case record review is needed to corroborate the present findings. This study is also limited in that it does not explore the sequence or timing of allegations and CPS involvement. Future work should explore the pathways of young people moving through CPS and factors that protect against dual system involvement.

Conclusion

The findings from the current study highlight the complex maltreatment experiences among young people with dual system involvement and underscore the need to implement national, state, and local policies to support these young people. Policy changes that may improve practice for young people with complex and multifaceted CPS histories are underway. The federal Family First Prevention Services Act (2016) is being adopted and implemented by states and among other things, seeks to modify requirements for youth being placed in residential treatment programs and to improve the quality and oversight of intensive and trauma-based services. Current statewide efforts in California aim to enhance the capacity and delivery of trauma-informed care for children and youth in foster care. Specifically, California established a system of care for children and youth with the implementation of Assembly Bill 2083 (2018). This law requires a statewide plan for a trauma-informed, therapeutic continuum of care to support youth in care in the least restrictive setting. This reform requires comprehensive and coordinated service delivery for young people with co-occurring and complex needs. The current study suggests that many young people and families who experience multiple investigations and allegation types throughout their childhood may benefit from access to community-based, trauma-informed services and supports.

The study also shows girls, especially girls of color, with dual system involvement had likely experienced multiple types of maltreatment and sexual abuse allegations. Findings from the current study should facilitate discussions related to gender-responsive services for youth in probation with traumatic sexual experiences and co-occurring maltreatment histories. Knowing that girls and Black youth with multiple allegation types face a higher risk of dual system involvement suggests that efforts to enhance the capacity and delivery of trauma-informed care may reduce juvenile justice system involvement. Investing in specialized programs to prevent young people from being caught up in the juvenile justice system is good public policy. The cost of community-based prevention programs is a fraction of the cost of incarceration and most importantly, it is a much better option for young people, their families, and our communities.