Children with disabilities are known to have high rates of contact with child protection services. However, little is known about child protection contacts for a broader group of children with special healthcare needs (SHCN; i.e., special needs or other impairments of concern that affect learning). This study examined the characteristics of contact with child protection services (prior to the age of 6 years) for children with SHCN identified at school entry using the 2009 Australian Early Development Census, using administrative data from more than 65,000 children in the New South Wales Child Development Study. Child protection contacts prior to age 6 years were more prevalent among children with SHCN compared with those without; in particular, children with SHCN had higher odds of a history of exposure to neglect and physical abuse, and higher odds of being placed in out-of-home care, compared with their typically developing peers. Understanding the characteristics of child protection contacts among children with SHCN, with consideration of factors that may influence their patterns of contact with these and other human services agencies, will inform the development of appropriate social policy initiatives to fulfil Australia’s obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

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为有特殊医疗需求的儿童提供儿童保护服务：一项人口记录关联研究

众所周知，残疾儿童与儿童保护服务的接触率很高。然而，对于更广泛的有特殊医疗需求（SHCN；即特殊需求或其他令人关注的障碍）儿童群体的儿童保护接触知之甚少。影响学习）。本研究使用 2009 年澳大利亚早期发展人口普查数据，使用来自新南威尔士州儿童的 65,000 多名儿童的行政数据，研究了在入学时确定的 SHCN 儿童与儿童保护服务（6 岁之前）接触的特征。发展研究。与未患 SHCN 的儿童相比，患有 SHCN 的儿童在 6 岁之前有儿童保护接触者更为普遍；尤其是，与正常发育的同龄人相比，患有 SHCN 的儿童有更高的经历被忽视和身体虐待的历史，并且被安置在户外护理的可能性更高。了解 SHCN 儿童中儿童保护接触的特征，