Background

Women prisoners are a growing portion of the prison population. Health and social outcomes of their children have been studied and found to be poor, but little is known about child protection outcomes.

Objectives

Ascertain child protection system contact of children exposed to maternal incarceration.

Participants and setting

All children born between 1985 and 2011 exposed to the incarceration of their mothers in a Western Australian correctional facility and a matched comparison group.

Methods

A matched cohort study using linked administrative data on 2637 mothers entering prison between 1985 and 2015 and their 6680 children. We estimated hazard ratios (HRs) and incidence rate ratios (IRRs) of child protection service (CPS) contact post maternal incarceration (four concern levels), comparing rates for children exposed to maternal incarceration with a matched non-exposed group, adjusting for maternal and child factors.

Findings

Exposure to maternal incarceration increased risk of CPS contact. Unadjusted HRs exposed vs unexposed children were 7.06 (95%CI = 6.49–7.69) for substantiated child maltreatment and 12.89 (95%CI = 11.42–14.55) for out-of-home care (OOHC). Unadjusted IRRs were 6.04 (95%CI = 5.57–6.55) for number of substantiations and 12.47 (95%CI = 10.65–14.59) for number of removals to OOHC. HRs and IRRs were only slightly attenuated in adjusted models.

Conclusions

Maternal incarceration is a warning flag for a child at high risk of serious child protection concerns. Family-friendly rehabilitative women's prisons, incorporating support for more nurturing mother-child relationships could provide a placed-based public health opportunity for disrupting distressing life trajectories and intergenerational pathways of disadvantage of these vulnerable children and their mothers. This population should be a priority for trauma-informed family support services.

中文翻译：

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儿童保护系统参与被监禁母亲的孩子：关联数据研究

背景

女性囚犯在监狱人口中所占比例越来越大。他们的孩子的健康和社会结果已经过研究，发现很差，但对儿童保护结果知之甚少。

目标

确定暴露于母亲监禁的儿童的儿童保护系统联系人。

参与者和设置

所有在 1985 年至 2011 年间出生的儿童都经历过母亲被关押在西澳大利亚惩教机构和匹配的对照组中。

方法

一项匹配队列研究使用了 2637 名在 1985 年至 2015 年间入狱的母亲及其 6680 名子女的关联行政数据。我们估计了孕产妇监禁后儿童保护服务 (CPS) 联系人的风险比 (HR) 和发生率比 (IRR)（四个关注级别），将暴露于孕产妇监禁的儿童的比率与匹配的未暴露组进行比较，针对孕产妇进行调整和孩子因素。

发现

暴露于产妇监禁增加了 CPS 接触的风险。经证实的儿童虐待与未暴露儿童相比，未经调整的 HR 为 7.06 (95%CI = 6.49–7.69)，而户外护理 (OOHC) 则为 12.89 (95%CI = 11.42–14.55)。未经调整的 IRR 为 6.04 (95%CI = 5.57–6.55) 的证实数量和 12.47 (95%CI = 10.65–14.59) 的 OOHC 移除数量。HR 和 IRR 在调整后的模型中仅略有减弱。

结论

对于面临严重儿童保护问题的高风险儿童，母亲监禁是一个警示旗。家庭友好型康复女子监狱，包括对更多培养母子关系的支持，可以提供基于地方的公共卫生机会，以打破这些弱势儿童及其母亲的痛苦生活轨迹和代际劣势。这一人群应该是创伤知情家庭支持服务的优先对象。