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Ronald Hughes, Judith Rycus, and their colleagues have produced a seminal review of differential response (DR) programs implemented across the nation. Their review questions nearly every aspect of the DR movement, beginning with the concept on which all DR programs are based and ending with serious concerns about the quality of evaluations conducted to date. Given current support for DR initiatives and wide variation of existing DR models, not all in the social sciences will agree with their conclusions. Nevertheless, this review represents the type of analysis critical to advancing practice in the field. Although many issues are raised in the Hughes et al. review, our response focuses on four critical points, which we believe represent the core problems identified. These include the concept that serves as the foundation for the DR movement, the role of assessments, and the primary problems with evaluations conducted to date.

This chapter considers how the seminal paper by Kempe and colleagues on “the battered child” may have influenced our thinking and practice regarding child neglect. While the paper focused on severe physical abuse, the authors were careful to describe a spectrum of maltreatment that included child neglect. Curiously, the paper makes no mention of emotional deprivation as a form of neglect, despite substantial earlier work on this topic.

Mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse and neglect highlights the challenges between the ethical and legal obligations of social workers and the need to maintain the therapeutic relationship with the client. The ability to bridge this tension is paramount to ensure continued psychosocial treatment and the well-being of children. This paper discusses a study to determine the decision-making factors of social work students and practitioners when facing a suspicion of child abuse and neglect, how they justify their decision to report or not report to child protection services, and the current and future relationship repair strategies used with simulated clients during an objective structured clinical evaluation (OSCE). Nineteen BSW, MSW, and experienced practitioners (N = 19) underwent an OSCE with one of two child maltreatment vignettes, physical abuse or neglect. Fisher's exact test was used to examine participants' historical and current reporting behaviors. Independent samples T-tests, Cohen's D, and qualitative content analysis was used to examine participants' decision making and relationship repair strategies when faced with suspected child abuse and neglect. Results showed that six participants discussed the duty to report during the OSCE while 13 participants did not. Participants' who discussed and did not discuss the duty to report during the OSCE articulated clear reasons for their decision and identified relationship repair strategies in working with the client. A sub-group of participants who identified the child maltreatment but did not discuss the duty to report, provided more tentative and complex reasons for their inaction and next steps in working with the client. All participants demonstrated a degree of competence and critical reflection in the OSCE, with integration for future learning. These findings are discussed and implications for future practice are offered.

BackgroundThe medical burden in mood disorders is high; various factors are thought to drive this pattern. Little research has examined the role of childhood maltreatment and its effects on medical morbidity in adulthood among people with unipolar depression and bipolar disorder.AimsThis is the first study to explore the association between childhood maltreatment and medical morbidity in bipolar disorder and in unipolar depression, and examine whether the impact of abuse and neglect are distinct or combined.MethodThe participants consisted of 354 psychiatrically healthy controls, 248 participants with recurrent unipolar depression and 72 with bipolar disorder. Participants completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and received a validated medical history interview.ResultsAny type of childhood maltreatment, child abuse and child neglect were significantly associated with the medical burden in bipolar disorder, but not unipolar depression or for controls. These associations worked in a dose–response fashion where participants with bipolar disorder with a history of two or more types of childhood maltreatment had the highest odds of having a medical illness relative to those without such history or those who reported one form. No such significant dose–response patterns were detected for participants with unipolar depression or controls.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that childhood maltreatment may play a stronger role in the development of medical illnesses in individuals with bipolar disorder relative to those with unipolar depression. Individuals who had been maltreated with a mood disorder, especially bipolar disorder may benefit most from prevention and intervention efforts surrounding physical health.Declaration of interestNone.

BackgroundAdverse childhood experiences have been associated with a variety of mental health problems in adult life.AimsTo examine whether this reported link between childhood experiences and mental health disorders in adult life applies in a Sub-Saharan African setting where cultural and family attributes may be different.MethodA multistage random sampling was used in the Nigerian Survey of Mental Health and Well-Being (NSMHW) to select respondents for face-to-face interviews. Assessments of family-related adverse childhood experiences and lifetime mental health disorders were conducted with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI 3.0).ResultsAlmost half of the respondents had experienced an adverse childhood experience within the context of the family before they were 16 years of age. Associations between adverse childhood experiences and adult mental health disorders were few and were attenuated when clustering of adverse childhood experience and disorder comorbidities were accounted for. There was an elevated likelihood of adult substance use disorders among individuals who had experienced family violence and neglect or abuse. Parental psychopathology was associated with a significantly increased risk for developing mood disorders.ConclusionsAdverse childhood experiences reflecting violence in the family, parental criminality and parental mental illness and substance misuse were more likely to have significant mental health consequences in adulthood.

Background Vaccines have helped in eradicating many communicable diseases. They are considered major players in preserving children's health. However, concerns about vaccines' ingredients and safety became hot topics globally. With doubt, some parents became hesitant to vaccinate their children. A recent study documented high prevalence of vaccine hesitancy among Saudi parents. Objectives This study aims to explore preparedness of current and future pediatricians to face vaccine hesitancy, a growing public health issue in Saudi Arabia. Methods This study adopted non-interventional cross-sectional online questionnaire specifically designed to encompass general vaccine hesitancy related questions including Covid-19's vaccines. Results The study recruited 119 participants form three main tertiary centers in Riyadh. Trainees were the majority with pediatric consultants representing 22%. Females were more than half of total participants (53%). Although familiarity with the term “vaccine hesitancy” was common, it was affected by training level. Among participants, 66% heard about it from social media. Furthermore, only 32% received designated training. Knowledge was suboptimal among all levels except for those who received formal training. Despite 80% encountered vaccine hesitancy, only 55% consider it a common public health issue. Attitude toward vaccine hesitant parents was negative among male physicians (odds ratio of 2.3, P value 0.045). Additionally, majority consider it a form of child neglect (95%). In regard to COVID19's vaccine, 31% were reluctant to get vaccinated themselves. Conclusion Pediatric workforce in Saudi Arabia commonly encounters vaccine hesitancy. The strong stand against vaccine hesitant parents might affect rapport with families. Sub-optimal knowledge, negative attitude and emerging COVID19 vaccine hesitancy might negatively impact future efforts. Tailored training and innovative educational platforms are essentials to address vaccine hesitancy in Saudi Arabia., Highlights • This is the first paper we know of that explores readiness to face vaccine hesitancy in Saudi Arabia. • The paper shows a huge deficit in knowledge regarding addressing vaccine hesitancy. • The only factor that influenced better knowledge addressing vaccine hesitancy was past medical training. • Despite high exposure to vacicine hesitancy, only half of participants consider it a common public health issue in Saudi Arabia. • Intolerance to vaccine hesistant parents is alarming for future confrontational relationships with some families. • Male physicians carry negative attitude toward vaccine hesitant parents and are less enthusiastic to receive further training to address this issue. • Female physicians are more likely to be hesitant to get COVID19 vaccine themselves. • There is a great need for tailored training to address vaccine hesitancy in Saudi Arabia. • Current and future pediatricians showed interest in using social media as an educational platform.

Independent child migrants (ICM) are children who choose to leave home and live independently of their parents or adult guardians. The literature and society in general often portray them as victims and abandoned children. This is because research on child neglect has not paid sufficient attention to the experiences of children in especially difficult circumstances. This paper has addressed that inadequacy: it has investigated the experiences and perception of parental neglect among ICM in Ghana and the relationship between these experiences and the children’s subjective well-being (happiness). The study used a cross-sectional concurrent mixed method design with children aged 12 to 17 years. The sample for the quantitative study included 156 children, while the qualitative investigation involved 14 children. The analysis comprised ordinal logistic regression, and hybrid thematic techniques for the quantitative and qualitative studies respectively. The results indicated that the decision to migrate often emerged through familial dialog. For the children, the decision was connected to their in-depth appreciation and experiences of family poverty and well-being. Correspondingly, despite the hardships the children faced, and their understanding of what neglect is, most of them did not feel neglected. Nonetheless, the majority of the ICM were not happy about the conditions of their lives. Unhappiness was mostly associated with greater perceived parental neglect. The paper argues that social protection policies to safeguard ICM and children alike from ‘risky’ conditions must consider the broader sociocultural, economic and familial conditions that shape their lives, livelihoods, and feelings of well-being.

The menace of child abuse has remained a challenge to the development of the child and the country. This has consequential implications on the sustainable development of the country in entirety. Nigeria as a nation has an estimated fifteen million children engaged in one manual labour or another and this negatively impacts the development of the populace and society in general. This paper has identified child labour, physical abuse, child neglect, child marriage,female genital mutilation, molestation and emotional and psychological abuse as types of abuse and established that poverty, cultural and religious belief, poor implementation of child protective regulations as factors encouraging the propagation of these condemnable acts particularly in developing countries like Nigeria. The paper stress that children are the future generation and hold the key to development as leaders of tomorrow as such, how they are tackled by every society reflects the level of development of any country as such, importance must be placed on tackling this menace quickly. The study amongst a number of measures recommends that qualified persons be employed to handle the affairs of children to prevent exploitation, molestation and neglect, government should establish more orphanage homes as well as financeaid non-governmental organisationsfinancially in their quest to enlighten, rehabilitate and empower victims and children, in addition, NGOs should provide accurate data on victims and perpetrators of these acts.

This paper explores how social workers intervene with affluent parents when there are child protection concerns about neglect. Based on data gathered from a small-scale exploratory qualitative study with 30 practitioners from 12 local authorities across England, this study examined three overarching questions: (1) How do social workers identify risk factors for vulnerable children in affluent circumstances? (2) Which factors inhibit or enable social workers’ engagement with resistant affluent parents when there are child protection concerns? (3) What kind of skills, knowledge and experience is necessary for social workers to effectively assert their professional authority with affluent parents when there are concerns about abuse and neglect? The findings revealed that indicators of neglect can be difficult to identify and challenging to respond to when parents are affluent. Results indicate that social workers have to navigate complex power relationships with parents who are able to use their class privileges to resist their interventions. The paper concludes with a discussion of social workers’ skills and capacities for engaging highly-resistant affluent parents in the child protection system.

The purpose of this research paper is to describe the factors that causes child neglect and the impacts of the child who are neglected in Indonesia through computer analysis of big data. This research paper using library research method that uses literatures such as books, journals, dictionaries, and other literature’s works that related to the theme of this discussion. From the results of this paper, we found that the trigger factor that causes the child neglect is the factor of divorce and wrong treatment to child, the factor of the lack of parent's understanding about education, low-family economic factors, and health factors. The impact of the child neglect is the negligence of the rights and needs of the child, not even fulfilled optimally. This is the things that encourages children to do outside’s activities to help the family’s economy. Because of these activities outside, makes the child doesn't have time to go to school.

The working relationship is considered a central feature of direct practice with human services clients. There are many challenges when it comes time to end a working relationship, yet limited guidance for workers on successful relationship ending. This paper aims to increase understanding of the process of the ending phase of the working relationship for parents and workers working with families where child neglect is an issue. The paper draws on data from a small-scale qualitative Australian study of perceptions of parents, family workers, and supervisors involved in eight parent-worker relationships. Using semistructured interviews, participants were asked to explore how they experienced the relationship. The findings illuminate important aspects about the ending phase of the relationship; in particular, challenging the idea that parents' returning to services for support is a sign that the service has not provided a successful intervention. The paper challenges social workers to consider recurring parent–worker relationships similar to other professional relationships where there are episodes of service but the relationship is there to be reactivated where needed.

Drawing on a new typology of intimate partner violence (IPV), this paper tests the relationship between indicators of totalitarian and anarchic IPV and child polyvictimization incidence and severity. The paper argues for and utilizes a quantitative approach to study polyvictimization severity. Polyvictimization is operationalized as a multiplicative relationship between physical abuse and neglect in a random sample of 204 children from Kyunggi province, South Korea. The indicator of totalitarian IPV significantly predicted polyvictimization severity and incidence even when a traditional measure of intimate terrorism was held constant. The indicator of anarchic IPV significantly predicted polyvictimization severity but not incidence when a traditional measure of intimate terrorism was held constant. Implications are discussed.

In recent times, worldwide there has been much hype about female infanticide, child labour, fatherless children, juvenile delinquency, poor access to education, malnutrition, AIDS in children, immunization against killer diseases and so on. These problems coupled with the disintegration of family institution and torn social fabric have lead to poor childparent relationships ranging from child neglect to parent discard forcing the cordial atmosphere of family to evaporate and polarize into boarding schools and old-age homes particularly in so called progressive liberal developed societies. The gravity of situation genuinely and understandably attracted the attention of individuals and institutions leading to a huge input of suggestions and solutions to local and global problems. United Nations through its different wings particularly Human Rights and UNICEF took the lead in mitigating the problems faced by children with variable results. Islam guarantees not only the rights of children but imposes certain duties towards their parents, fellows, living and nonliving environment around and towards Allah not only for peace and prosperity of this universe but an everlasting peace of the afterlife. It is interesting to note and explore that the roots of an ideal and humane behaviour of youth lie deeply embedded in the quality of care provided to him/her as neonate, infant and child. We can’t and shouldn’t expect more from them, than we have provided them with, while young. In this paper the researcher intends to look at the contemporary problems faced by children and parents and suggest solutions inferred from Quranic injunctions and the practical model provided by the Prophet of Islam long back in 7th century CE. It would be useful and interesting to bring forth the importance of following Islamic guidelines for the achievement of targeted goals regarding problems faced by children in different spheres. The paper thus highlights the importance of following Islamic guidelines for achievement of benefits much higher than the expected few. The researcher will further argue that world bodies and organizations can make laws and recommendations only while the moral and ethical values that can really change the scenario emanate from religious education in the form of practical models played by parents and family.

This study examined how child abuse and neglect were reported in a sample of 459 newspaper articles between 2003 and 2013 in England and Wales. The results were compared with data on child abuse and neglect over the same decade. Sexual abuse was by far the most commonly reported, in both tabloid and broadsheet newspapers. Although neglect and emotional abuse are the most common causes of child protection plans in England and Wales, neglect and emotional abuse are relatively invisible in newspaper articles, as is physical abuse. Possible explanations for this disproportionate focus on sexual abuse, which has also been found in Australia and the United States, include the fact that sexual abuse cases reach the criminal courts more often than other forms of child victimisation. Although broadsheet papers were more likely than tabloid newspapers to comment on causes and solutions beyond the individual perpetrator committing a crime, the majority of articles in broadsheet papers still did not frame either the causes or the solutions in broader terms. It seems possible that the notion of the decontextualised ‘evil’ perpetrator serves to distance journalist and reader alike from the pervasiveness and pain of child abuse. The article concludes with ideas to improve the accuracy and utility of the coverage of child abuse and neglect in newspapers.

This paper was an invited presentation on child abuse and neglect, at the Twenty-second International Conference of Social Work, at Helwan University, Cairo Egypt, on March 9 & 10, 2009. The purpose of this presentation was to increase understanding among social work professionals and students of the prevalence and consequences of child maltreatment such as child abuse, child neglect, and child exploitation of children under the age of 18 years by their parents and caretakers. This article discusses the definition of what constitutes child abuse and child neglect; what are the various forms of child abuse and child neglect; the causes and consequences of child abuse and neglect; global issues of abuse of children (Roth, W. 2011) and, how to identify the signs of child abuse and neglect. This paper offers a model for preventing child abuse and neglect, to help children survive, and strengthen families through neighborhood factors.

Having contact with each other is one of the most fundamental aspects of the parental-filial relationship. When it comes to this very fundamental aspect of the relationship, an incongruence is apparent: parents have aprima facieright to have contact with their children; children do not have a corresponding right to have contact with their parents. A parent, at least in England, can disconnect entirely from the life of his/her children. This paper argues that this may make certain forms of child neglectde factolawful. This paper also draws a parallel between parental denial of contact and parental child abduction, and argues that there are important similarities between the two, so far overlooked by the literature on child maltreatment. This paper concludes that if parents have a right to have contact with their children, then in principle children should also have a right to have contact with their parents.

Many children are repeatedly reported to statutory child protection services, but do not receive the protection they need. Many such children are suffering chronic maltreatment, which is likely to result in cumulative harm. Chronic maltreatment encompasses emotional abuse and chronic neglect. As a result, children can experience a range of cognitive, emotional, and behavioural problems that are more serious than those associated with other abuse types. This paper focuses on the Victorian statutory child protection system, and considers why cumulative harm is not receiving the attention the legislation intends. Under the Victorian legislation cumulative harm must be proven on grounds of emotional abuse and/or neglect. However, it is difficult for child protection practitioners to place before the court the necessary evidence to establish these grounds. The paper concludes that the legal definitions of emotional abuse and neglect should not require evidence of a link between the abusive actions of the parent and the poor outcomes for the child. The evidentiary focus should be on the actions of the parent. Furthermore, legislation should focus on abusive parental behaviours that are likely to result in cumulative harm, which are more concrete and measureable than emotional abuse and neglect, such as intimate partner violence and parental illicit drug use.

An estimated one in nine children will run away from home or substitute care before their 16th birthday in the UK. This paper explores the safeguarding concerns and responses for children and young people who run away or go missing from home. The majority of children and young people run away from home due to family relationship problems. Running away or being physically absent from home may be due to abuse and neglect. One in 11 children reported being hurt or harmed whilst running away. For some young people, 'running to' a person or situation can present many risks and can be part of a coercive and exploitative relationship. Despite these multiple indicators of risk, there has been little focus on safeguarding policies and practice for children and young people who run away from home. Drawing on a case example of a third-sector service using Return Interview Assessments, this paper argues that professionals must ensure that all children and young people who run away or go missing from home are given meaningful opportunities to be listened to, and taken seriously, in order to ensure that a wide range of safeguarding concerns can be addressed.

In 1984, a paper published by Wolock and Horowitz in the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry drew attention to what they described as ‘the neglect of neglect’ in the prevailing understandings of and responses to child maltreatment. Thirty years on, this expression still resonates even though child neglect has moved out of the shadows and become a central concern for child welfare practitioners and policy makers, and the focus of much research activity. But, while considerably more is now known about the aetiology, identification and assessment of neglect, effective interventions have proved harder to develop. Why is this so, and what can we do about it? The papers in this special issue help us to consider these two questions in more detail. We take as a starting point that child neglect is a complex phenomenon with a range of possible inter-connecting ‘causes’, and that continuing chronic neglect has been shown to have a range of adverse effects on children’s health, development and wellbeing. These effects are wide-ranging, cumulative and damaging over the long-term. If neglect is unlikely to be mono-causal, it seems equally unlikely that any one intervention is going to be successful across the board. Therefore, a variety of intervention responses will be needed, including early intervention strategies that attempt to engage families as soon as neglect is identified, but also encompassing later intervention responses that can be used with families where early identification has not been possible and/or where neglect has become entrenched. This special issue gives us a chance to draw together some reflections on current knowledge and some new ideas about ‘what works’ in practice with families where neglect is a feature of family dynamics. The challenges of developing appropriate responses to neglect are perhaps most usefully understood from a transactional ecological perspective (Brandon et al., 2008) that recognises the complex interplay of factors that can compromise parents’ abilities to offer satisfactory care to their children. Such an approach can also help to make sense of the relational difficulties of this work, in terms of engaging parents in the intervention process. While we know that the long-term effects of neglect are pernicious, practitioners need also to be aware that neglect can be fatal. In the paper that opens this special issue, Brandon et al. (2014) present the results of a study that re-analysed data from 800 serious case reviews (where deaths or very serious maltreatment are examined in detail) in England, interrogating in-depth anonymised information

This paper deals with the implementation of integrated services providing early support for young children and their families. The integration of services is considered to have highly positive effects on the development of children and on the prevention of child neglect and maltreatment. Therefore, childcare centres have been developed into family centres offering different services in order to foster this integration. The implementation of integrated services requires adequate governance structures on different levels. The external level concerns the framework the state offers for the integration of services. On an intermediate level, the cooperation between different institutions on the local level is to be considered. The internal level is related to questions of management, organisational development and team building. Based on experiences from family centres in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany), the paper focuses on these different aspects of the governance of integrated services.

Effective working relationships are those which are characterised by close personal contact, even friendship-like in nature, contained within professional boundaries. However, such personal ways of working remain a contentious aspect of professional relationships. Indeed, workers operating in this way commonly experience disapproval from colleagues. Guidance regarding how workers build personalised professional relationships while operating in a disapproving environment is limited. This is even more pronounced for building relationships with families where child neglect is an issue. This paper draws on a study of perceptions of eight parent–family worker relationship cases in New South Wales, Australia. The study utilised qualitative research methods to analyse and compare participants' perceptions of the experiences and meaning of working relationships with families where child neglect is an issue. The paper will explore how the workers' use of friendship-like characteristics to build highly pers...

Poverty has become a general household problem in every home in Nigeria. It has prompted the occurrences of other social problems like crime, insecurity and abuse, especially the abuse of the minor (Children) in the society. The abuse of the children has become a p latform for the problem of teenage pregnancy among the female children in Nigeria. With sampled students (n =180) fro m a Nigerian Private Un iversity, this paper examined the perspectives of the university students on causal relat ionship between child abuse and teenage pregnancy. The Un iversity of our case study was purposively selected, while convenience sampling was used in selecting the students who participated in the study. Frequency distribution and percentage were used as method of data analyses, while ch i-square method was used in testing the hypotheses stated in the study. The information and the data gathered fro m the students through the questionnaire, wh ich was our research instrument, reflected that child abuse and teenage pregnancy were overwhelmingly acknowledged as social problems in Nigeria. The hypotheses tested showed a causal relationship between poverty and teenage pregnancy, child neglect and teenage pregnancy, and child abuse of all forms and teenage pregnancy. The study recommends pro active interventions from the parents, the government, the non-governmental organizat ions and relig ious bodies in Nigeria, in curb ing the problem of child abuse and teenage pregnancy. The imp lications of these were discussed in this paper.

Objectives This article reviews the available evidence regarding the efficacy, effectiveness, ethics, and sustainability of approaches to strengthen systems to care for and protect children living outside family care in low- and middle-income countries. Method For trafficked children, children of and on the street, children of conflict/disaster, and institutionalized children, a systems framework approach was used to organize the topic of sustainable approaches in low- and middle-income countries and addresses the following: legislation, policies, and regulations; system structures and functions (formal and informal); and continuum of care and services. The article draws on the findings of a focal group convened by the U.S. Government Evidence Summit: Protecting Children Outside of Family Care (December 12–13, 2011, Washington, DC), tasked with reviewing the literature on systems, strategies, and interventions for sustainable long-term care and protection of children with a history of living outside of family care in low- and middle-income country contexts. The specific methodology for the review is described in the commentary paper ( Higgs, Zlidar, & Balster, 2012 ) that accompanies these papers. Results For the most part, the evidence base in support of sustainable long-term care for the populations of interest is relatively weak, with some stronger but unreplicated studies. Some populations have been studied more thoroughly than others, and there are many gaps. Most of the existing studies identify population characteristics, needs, and consequences of a lack of systemic services to promote family-like care. There is some evidence of the effectiveness of laws and policies, as well as some evidence of service effectiveness, in improving outcomes for children outside of family care. Conclusions Despite the weaknesses and gaps of the existing research, there is a foundation of research for going forward, which should focus on developing and implementing systems for these most vulnerable children. The evidence reviewed indicates that child protection systems should aim for appropriate, permanent family care (including reunification, adoption, kinship care, or kafalah ) for children in order to secure the best environment for a child's developmental prospects. Evidence also suggests that the quality and duration of care, including both permanent family care and alternative care, are important regardless of setting. The diversity of political, socioeconomic, historical, regional, community, and cultural contexts in which child protection systems operate need to be taken into account during programming and research design.

Objective To develop further the understanding of emotional abuse and neglect. Methods Building on previous work, this paper describes the further development of a conceptual framework for the recognition and management of emotional abuse and neglect. Training in this framework is currently being evaluated. The paper also briefly reviews more recent work on aspects of the definition, harm caused by emotional abuse and neglect and threshold. Results The paper arrives at a working definition as ‘persistent, non-physical, harmful interactions with the child by the caregiver, which include both commission and omission.’ There are many forms of harmful caregiver-child interactions, which can be placed in five categories, each category reflecting the fulfillment of one of the child's basic psycho-social needs and requiring a different therapeutic approach for its alleviation. The caregiver-child relationship is embedded within a psycho-social context. It is suggested that greater clarity can be gained about the child and family when information is sorted into the appropriate tiers of concerns: Tier 0 – Social & environmental factors, Tier I – Caregiver risk factors, Tier II – Caregiver-child interactions and Tier III – Child's functioning. It is further suggested that while intervention is required, this is directed towards protection, rather than providing immediate protection of the child. The work takes the form of a time-limited trial of therapeutic work to gauge the capacity of the caregivers to change. This initial work focuses Tiers 0–II. Statutory steps might be required in order to encourage the caregivers to engage. If insufficient progress is achieved, active child protection may be required which might include placing the child in an alternative family. However, some, usually older, children will remain in the emotionally abusive environment and they will require ongoing help and support. Conclusion While a greater understanding of emotional abuse and neglect is now possible, further evaluation of the utility of this framework is suggested.

This systematic review examined the evidence on the extent to which practitioners are equipped to recognize and respond to the indications that a child's needs are likely to be, or are being neglected. This paper examines the methodological issues arising from the review. A systematic process of progressive filtering yielded 112 papers representing primary studies that inform the international research agenda for child neglect. A final dataset of 63 studies was of sufficient quality and usefulness for inclusion. The review raised a number of methodological issues of relevance for research in child protection in general, and on neglect in particular. Researchers and practitioners can benefit from an enhanced understanding of the issues that make neglect difficult to understand. Common issues were identified to inform future research. For example, there was a tendency for studies to use a range of proxy measures rather than direct observation of the outcome of interest, and a wide range of different outcome measures was used. Many of the studies were small scale or retrospective in design. Many studies conflated neglect and other forms of maltreatment, and it was often difficult to extract specific messages for neglect.

This paper describes the methodological changes that occurred across cycles of the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS), specifically outlining the rationale for tracking investigations of families with children at risk of maltreatment in the CIS-2008 cycle. This paper also presents analysis of data from the CIS-2008 examining the differences between those investigations focusing on risk of maltreatment and those investigations focusing on an incident of maltreatment. The CIS-2008 uses a multi-stage sampling design. The final sample selection stage involves identifying children for which (a) there was a concern of a specific incident of maltreatment, and (b) there was no specific concern of past maltreatment but the risk of future maltreatment was being assessed. The present analysis included 11,925 investigations based on specific inclusion criteria. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to better understand maltreatment and risk only investigations in the CIS-2008. Families investigated for alleged maltreatment, compared to those investigated for future risk, were more likely to live in a home that was overcrowded, live with the presence of at least one household hazard, and run out of money for basic necessities. Younger children were more likely to be the subject of a risk investigation. Caregiver alcohol abuse, household hazards, and certain child functioning issues were associated with an increased likelihood in a finding of substantiated maltreatment. Several primary caregiver functioning concerns were associated with the decision to substantiate risk, as well as household hazards and overcrowding. This study represents the first exploration of a national profile of risk only investigations. The analyses provided an opportunity to examine differences in the profile of children and families in risk only investigations and child maltreatment investigations, revealing several important differences.

Current child protective service policies encourage family preservation and reunification. Yet little is known about how mothers accused of child neglect experience being labeled neglectful or how this influences compliance with child protective services (CPS) service plans. This paper reports the results of a case study of mothers' perceptions of being labeled neglectful. Drawing on symbolic interactionist theories of identity, interviews with sixteen mothers and sixteen child protective service caseworkers, and content analysis of interview data obtained, this paper describes the strategies mothers employ to resist the stigma of being labeled a neglectful mother, strategies that ultimately put them at odds with child protection goals. Findings suggest that mothers' identity preservation and maintenance have powerful implications for CPS policy.

This overview sets therapeutic work with children in context. It begins with a rationale for why this work is necessary and describes and explores the needs and rights of children and young people. Resilience as a factor in mitigating the effects of distress is discussed and an overview of the history of therapeutic work is offered. Different theoretical approaches to therapeutic work with children and young people are outlined. The various settings in which therapeutic work is offered to children are described and the question of whether therapy works is addressed. The paper concludes with an overview of the papers that make up this symposium.

Child maltreatment remains a major health threat globally that requires the understanding of socioeconomic and cultural contexts to craft effective interventions. However, little is known about research agendas globally and the development of knowledge-producing networks in this field of study. This study aims to explore the bibliometric overview on child maltreatment publications to understand their growth from 1916 to 2018. Data from the Web of Science Core Collection were collected in May 2018. Only research articles and reviews written in the English language were included, with no restrictions by publication date. We analyzed publication years, number of papers, journals, authors, keywords and countries, and presented the countries collaboration and co-occurrence keywords analysis. From 1916 to 2018, 47,090 papers (53.0% in 2010&ndash, 2018) were published in 9442 journals. Child Abuse &amp, Neglect (2576 papers, 5.5%), Children and Youth Services Review (1130 papers, 2.4%) and Pediatrics (793 papers, 1.7%) published the most papers. The most common research areas were Psychology (16,049 papers, 34.1%), Family Studies (8225 papers, 17.5%), and Social Work (7367 papers, 15.6%). Among 192 countries with research publications, the most prolific countries were the United States (26,367 papers), England (4676 papers), Canada (3282 papers) and Australia (2664 papers). We identified 17 authors who had more than 60 scientific items. The most cited papers (with at least 600 citations) were published in 29 journals, headed by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) (7 papers) and the Lancet (5 papers). This overview of global research in child maltreatment indicated an increasing trend in this topic, with the world&rsquo, s leading centers located in the Western countries led by the United States. We called for interdisciplinary research approaches to evaluating and intervening on child maltreatment, with a focus on low-middle income countries (LMICs) settings and specific contexts.

Professionals encountering possible cases of child neglect face a complex task when judging whether a particular concern warrants a referral to social work services. A study of referral practice in cases of child neglect, completed in the Republic of Ireland, highlighted that it is not just the nature of the concern that influences referral practice but a range of other factors that are not related to the needs of the specific child. Assessment frameworks and tools, designed to assist practitioners make decisions about potential cases of neglect, usually focus on technical-rational activity associated with assessing children’s needs, parenting capacity and family and environmental factors. The findings from the study described in this paper indicate that assessment practice is as much a practice-moral activity as a technical-rational one. In other words, it is both a head and a heart activity. In this article, the factors influencing practitioners’ approaches to the identification and referral of cases of child neglect are explored. A range of factors appear to influence practice. These include the practitioner’s own perception of what comprises neglect and the extent to which they use ‘gut reaction’ or an evidence base to reach this conclusion. Their interpretation of role and the views of their colleagues and team manager also influence practice. In addition, their perception of social work services and the benefits of referral affect decisions to refer. Finally, their own personal feelings such as fear, guilt, over-empathy and anxiety about the response of the community have an effect on practice. The paper concludes by drawing together the findings of the study to produce a ‘practitioner domain’ alerting practitioners and managers to the head and heart activities which influence referral practice.

This paper discusses the dilemmas and challenges that arise when child neglect cases reach such a level of severity that court proceedings become necessary. It identifies the complexities of determining the appropriate social work and legal responses to child neglect, and of squaring these with wider organisational priorities and social policy imperatives. The paper draws on data from a series of interviews with local authority social work and legal staff. It highlights the ‘threshold criteria’ for the court's intervention, barriers to crossing them in neglect cases and the frequent need for a decisive event (a ‘catapult’) to do so. It shows the conflicts and tensions of reconciling social work and legal approaches, but also the overlaps and inter-dependency between them. Despite the difficulties, the way forward lies in the interaction of different professional perspectives and skills, in ways that are both critical and supportive. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Drawing on oral histories and archival data, we demonstrate how both childrearing and housing practices were directly and indirectly organized around a standardized and codified textual discourse early in the twentieth century in the United States. Using institutional ethnography (IE), we begin with selected experiences of our research participants when they were girls and mothers and explicate these experiences by discovering the social relations that regulate them translocally. We show how the concerted ideological practices of the Children’s Bureau, the Own Your Own Home campaign, and the Better Homes in America movement linked proper childrearing practices with a suitable home environment and connected parents with the marketplace for obtaining housing, household goods, and services. We also examine the textual discourse that established the “Standard American Home (SAH)” as the appropriate form of dwelling for infants and children. Keywords: childrearing, housing, institutional ethnography, textually-mediated discourse, Progressive Era. “Normal family life can not exist apart from a normal home,” the noted housing reformer Edith Elmer Wood proclaimed (1931:7). Later she added, “American authorities agree with the British and a majority of Continentals that a single-family detached house with a garden all around it forms the ideal setting for the life of growing children, . . . [T]he only excuse for apartments is for celibates, childless couples, and elderly people whose children have grown up and scattered. Newly married couples, especially where the husband and wife are both working, will naturally turn to them. And herein lies the danger, if they stay on after children are born” (1931:41). At the time of her writing, these ideas were becoming commonplace and formed the basis for much criticism of housing in the United States. In this paper we demonstrate that the standard of the proper home environment for raising children, alluded to above, was articulated by the concerted efforts of three state-affiliated organizations: the Children’s Bureau, the Own Your Home campaign, and the Better Homes in America movement. The work processes of these organizations—research projects, the production and distribution of pamphlets, articles, and newspaper advertisements, demonstration projects, and other discursive practices— connected anxious parents to the newly professionalized child welfare experts (Levine and Levine 1970), an emerging market of consumer goods and services for the home (Bronner 1989), and to the depressed consumer market for housing (Luken and Vaughan 2005). In doing so they authorized these agents to be the holders of child welfare solutions. A number of sociologists and historians have examined the “child saving campaigns” during the Progressive Era in the United States, particularly with regard to the discovery of child neglect and abuse (Nelson 1984; Pfohl 1977), the creation of juvenile justice systems This research was partially supported by grants from the Scholarly Research and Creative Activities Program, Arizona State University West. The authors would like to thank the women who graciously participated in this study. They also thank James Holstein and the many anonymous reviewers for their comments on prior versions of this paper. Authors’ names are listed in alphabetical order. The contents of this article represent a cooperative effort. Direct correspondence to

This paper is based on a study of how childhood trauma can be experienced in the body and the resources individuals have chosen to deal with that. Ten individuals (including myself) wrote stories showing how they had made sense of those experiences and found ways to heal. In this paper, I tell the story of that research, contextualising myself as researcher and researched, against a changing societal, research and practitioner background to show how social constructionist and poststructuralist ideas have influenced the way I undertook and re-presented my study. This paper also provides me with an opportunity to focus for the first time on aspects of the stories that demonstrate how people created safe enough environments as children and as adults in order to heal.

This paper outlines some of the very real emotional challenges and decisions faced by mental health workers with clients who, through no fault of their own, are failing to meet the needs of their children. In particular, it focuses on the effects of long term emotional abuse and neglect due to parental mental health issues and includes discussion of some difficult concepts such as 'good enough' parenting, and what constitutes harm. The paper proposes that it is very difficult for adult mental health workers to hold in tension the needs of the adult client and the needs of their children, when sometimes these are at odds with each other. It ultimately argues for a change in service culture where the ethical and moral nature of these decisions is discussed and debated, rather than what could be seen to be an emerging culture of fear, based on recent critical incidents and unwanted media attention.

Child neglect is a difficult and complex area of practice for social workers and other childcare professionals. To work effectively, practitioners need a good grasp of relevant literature and research – a point underlined by the moves to incorporate ‘research mindedness’ and ‘research literacy’ into social work education, training and practice. This paper aims to contribute to the debate around research literacy by looking in more detail at the research and knowledge base informing work with neglected children and their families, and considering the ways in which this can be applied in practice. In the first part of the paper, we provide a critical overview of the main aspects of research knowledge, summarizing ‘what we know’ currently about child neglect. Next, we look at some of the difficulties associated with this body of knowledge and at some of its limitations. Having noted these concerns, however, we go on to suggest ways in which the research evidence can be used in mainstream social work. We draw out some of the consequences for work with children and with their parents as well as considering the implications for social workers and their agencies.

Providing effective social services for children and their families at high risk for substance abuse problems is a national concern. The paper presents the prevalence and incidence of children in need of social services due to child maltreatment, child poverty, parental incarceration, parental substance abuse, juvenile justice problems, child mental health and substance abuse problems, and homelessness. Next, the paper examines early childhood family education and family support approaches in primary prevention designed to meet the needs of these children. New research to understand developmental pathways that lead to substance abuse problems in these children is recommended.

Paper by Abigail Gill (Policy and Research Assistant at the charity Action for Children) concerned with updating the law on child neglect to protect children from emotional neglect. The author highlights the problem, the need for legislation, the detail of that legislation and the mechanism for bringing forward that legislative change. This paper gives the perspective of a body campaigning for a change in the law.

Objectives: This paper proposes guidelines to both parents and professionals for the prevention and reduction of risk associated with cultural differences, conflicts and misinterpretations. These guidelines are based on a conceptual framework derived from the multicultural reality of Israeli society and are supported by a growing corpus of studies on cross-cultural child development, immigration and minority families. Method: The paper is based on a conceptual model followed by practical implications for training and intervention. Results: Central to this paper is the concept of the “adaptive adult” which serves as a guiding metaphor for the organization of socialization goals, child-rearing ideologies, perceptions and values of socializing agents in a given culture or group. Childcare practices are defined as adaptive strategies, that is, means for socializing children to become “successful adults.” The paper describes different types of “adaptive adult” metaphor (e.g., past and future oriented), and discusses images held by groups who have experienced either a duality of private and public culture or changes in their cultural contexts. The paper further explores and exemplifies the potential contributions of the proposed framework for a five step intervention plan with parents and for training of professionals in multicultural contexts. Conclusions: Children of families in changing cultural contexts are often considered to be at risk for maltreatment. This is because such families may experience sociocultural and socioeconomic change and a loss of their former support networks. Parental acculturation stress and related dysfunction might also affect children. The risk increases when children are exposed to systems with conflicting socialization goals and with contradictory definitions of desirable child-care or supervision frameworks. Conflicts and clashes between parents and socializing agents have been found to have long-term detrimental effects on children and families. Cultural differences may also result in misinterpretation of parental behaviors and misdiagnosis of abuse and neglect. Such conflicts and misinterpretations can be avoided if both parents and social agents learn to understand and to respect their cultural differences, so that together, they can devise ways to bridge them.

This paper focuses on physical and emotional neglect from a social work perspective. Neglect is the highest category of registration on Child Protection Registers in England, and is therefore a significant preoccupation for social work. However, historically, social workers have found child neglect a difficult area of practice. In this paper, we suggest that neglect is best understood as an absence of care, that is, a breakdown in the relationship between the primary carer and child which results in difficulties in offering reliable and adequate care. One focus of assessment in cases of child neglect, therefore, needs to be on ascertaining the nature and degree of relationship failure. We set out a framework to inform such assessments which critically examines the relationship between primary carer and child/ren. We note that discussion of neglect often involves criticism of women/mothers, and seek to develop an approach to child neglect which challenges stereotypical ideas about gender and caring, ideas which can lead to inappropriate intervention and to mother-blaming. Consideration is given to operationalizing this framework of ideas. Intentional, structured observation is identified as a particularly useful tool in accurately assessing the complexities of the mother – child relationship, and the discussion considers observation's contribution to the assessment of neglect at a number of different levels. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This paper explores, from a UK perspective, issues surrounding policy and practice in cases of neglect, which inevitably involves emotional abuse. It does not address cases of emotional abuse in which neglect does not occur. The paper argues that there is a sufficient body of knowledge on the necessary conditions for healthy child development and factors associated with psychological/ emotional disorders in childhood for social workers to be more proactive in work with such cases. There is, however, a need for this evidence to be assembled and organized in ways which will be useful to social workers. Nonetheless, intervention in such cases is unlikely to become more effective unless some of the reasons for the‘neglect of neglecf are better understood and addressed. In the second part of the paper, a range of factors influencing such work is considered, related to the professional, organizational and legal context within which social workers in the UK operate. The paper draws on an ESRC funded project, which ended in 1995, of social workers’ judgements in cases of child sexual abuse and neglect

Substantial numbers of children in the advanced industrialized countries experience child abuse and neglect each year, resulting in considerable social, emotional, and economic costs to both the children themselves and to their societies as a whole. Yet, whereas scholars and policymakers have grown increasingly concerned with promoting child well-being, particularly among low income children, limited attention has been paid to child maltreatment. This paper reviews the existing research on the economic determinants and consequences of child abuse and neglect, drawing on theoretical and empirical studies from a wide range of disciplines. We first provide background information about child maltreatment in advanced industrialized countries. Next, we present current theory and empirical evidence regarding links between low income and child maltreatment. We then turn to the evidence on the long-term consequences of maltreatment. Finally, we conclude with a brief discussion of interventions to prevent abuse and neglect. We argue that results from a large number of studies clearly imply that economic resources play an important role in influencing risk for child abuse and (particularly) child neglect, although conclusive causal evidence has thus far been elusive. Furthermore, existing evidence that child abuse and neglect impose tremendous long-term costs both to victims and to society as a whole justifies heightened efforts to reduce child maltreatment. Finally, although a few proven programs exist, the evidence base with regard to effective policies and programs for preventing maltreatment is generally quite weak. Additional rigorous research across the advanced industrialized countries is necessary to promote a better understanding of the economic determinants and consequences of abuse and neglect, as well as the efficacy of policies and programs aimed at preventing child maltreatment and ameliorating its adverse effects.

A recent paper claimed in its classification of harmful substances, that alcohol is more dangerous than heroin. This paper aims to weigh up some of the evidence in the literature on the physical, social and financial effects of alcohol and the associated disease burden. We will also explore alcohol within the context of emergency department (ED) presentations. Reasons for ED attendance can be overtly and directly alcohol related such as alcohol intoxication, assaults, injuries and falls and indirectly such as child neglect, psychological problems and chronic diseases. Alcohol is often viewed as an isolated incident or factor for ED presentations but there are data that refute this perception. In ED, the priority is to treat the patient and their primary complaint, however it may be appropriate to screen for alcohol use, give advice and potentially offer an intervention to the patient. With the recent UK and Australian guidelines on reducing health risks from drinking alcohol, the ED has the ability to play an active role in reducing the harmful effects of alcohol through screening, advising and undertaking intervention as appropriate. However this cannot be achieved in isolation but within the broader political and health policy framework. There is now a growing body of literature supporting the need to make alcohol less affordable, less easy to buy and reducing alcohol advertising. Although alcohol is a legal substance, this paper concludes that examining the wider effects in physical, social and financial terms, alcohol is more dangerous than heroin. It has become an endemic problem in society affecting the individual and the whole community.

This paper examines the relative impact of demographic characteristics of the child, family structure, and economic variables on types of child abuse and neglect. The current analysis is based on data from the second National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS-2), which collected information from both CPS and non-CPS agencies (e.g., schools, hospitals) in a national sample of 29 counties (Westat, 1988). The NIS-2 offers a unique opportunity to examine abuse and neglect issues with a large, national data set. This paper looks at a series of exploratory logistic regression models to distinguish between four different types of maltreatment: (a) physical abuse, (b) sexual abuse, (c) emotional maltreatment, and (d) physical neglect. Our findings show that physical neglect, in comparison with the other types of abuse, is the most predictable and distinguishable. It is most clearly related to economic factors such as low income and Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) status, regardless of race. Additionally, both sexual abuse and physical neglect occur at younger ages than previously shown. The policy implications for these findings are discussed.

This paper will examine the relationship between social control of deviance, ethical principles and social work. I will address this issue by adopting a specific social work theoretical perspective...

Research has shown that about 1 out of every 10 people in the United States suffer from depression, with women being affected at about twice the rate as men (National Institutes of Mental Health, 2008; Blehar & Oren, 1997). Of particular concern is the negative impact that depression has on parenting practices and behavior causing impairments in both the mother’s and children’s health and development. A lack of social support and elevated rates of stress increase the risk of depression among new mothers and likely contribute to negative parenting practices such as neglect (Lesser, Anderson, & Koniak-Griffin, 1998; East & Felice, 1990). Depressive symptomatology rates among indigent mothers of young children are in the range of 40 – 50 percent (Lanzi, Pascoe, Keltner, & Ramey, 1999; Orr, James, Burns, & Thompson, 1989), with a 2- to 3-fold increased risk for depression in their children (Weissman et al., 2006). In about 80% of the cases, treatment can help alleviate symptoms of depression; however, about 2/3 of people do not seek help (Robins & Regier, 1990), and for many their symptoms go unnoticed by health practitioners due to a variety of reasons, including lack of recognition (Gjerdingen & Yawn, 2007). In general, adolescent mothers, ranging in ages from 15 – 18 years, have been shown to be more depressed than first-time adult mothers ages 22–35 years (Whitman, Borkowski, Keogh, & Weed, 2001). The etiology of depression and how early and unplanned onset of parenthood may impact the course of depression and child neglect, however, are not well-documented (Zuckerman, Amaro, & Beardslee, 1987). It is often thought that situational depression is due to lack of knowledge, experience, and resources and that depression may impede individuals from “acting.” The role of depression in adolescent mothers (including the onset, severity, and duration) has yet to be fully explored. It is clear that maternal depression is endemic in low-income families, and that within poverty, there are many stressors that potentially increase depression (Lanzi, Pascoe, Keltner, & Ramey, 1999). The current study explores the variation of adolescents’ moods and parenting behavior through multiple measures of depression and parenting behaviors at multiple time periods. The parenting behaviors and mood fluctuations of adolescent mothers is compared to that of a matched adult sample of mothers. These comparisons are necessary to assess whether potentially neglectful parenting behavior is a function of age, stage, or experience. Becoming an adolescent mother often takes the teen off society’s normative life trajectory. The adolescent is no longer able (or as able) to participate in age-typical social events and sports, nor is she able to date as easily. The early onset of parenthood often inhibits the development of stable relationships and in many cases, the adolescent mother often faces the daunting responsibility of being a parent with minimal or no support from a partner (Brooks-Gunn & Furstenberg, 1986; Lesser, Anderson, & Koniak-Griffin, 1998). Whitman, Borkowski, Keogh, and Weed (2001) found that only 6% of infants born to adolescent parents received support from a father or male figure. The support provided by the adolescent mother’s own mother is key as well (Lesser, Anderson, & Koniak-Griffin, 1998). Even though adolescent mothers assume a great deal of adult responsibility by becoming a mother, they are still children themselves and the grandparents continue to have an obligation to meet their daughters’ needs. Further, it is often the case that adolescent mothers are the children of adolescent mothers themselves, who may not have adequate time, energy, and resources to provide support to their daughters. These combined factors often place the adolescent mother in an environment where there is little support for her needs, which in many cases, may translate into the adolescent mother becoming depressed and not being able to, or wanting to, provide for the needs of her newborn child. In this paper, we explore the underlying factors associated with the prevalence of depression among a sample of first time adolescent and adult mothers. Using a diverse sample of mothers, we aim to document: (1) the rates of positive depression screens and their fluctuations and stability from the prenatal period through 6 months postpartum; (2) the most salient individual and family ecological factors associated with positive maternal depression screens; and (3) how maternal depression affects mother’s parenting and children’s development. This paper is one of several reports that utilize data from the Parenting for the First Time Project (Centers for the Prevention of Child Neglect, year), a landmark 4-site NICHD prospective longitudinal study of early predictors and precursors of parenting among first children born to adolescent and adult mothers. The study includes multiple measures including direct observation, interviews, self-report, and developmental assessments. Conclusions and recommendations for addressing depression among first-time mothers in terms of research and clinical practice are presented.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition (DSM-5) and International Classification of Diseases-11th Revision (ICD-11; proposed) now include criteria for clinically significant (a) intimate partner violence (IPV) and neglect and (b) child abuse and neglect. However, existing measures of IPV and child abuse do not allow for assessment of established criteria. The current study examines the convergent and response process validity of the Family Maltreatment (FM) measure of clinically significant physical and psychological IPV and child abuse. Participants (N = 126) completed the FM via computer and measures of IPV (Revised Conflict Tactics Scale; Straus, Hamby, Boney-McCoy, & Sugarman, 1996) and child abuse (Parent-Child Conflict Tactics Scale; Straus, Hamby, Finkelhor, Moore, & Runyan, 1998) via paper-and-pencil. Participants who endorsed acts of aggression on the FM completed an audio-recorded computerized interview recounting the 2 most severe incidents. Verbalized incidents (n = 138) were coded for clinically significant family maltreatment. Results largely supported the convergent validity of the FM. Agreement of acts endorsed on the FM with those endorsed on convergent measures was excellent for IPV and physical child abuse, yet poor for psychological child abuse. Further, in support of the response process validity of the FM, comparison with observer ratings of interviews indicated few "false positives" and no "false negatives" on the FM across the examined types of clinically significant IPV and child abuse. In summary, the FM is a promising measure for the assessment of clinically significant physical and psychological abuse as defined in the DSM-5 and ICD-11 (proposed). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Mandatory reporting of child abuse and neglect is a complex yet essential responsibility tasked to many professional groups working with children, including the early childhood education and care (ECEC) workforce. This paper provides a narrative review synthesising the empirical literature on factors influencing ECEC educators’ reporting of child abuse and neglect, including knowledge and training, attitudes, thresholds for reporting, work experience and context, inter-organisational co-operation and self-efficacy. These factors can act as barriers and facilitators to effective reporting practice and are likely to interact in dynamic yet modifiable ways. Findings from the review may be useful for informing future education and training initiatives for the ECEC workforce. Further research is warranted in this area.

The opioid epidemic is a national public health emergency. As the number of fa- tal overdoses and drug abuse skyrockets, children of opioid-dependent parents are at increased risk of being neglected, abused or orphaned. While some studies have examined the effects of policies introduced by states to restrict prescription drug supply on drug abuse, there is no study analyzing their effects on children. This paper estimates the effect of must-access prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) on child removals. To identify the effects of the programs on foster care caseloads, we exploit the variation across states in the timing of adoption of must-access PDMPs using an event-study approach as well as standard difference-in-difference models. Consistent with previous evidence examining the effects of PDMPs on drug abuse, we find that operational PDMP did not have any significant effects on foster care caseloads. However, the introduction of mandatory provisions reduced child removals by 10%. Exploring the reasons of removals, we show that these effects are driven by the reductions in cases of child neglect. There is also evidence of significant reductions in removal cases associated with child physical abuse.