Substantiation of Child Abuse and Neglect Reports, 1985

This study identifies factors that significantly increase or decrease the likelihood that a child maltreatment report will be substantiated once an investigation occurs. A specific concern of the study was to investigate the size and nature of the difference in substantiation rates for reports originating from professional sources mandated by law to report suspected cases of child maltreatment compared to reports from non-professional sources, such as relatives and neighbors. A representative sample of 796 sexual abuse, 198 physical abuse and 880 neglect reports were obtained from the New York State Child Abuse and Maltreatment Register. Types of data collected included background variables (e.g., sex and age of the subject child); the source of the report; actions that took place after the report was filed (e.g., court action), and the case determination.