Iowa Child Welfare Assessments by Disposition, County and Year

This dataset provides the number and disposition of child welfare assessments conducted by the Department of Human Services beginning January 1, 2004. On January 1, 2014, the department began using the Differential Response System, which allows for a family assessment in additional to a traditional child abuse investigation for allegations of abuse and neglect. Data prior to 2014 only report child abuse investigations. The family assessment is not used in physical or sexual abuse cases, or other types of serious abuse cases seen. It is used only in denial of critical care cases where the child is not in imminent danger. If at any time during a family assessment it appears the child isn’t safe, the case is reassigned to the child abuse assessment pathway. The family assessment pathway results in pairing families with services and supports. The traditional child abuse assessments result in a finding. Findings include: “founded” meaning abuse occurred and results in perpetrator placement on the child abuse registry; “confirmed” meaning abuse occurred, but it was minor, isolated and not likely to reoccur, does not go on the central abuse registry; and “unconfirmed” meaning abuse did not occur.