Can Risk Factors and Opportunities to Be Observed Explain Why Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Children Have Less Child Protection Contact?

Abstract

Aim: Compared prevalence of risk factors for child protection (CP) contact and contact patterns with health, education and housing systems as opportunities to be observed for reporting to CP between Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) and non-CALD children.

Method: Health, births, education and public housing data for children and parents from 12 months before the child's birth to age 7 from the South Australian Better Evidence, Better Outcomes, Linked Data platform.

Participants: SA-born children in their first year in public school from 2009 to 2015 (n = 76 563). CALD: non-Indigenous, language other than English/Indigenous/Sign, or at least one parent born in a non-English speaking country.

Outcomes: antenatal visits, 1-4-week check attendance, emergency presentations, and hospital admissions (0-7 years), preschool attendance, parental records for mental health, alcohol and other drug (AOD) use, self-harm, family domestic violence (FDV), maltreatment and housing insufficiency.

Results: Contact for antenatal visits, 1-4-week check, and hospital admissions (0-7 years) were comparable across both groups. CALD children had more emergency presentations (RD 7.7% points, 95% CI 6.8-8.9). By age 7, more non-CALD children had at least one parent with mental health issues (RD 5.9 [95% CI 5.3-6.6]), AOD (RD 5.8 [95% CI 5.4-6.2]) and housing insufficiency (RD 7.8 [95% CI 6.9-8.6]). The prevalence of other risk factors was similar across both groups.

Conclusion: The lower CP contact in CALD children is likely explained by a lower prevalence of CP risk factors and not due to fewer opportunities to be observed in their contact with the three systems.