Lindsey Palmer, Caitlin Lau, Anthony Gómez, Rebecca Rebbe, Sarah Font, Emily Putnam-Hornstein
{"title":"Beyond Permanency: Subsequent Maltreatment Referrals and Removals Among Children Exiting Foster Care to Guardianship.","authors":"Lindsey Palmer, Caitlin Lau, Anthony Gómez, Rebecca Rebbe, Sarah Font, Emily Putnam-Hornstein","doi":"10.1177/10775595261469831","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10775595261469831","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Guardianship is an increasingly popular alternative to adoption for children in foster care, but evidence of its long-term safety and continuity remains limited. Using California child protection system (CPS) records, the study followed all children born 1999-2005 who exited foster care to guardianship before age 18 (<i>N</i> = 16,408). Rates and predictors of post-guardianship CPS referrals and reentries were estimated and allegations were categorized as involving biological parents or guardians. Overall, 59% of children who exited to guardianship had a subsequent CPS referral and 19% reentered care. Thirty-four percent of postguardianship referrals involved alleged maltreatment by the biological parent from whom they were originally removed, and 68% involved alleged maltreatment by the guardian or another relative. Older children (ages 15-17) had the greatest risk of foster care reentry, while children in kin guardianship had significantly lower risk. Findings underscore the need for caregiver screening and enhanced postguardianship supports.</p>","PeriodicalId":48052,"journal":{"name":"Child Maltreatment","volume":" ","pages":"10775595261469831"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148473344","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Melissa Mei Yin Cheung, Stacy Tzoumakis, Emma F McKenzie, Kimberlie Dean, Oliver J Watkeys, Ken Zulumovski, Vaughan J Carr, Melissa J Green
{"title":"Mental Health Service Use Among Young People From Families With Different Intergenerational Patterns of Child Protection Contact.","authors":"Melissa Mei Yin Cheung, Stacy Tzoumakis, Emma F McKenzie, Kimberlie Dean, Oliver J Watkeys, Ken Zulumovski, Vaughan J Carr, Melissa J Green","doi":"10.1177/10775595261466984","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10775595261466984","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study examined mental health service use among 75,784 Australian young people from families with different intergenerational patterns of child protection (CP) contact evident in longitudinal multi-agency administrative data, namely <i>cycle maintainers</i> (parental and offspring CP contact), <i>cycle initiators</i> (only offspring CP contact), <i>cycle breakers</i> (only parental CP contact), or <i>no CP contact</i>. Young people from <i>cycle maintainer</i> families had the highest prevalence of mental health service use (76%), followed by those from <i>cycle initiator</i> (70%), <i>cycle breaker</i> (53%), then <i>no CP contact</i> families (49%). Young people from <i>cycle maintainer</i> and <i>cycle initiator</i> families accessed mental health services earlier than those from <i>cycle breaker</i> and <i>no CP contact</i> families. While those from families with cumulative intergenerational CP involvement were the most likely to use mental health services, young people's mental health service use appeared to be more closely linked to their own CP contact than to that of their parents.</p>","PeriodicalId":48052,"journal":{"name":"Child Maltreatment","volume":" ","pages":"10775595261466984"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148457344","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jun-Hong Chen, Jesse J Helton, Michael G Vaughn, Chien-Jen Chiang
{"title":"Different Hunger Experiences for Parents and Their Children in a family: Long-Term Food Insecurity, Parental Psychological Distress, and Harsh Parenting.","authors":"Jun-Hong Chen, Jesse J Helton, Michael G Vaughn, Chien-Jen Chiang","doi":"10.1177/10775595261469583","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10775595261469583","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Evidence shows that physical violence and verbal aggression toward children is more prevalent in food-insecure families than food-secure families. However, less is known whether such associations are valid when considering food insecurity could be a long-term phenomenon and also different between parents and children. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, results based on latent class analysis and mediation analysis showed that the use of scolding is lowest among families where children experience consistently low food insecurity over time. However, this pattern does not extend to spanking. Rather, a reduced use of spanking is observed only when both children and parents maintain low risk of food insecurity across time. Notably, this study also observed that long-term food insecurity is indirectly associated with scolding through parental psychological distress but directly associated with spanking. These findings highlight that different mechanisms explaining harsh parenting behaviors and its variance amid long-term economic hardship.</p>","PeriodicalId":48052,"journal":{"name":"Child Maltreatment","volume":" ","pages":"10775595261469583"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-07-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148413185","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jordan Simmons, Abigail Ivy, Kathleen Nelson, Paula Condol, Nicola Herting, Anna Schimmelpfennig, Andrew Monroe, Jane Silovsky
{"title":"Acceptability and Utility of Telehealth Group Services for Youth Problematic Sexual Behaviors in Rural Communities: Caregiver, Youth, and Clinician Insights.","authors":"Jordan Simmons, Abigail Ivy, Kathleen Nelson, Paula Condol, Nicola Herting, Anna Schimmelpfennig, Andrew Monroe, Jane Silovsky","doi":"10.1177/10775595261466176","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10775595261466176","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Use of telehealth for behavioral health services has rapidly expanded with potential to reduce rural health disparities. Applying evidence-based treatments for problematic sexual behavior (PSB) among youth via telehealth can prevent further sexual harm of children. Successful implementation of telehealth in rural communities requires examining the acceptability, understanding, barriers, and facilitators of the approach. Using a qualitative approach, this study explores family and clinician perception of the utility of telehealth to enhance access to PSB cognitive behavioral group treatment (PSB-CBT) services. Results revealed telehealth provided opportunities to address internal (e.g., shame, stigma) and external barriers (e.g., time, transportation, childcare), as well as impact of unique rural communities' characteristics. Privacy, safety, reduced isolation and shame, and enhanced sense of community among members were noted as benefits of group telehealth, while technology literacy, device accessibility, and group appropriateness were reported obstacles. Strategies to enhance success included telehealth orientation, loaning secure devices, integrated therapeutic activities, focused efforts on building relationships among members, and augmenting with family sessions. Future research on implementation and treatment outcomes of group telehealth for PSB is recommended.</p>","PeriodicalId":48052,"journal":{"name":"Child Maltreatment","volume":" ","pages":"10775595261466176"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148363196","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Characteristics of Child Deaths and Near-Deaths Resulting From Violence or Maltreatment.","authors":"Rebecca Girardet, Leslie Strickler, Alexis Hinrichsen, Bret Gardner, Goron Bodor, Theresa Cruz","doi":"10.1177/10775595261465668","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10775595261465668","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>U.S. children suffer higher rates of death resulting from violence than children in economically comparable countries. Prevention of violent injury relies on robust data regarding demographic and contributing factors. This retrospective study of records from the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator (OMI), the University of New Mexico Children's Hospital (UNMH), and the UNMH child protection team examined demographic and risk factors for child deaths and near-deaths resulting from violence or maltreatment (abuse or neglect) during the period August 1, 2019 - September 30, 2022. The OMI is the only forensic laboratory in the state, and UNMH is the state's only pediatric trauma hospital. 76 children met inclusion criteria; 60 of these died. Most victims were male. Firearm injuries were most common among adolescents, and other injury mechanisms predominated among younger victims. Parent intimate partner violence (IPV) was more common among children who suffered non-fatal injuries than fatal; and parent IPV, current or prior child protective services involvement, and parent substance use were identified more often in children with non-firearm injuries versus firearm. Other risk factors did not discriminate between groups. Pooling data for serious non-accidental child injury would increase the data available for epidemiologic studies and prevention efforts.</p>","PeriodicalId":48052,"journal":{"name":"Child Maltreatment","volume":" ","pages":"10775595261465668"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-06-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148346442","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
María Gandarilla Ocampo, Leanne Heaton, Oriana Leach, Mallory VanMeeter, Kaya West
{"title":"How Would You Do it? Using Community Cafes to Inform Co-Design of Community Response Programs?","authors":"María Gandarilla Ocampo, Leanne Heaton, Oriana Leach, Mallory VanMeeter, Kaya West","doi":"10.1177/10775595261456616","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10775595261456616","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Increasingly, communities across the U.S. are looking to prevent families from unnecessary involvement with the child welfare system. Community-based participatory research methods, like community cafés, offer a framework for developing solutions in partnership with groups impacted by the child welfare system. The present study, which is part of a larger child welfare prevention demonstration project, is among the first to use community cafés with families and mandated reporters to inform the design of a community response program. Evaluators worked with local partners to host eleven community cafés in three states, mainly in rural areas. Conversations centered on the need for voluntary, tailored, and affirming support for families. Participants living in rural areas emphasized the unique service barriers impacting families in their communities. These collective insights from families and mandated reporters shine a light on opportunities to improve community response programs, including meeting the needs of families in rural areas.</p>","PeriodicalId":48052,"journal":{"name":"Child Maltreatment","volume":" ","pages":"10775595261456616"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148340657","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Colleen E Sullivan, Stacia N Stolzenberg, Shanna Dewit-Williams, Thomas D Lyon
{"title":"Developmental Challenges Underlying the Impeachment of Child Witnesses With Prior Inconsistent Statements.","authors":"Colleen E Sullivan, Stacia N Stolzenberg, Shanna Dewit-Williams, Thomas D Lyon","doi":"10.1177/10775595261463206","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10775595261463206","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>One way attorneys challenge witnesses' credibility is through impeachment by prior inconsistent statements. We examined the testimony of 6- to 12-year-old child witnesses in 120 sexual abuse prosecutions and identified 96 cases in which attorneys challenged children with prior testimony that was allegedly inconsistent with the child's current statements. In 11% of the cases, the statements were not in fact inconsistent. In 94% of the remaining cases, we identified one or more of 12 developmental difficulties with the question-types or topics potentially leading to the inconsistencies. This included suggestive tag questions in 45% of the cases, which always co-occurred with other question-type or topic difficulties. The most common problems (appearing in more than 20% of cases) included questions about time and number, questions requiring the child to distinguish among individual incidents, sexual terminology, and questions using negative polarity items such as \"any\" and \"ever.\"</p>","PeriodicalId":48052,"journal":{"name":"Child Maltreatment","volume":" ","pages":"10775595261463206"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148309969","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Caitlyn N Muniz, Richard Hartman, Michelle N Jeanis
{"title":"Professional Perceptions of Problematic Sexual Behavior in Children.","authors":"Caitlyn N Muniz, Richard Hartman, Michelle N Jeanis","doi":"10.1177/10775595261463204","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10775595261463204","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Problematic sexual behavior (PSB) among youth presents a persistent challenge within child welfare and multidisciplinary response systems. Because multidisciplinary responses shape investigation, referral, and service decisions, it is important to understand how professionals-including clinicians, law enforcement, child advocacy center staff, child welfare professionals, and prosecutors-perceive children who act out sexually on other children. This study examines how case and respondent characteristics jointly shape professional perceptions of PSB using vignette-based survey data from 363 multidisciplinary team members across Texas. Respondents assigned to vignettes involving a 14-year-old child displaying PSB were more likely than those assigned to a 10-year-old to agree the child was old enough to accept responsibility, knew the behavior was wrong, and should face criminal consequences. Political ideology, professional role, and geographic area of practice were each independently associated with these judgments. Mental health professionals and liberal-identifying respondents were less likely to endorse criminal consequences, while court/legal professionals and conservative-identifying respondents showed opposing patterns. Suburban practitioners were more likely than rural practitioners to endorse responsibility and knowledge of wrongdoing, while urban practitioners were less likely to endorse criminal consequences. Findings highlight the need for developmentally informed, coordinated approaches to training and intervention across multidisciplinary systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":48052,"journal":{"name":"Child Maltreatment","volume":" ","pages":"10775595261463204"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148303594","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Caroline F D Black, Chereese Phillips, Isaac A Sanders, Syeda Aliza Sajjad
{"title":"Mandatory Reporting: What's the Empirical Evidence Base? A Systematic Scoping Review.","authors":"Caroline F D Black, Chereese Phillips, Isaac A Sanders, Syeda Aliza Sajjad","doi":"10.1177/10775595261448548","DOIUrl":"10.1177/10775595261448548","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>It is unclear whether research has generated causal evidence about the impact of mandatory reporting (MR) policies on reporting outcomes. This scoping review applied concepts from the NIH Stage Model to map and organize five decades of research on MR, focusing on research methodology, to highlight the strength of causal evidence at each stage of research. Guided by PRISMA-ScR standards, we conducted a systematic scoping review, resulting in 104 selected studies. Stage 0: Basic Science (<i>n</i> = 32) research used vignettes to generate theoretical evidence about factors associated with reporter decision making. Studies in Stage I: Intervention Development, Refinement, and Testing (<i>n</i> = 70), used qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods, or systematic review techniques to generate preliminary evidence about experiences and/or outcomes related to MR. Studies classified as Stage III: Real World Efficacy Testing (<i>n</i> = 1) and Stage IV: Effectiveness Research (<i>n</i> = 1) used state, county, or national datasets with causal inference techniques to explore the effects of policy change on outcomes within states or across states in the U.S. Findings suggest there is insufficient empirical evidence to make credible causal inferences about the effects of MR on policy-relevant outcomes, highlighting significant research gaps that impede our understanding of whether this policy is functioning as intended.</p>","PeriodicalId":48052,"journal":{"name":"Child Maltreatment","volume":" ","pages":"10775595261448548"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148165026","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Upstream but Uneven: The Mismatch Between Structural Risk and Child Maltreatment Prevention Service Allocation in Texas.","authors":"Makayla M Meador","doi":"10.1177/10775595261458756","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10775595261458756","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>State-funded child maltreatment prevention aims to reduce risk, but whether reach aligns with community need is unclear. This county-level cross-sectional study of all 254 Texas counties examined whether Fiscal Year 2023 Prevention and Early Intervention (PEI) service distribution tracked structural risk and substantiated maltreatment. Two outcomes were modeled with negative binomial regression and a log child-population offset: annual family service recipients (home visiting and family support) and average monthly youth service recipients (community-based programs). Structural risk was operationalized through socioeconomic, housing, and violent crime indicators. In fully adjusted models, family service rates were approximately ten times higher in urban than rural counties (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 10.52, 95% CI [4.74, 23.33]) but unrelated to substantiated maltreatment. This urban-rural gap was absent for youth services, which tracked substantiated maltreatment (IRR = 1.44, 95% CI [1.07, 1.93]). Family prevention reach in Texas tracks geography rather than need, while youth prevention tracks observed maltreatment burden - patterns implicating distinct allocation pathologies in state-administered prevention.</p>","PeriodicalId":48052,"journal":{"name":"Child Maltreatment","volume":" ","pages":"10775595261458756"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148177009","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}