Age at entry into the Dutch child protection system of children of parents with intellectual disability: A case-control study

Background

It is well established that children of parents with intellectual disability (ID) are disproportionately involved in child protection. It is important to identify the characteristics of their child protection trajectories.

Objective

Children of parents with and without ID were compared on the following characteristics of care: age at entry (weeks), duration of the first intervention (weeks), and the likelihood of having a sibling involved in child protection.

Participants and setting

Dutch population-level administrative data were used. Children of parents with ID (cases) were 1:1 matched with controls. The following samples were used: N = 4526 cases in child protection; N = 3200 cases in youth services with child protection; N = 318 cases in youth services without child protection.

Methods

Linear and logistic regression models were used.

Findings

Children of parents with ID were younger at entry into child protection (B = −176.76, [-187.68; −165.83]), youth services with child protection (B = −152.73, [-165.97; −139.48]), and youth services without child protection (B = −143.10, [-188.72; −97.47]), and they had longer initial child protection interventions (B = 34.68, [25.94; 43.42]). Further, these children were more likely to have a sibling in child protection (OR 1.28, [1.18; 1.40]), youth services with child protection (OR 1.14, [1.02; 1.27]), and youth services without child protection (OR 69.23, [30.84; 198.00]).

Conclusion

Children of parents with ID enter child protection and youth services at younger ages and for longer periods, more often accompanied by a sibling. This study highlights the need to investigate contextual factors contributing to this differential treatment.