Single-Parent Births in California: A Population-Based Examination of the Risk of Child Protective Services Involvement.

Objectives: The current study examined differential rates of child protective services (CPS) involvement between infants with one or two legally established parents at birth.

Methods: Vital birth records were used to document all children with a registered birth in California in 2017 (N = 470,854). This birth cohort was then prospectively followed in linked CPS records through age 1 year.

Results: Birth records indicated that 7.1% of infants (n = 33,597) had only one legally established parent. Adjusting for sociodemographic factors, infants with only one parent documented on the birth record were more than twice as likely to be reported for maltreatment (IRR = 2.20; 99% CI [2.12, 2.29]). In the overall birth cohort, significant differences in the likelihood of a CPS report were observed by parental sociodemographic factors (education, age, public insurance, race and ethnicity); however, these same factors were attenuated, to varying degrees, among infants with a single legal parent.

Conclusions for practice: Infants born with a single legal parent had a higher concentration of factors associated with heightened rates of CPS involvement. Assessing the circumstances associated with single parenthood, such as understanding household composition and who is involved in the infant's care, may explain potential vulnerability and identify service needs.