Carer Drinking and More Serious Child Protection Case Outcomes

• Care-giver alcohol abuse is identified as involved in a significant proportion of child maltreatment cases internationally. This study examines how care-giver alcohol abuse is related to increasing intensity of child protective intervention in a large Australian database. Predictors of child protection outcomes were examined in 38,487 Victorian state Child Protection Services (CPS) cases substantiated between 2001 and 2005. Likely alcohol abuse was identified in 33per cent of substantiations, 36per cent of protective interventions and 42per cent of court orders. Likely alcohol abuse was a significant predictor of more intensive official responsesuprotective interventions and court ordersuafter adjusting for other drug abuse and other socio-demographic factors. Supporting multi-factorial theories of alcohols involvement in child abuse, likely alcohol abuse was one of several risk factors that remained significant in multivariable prediction of more serious child protection outcomes.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Sociologi -- Socialt arbete (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Sociology -- Social Work (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Alcohol

child abuse

neglect

substantiations

protective interventions

court orders

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)