Rates of out-of-home care among children in Canada: an analysis of national administrative child welfare data. / Taux de placement des enfants hors de leur foyer familial : analyse des données administratives nationales du système de protection de l'enfance au Canada.

INTRODUCTION: As a part of the public health approach to child welfare, data about children placed in out-of-home care are needed to assess population trends, understand drivers of social and health inequities, and examine outcomes for children and families. We analyzed administrative data from Canada to describe the population of children in out-of-home care, and estimate and compare rates of out-of-home care by province/territory, year, sex/gender, age group and placement type. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of point-in-time data from all provinces and territories for the period 2013/2014 to 2021/2022. We used frequencies and percentages to describe the population of children (and youth up to age 21 years) in out-of-home care and estimated overall and stratified rates and rate ratios. RESULTS: An estimated 61 104 children in Canada were in out-of-home care on 31 March 2022. The national rate of out-of-home care was 8.24 children per 1000 population. Rate variations by province/territory were substantial and changed over time. Rates were highest among males and children aged 1 to 3 and 16 to 17 years. Foster homes were the most common type of placement, although kinship homes accounted for an increasing share. CONCLUSION: This analysis demonstrated that administrative data can be used to generate national indicators about children involved in the child welfare system. These data can be used for tracking progress towards health and social equity for children and youth in Canada.

Recurrent involvement with the Quebec child protection system for reasons of neglect: A longitudinal clinical population study.

Studies in several jurisdictions have found that families become recurrently involved with child protection systems most frequently for reasons of neglect. Child protection involvement for reasons of neglect is shown to correlate with various socioeconomic vulnerabilities. OBJECTIVE: This study, the largest of its kind in Canada, examines when and for whom recurring conditions of neglect were most likely to occur for all children involved with child protection in the province of Quebec over a span of fifteen years. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Specifically, the study population includes all children whose ongoing child protection intervention in Quebec closed between 2002 and 2017 (N = 76,176). METHODS: This clinical population study uses a longitudinal research design drawing anonymized clinical administrative data from all of Quebec's child protection jurisdictions spanning 15 years, and Quebec data extracted from the 2011 Canadian National Household Survey to estimate socioeconomic vulnerability. RESULTS: Of the total population studied, 32.5 % (N = 24,816) experienced a recurrence of maltreatment during the study period, of which more than one third (N = 8707) experienced a recurrence for reasons of neglect. CONCLUSIONS: Because the association between socioeconomic vulnerability and recurrence of neglect indicates a gap in material and social supports-which child protection systems have neither the mandate nor the resources to fill-we propose additional avenues that we urge policymakers and practitioners to consider in supporting the demonstrated needs of these families.

Major findings from the Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect 2018.

BACKGROUND: The Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (OIS) is the only source of province-wide statistics on families investigated by child welfare. OBJECTIVE: This paper presents key findings from the 2018 cycle of the OIS (OIS-2018) and highlights select policy and practice implications of these findings. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTINGS: The OIS-2018 captured information directly from investigating child protection workers about children and families who were the subject of a child protection investigation sampled for inclusion in the study. METHODS: The OIS-2018 sample was drawn in three stages: first, a representative sample of child welfare agencies in Ontario was selected, then cases were sampled over a three-month period within selected agencies, and, finally, investigations that met the study criteria were identified from the sampled cases. The data collected for the OIS-2018 were weighted in order to derive provincial, annual incidence estimates. RESULTS: An estimated 158,476 child maltreatment-related investigations were conducted in Ontario in 2018. In the majority of investigations, there was no documented physical or emotional harm to the child. The overall incidence of investigations remains unchanged between 2008 and 2018. The only statistically significant difference during this time period is an increase in risk investigations between 2013 and 2018. CONCLUSIONS: Data from the OIS gives Ontario child welfare policymakers and practitioners an empirical basis for making evidence-informed decisions. Findings are compared to the United States and Australia.

Differences and disparities over time: Black and White families investigated by Ontario's child welfare system.

BACKGROUND: Black-White disparities in child welfare involvement have been well-documented in the United States, but there is a significant knowledge gap in Ontario about how and when these disparities emerge. OBJECTIVE: This paper compares incidence data on Black and White families investigated by Ontario's child welfare system over a 20-year period. METHODS: Data from the first five cycles of the Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (OIS) (1993-2013) were used to examine trends in child maltreatment investigations involving Black and White families. Incidence rates were calculated. T-tests were conducted to assess statistically significant differences between and within cycles. Population and decision-based enumeration approaches were also used to examine child welfare disparities. RESULTS: The incidence of investigations involving White families almost doubled between 1998 and 2003, but for Black families the incidence increased almost fourfold during the same period. These increases and the difference between Black and White families in 2003 were statistically significant. The results further indicate that Black families experience disparate representation in Ontario's child welfare system over time for most service dispositions. CONCLUSIONS: Several possible explanations are offered for the study's outcome, including changes in risk related to social safety net, the threshold for risk of harm, and bias and racist institutional policies and practices. This study invites policy-makers and child welfare authorities to rethink service delivery in addressing the disparate representation of Black families in the child welfare system.

Examining Child Welfare Decisions and Services for Asian-Canadian Versus White-Canadian Children and Families in the Child Welfare System.

Using administrative child welfare data from the Ontario Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (OCANDS), this study compared the profiles of Asian-Canadian and White-Canadian children and families that experienced a case closure after an investigation instead of being transferred to ongoing child protection services (CPS). Child protection investigations involving Asian-Canadian and White-Canadian children and families that were transferred to ongoing CPS presented a different profile of case characteristics and caregiver and child clinical needs. Asian-Canadian children and families received ongoing CPS for over a month longer than White-Canadian children and families and were less likely (odds ratio [ OR] = 0.39) to be reinvestigated for any form of maltreatment-related concerns within 1 year after case closure. It appears that child protection investigations involving Asian-Canadian children and families are less likely to be closed prematurely than White-Canadian children and families, and the child protection system may be meeting the needs of Asian-Canadian communities. Alternatively, it is possible there is unaccounted biases that may be reflective of systemic problem of discriminative practices in the child protection system. Further research is needed to explore this phenomenon.

Should child protection services respond differently to maltreatment, risk of maltreatment, and risk of harm?

OBJECTIVE: To examine evidence available in large-scale North American datasets on child abuse and neglect that can assist in understanding the complexities of child protection case classifications. METHODS: A review of child abuse and neglect data from large North American epidemiological studies including the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS), the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), and the National Incidence Studies of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS). RESULTS: The authors of this paper argue that recent evidence from large North American epidemiological studies examining the incidence of child abuse and neglect demonstrate that children and families identified as being at risk of maltreatment present with as many household and caregiver concerns as investigations that are substantiated. CONCLUSIONS: In order to continue to develop appropriate services and policies for vulnerable children the authors urge continue definitional clarity for research in child maltreatment that considers the exemplars or indicators of categories, in tandem with parental and child characteristics which can provide one source of evidence-basis to meaningful child protection case classifications. Continued monitoring, refined by the dilemmas faced in practice, are critical for a continued public health investment in children's well-being, predicated upon upholding children's rights.