Infant and Pre-birth Involvement With Child Protection Across Australia.
Child Maltreat
; 28(4): 608-620, 2023 11.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37386757
ABSTRACT
Infants (<1 year old) are the age group in Australia with the highest rate of involvement with child protection. Many jurisdictions across Australia and internationally are implementing policies focused on prenatal planning and targeted support. This study investigates Australian trends in prenatal and infant child protection notifications, substantiations and out-of-home care; and the extent of over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander infants. Data was provided by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare for the period 1 July 2012-30 June 2019. Univariate Poisson regression analysis was conducted, reporting the percentage change in the incidence rate ratios. All Australian jurisdictions who collect and approved release of prenatal notification data experienced increases in the rates of children with prenatal notifications, with a 4% (IRR 1.04(1.04-1.05)) overall increase per year across Australia. Approximately 33% of children had substantiated prenatal notifications. Rates of infant notifications and entry to care in Australia increased overall by 3% (IRR1.03(1.03-1.04)) and 2% per year (IRR1.02(1.01-1.03)), respectively. With rising numbers of families reported prenatally and during infancy, greater evidence of the effectiveness of policies, interventions and outcomes for children and families is required.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Child Abuse
/
Child Protective Services
Limits:
Child
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Infant
/
Pregnancy
Country/Region as subject:
Oceania
Language:
En
Journal:
Child Maltreat
Journal subject:
PEDIATRIA
Year:
2023
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Australia