The abuse and neglect of children is a serious problem in California as well as in the nation as a whole. In 1994, there were over 664,000 reports of child abuse/neglect and about 90,000 children in foster care in California. Between 1987-88 and 1994-95, the number of children served by the Child Welfare Services (CWS) system, after controlling for changes in population, increased 27 percent.

This report presents a variety of information on the subject of child abuse and neglect. It is designed to serve both as a reference document and as a vehicle for stimulating further discussion and policy development on these issues.

Chapter 1 defines child abuse and neglect and describes the child welfare services system. In Chapter 2, we present trends and characteristics regarding child abuse and neglect in California. Chapter 3 provides information on the state's CWS Program. Chapter 4 displays cost data related to child abuse and neglect. Chapter 5 provides data to assess the CWS system. Finally, in Chapter 6 we provide an assessment of the CWS Program and discuss policy implications suggested by the information provided in the preceding chapters.

Definitions and Types of Child Abuse/Neglect

• Sexual abuse is the victimization of a child by sexual activities, including molestation, indecent exposure, fondling, rape, and incest.
• Physical abuse is bodily injury inflicted by other than accidental means on a child, including willful cruelty, unjustifiable punishment, or corporal punishment.
• Emotional abuse is nonphysical mistreatment, resulting in disturbed behavior by the child, such as severe withdrawal or hyperactivity. Emotional abuse includes willfully causing any child to suffer, inflicting mental suffering, or endangering a child's emotional well-being.
• General neglect is the negligent failure of a parent/guardian or caretaker to provide adequate food, clothing, shelter, or supervision where no physical injury to the child has occurred.
• Severe neglect refers to those situations of neglect where the child's health is endangered, including severe malnutrition.
• Exploitation means forcing or coercing a child into performing activities that are beyond the child's capabilities or which are illegal or degrading, including sexual exploitation.

What Happens When There Is a Report of Child Abuse/Neglect?

Child Welfare Services System

• Emergency Response is the initial intake point for the program. Social workers are required to respond to reports of child abuse/neglect and determine whether an in-person investigation is necessary.
• Family Maintenance provides support services to prevent abuse/neglect while the child remains in his or her home. Generally, these services include counseling, parent training, respite care, and temporary in-home care.
• Family Reunification provides support services to the family while the child is in temporary foster care. Typically, these services include counseling, emergency shelter care, parent training, and teaching homemaking skills.
• Permanent Placement provides management and placement services to children in foster care who cannot be returned to their families.
  

Juvenile Dependency Process

The chart on the following pages shows the flow of a report of child abuse/neglect through the child welfare system.

What Happens When There Is A Report of Child Abuse/Neglect?

• Reports of child abuse/neglect are received by county welfare departments through the Emergency Response component of the CWS Program. In some cases, the county social worker may determine that the child should be placed in temporary foster care.
• A dependency petition is filed for each Emergency Response case that is not closed immediately, requesting that the child be declared a dependent of the court.
• A detention hearing is held to approve the temporary removal of the child from his or her home.
• At the jurisdictional hearing, the court determines whether or not abuse/neglect has occurred as stated in the petition.
• If abuse/neglect was found, a dispositional hearing is conducted to determine a remedygenerally, the court may order family maintenance or family reunification services.
• Review hearings are held, generally every six months, to review family maintenance and family reunification efforts.
• If family reunification efforts fail, a permanency planning hearing is held to determine the long-term plan for the child. The plan must include one of the following goals: long-term foster care placement, guardianship, or adoption.

Trends and Characteristics of Child Abuse
And Neglect in California

The state collects information regarding the incidence of child abuse/neglect through reports made by county welfare departments. It is difficult, however, to measure the actual incidence of child abuse/neglect for several reasons. First, the definitions and guidelines used for determining child abuse/neglect are not precise. Second, some people may be reluctant to report child abuse or neglect because they do not want to become involved. Finally, it may be difficult for government agencies to substantiate a report, even though abuse or neglect has occurred.

In California, the number of child abuse/neglect reports per 1,000 children increased 76 percent between 1985 and 1994. While this suggests that child abuse/neglect has increased significantly, data are not available on the number of reports that were actually substantiated (that is, where it was determined that abuse or neglect had occurred).

Mandated Reporters Account for Over Half The Reports of Abuse/Neglect

January 1993

• The California Child Abuse Reporting Law requires certain professionals to report known or suspected child abuse. Legally mandated reporters include certain employees of schools (such as teachers) or day care facilities, health practitioners (physicianurses, clinical social workers), child protective agencies (county welfare, probation, police departments), and commercial film and photographic print processors.
• Based on data from January 1993, 54 percent of the reports came from legally mandated reporters. The single largest source of all reports -- about one-fifth of the total -- were made by schools.

Who are the Victims and Perpetrators Of Child Abuse/Neglect?

January 1993

Physical or Sexual Abuse Account for Half the Reports of Abuse/Neglect

1994

• In 1994, about half of the reports of abuse/neglect were due to physical abuse (32 percent) or sexual abuse (17 percent).
• About one-third of the reports were due to general neglect, such as regularly leaving a young child in the home without supervision.
• This distribution of the types of reported abuse/neglect has remained generally constant over the last ten years.

Reports of Abuse/Neglect Increased Significantly During the Late 1980s

• Between 1985 and 1989, the number of reports of abuse/neglect increased 70 percent, from 42 to 71 per 1,000 children. Since 1989, however, the rate has increased more slowly.
• The sharp increase in the late 1980s may have been partly due to an increase in the number of children born with drug-exposure problems. These cases were generally reported to CWS until 1990, when legislation was enacted which restricted conditions for reporting. The increase in reporting rates over this entire period is due to: (1) increased incidents of child abuse/neglect as a result of increased economic pressures on families, (2) increased use of illegal drugs, and (3) greater public awareness of child abuse/neglect.
• In total, there were about 296,000 reports of child abuse/neglect in 1985, compared to about 664,000 in 1994. This represents a 124 percent increase over the period, or an average annual rate of almost 10 percent.

California Has the Highest Rate of Reported
Abuse/Neglect Among the Ten Largest States

1993

• In 1993, California had the highest rate of reported abuse/neglect among the ten largest states76 per 1,000 children.
• The variation among the states is partly due to differences in reporting laws, data collection systems, and definitions of child abuse/neglect. For example, Pennsylvania does not include "general neglect" in its definition of child abuse/neglect.

Rate of Reported Abuse/Neglect Varies Among Counties

1994

• Of the ten largest counties, San Diego CouËÏXÔnty had the highest rate of reported abuse/neglect in 199450 percent higher than the statewide average. (In 1991, the county's reporting rate was almost 90 percent higher than the statewide average.)
• Riverside County had the lowest reporting rate in 1994, which was 40 percent below the statewide average.
• Some variation may be due to differences in demographics (for example, incidence of poverty) or differences in methods of data collection; however, these two factors do not appear to explain all of the variation.

Law Enforcement Involvement In Child Abuse Cases

Most Common Stress Factors In Abusive Households

January 1993

• Research suggests that risk factors for child abuse/neglect include poverty, unemployment, alcohol/drug abuse, history of child abuse/neglect or violence in the family, limited support systems (such as family and friends), low self-esteem, and poor health of parent.
• Based on a survey of CWS cases in January 1993, the most common stress factors present in households experiencing child abuse were the inability to cope with parenting (35 percent of the cases) and disruption of family structure, such as divorce (33 percent).