Lessons from Canadian incidence studies: Connecting data to policy and practice to accelerate change - Urgent protection versus chronic need: Clarifying the dual mandate of child welfare services in Ontario

Objectives This study analyzed data from the 1998, 2003, 2008, and 2013 Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (OIS) and compared the profile of children who were reported for an urgent protection... [ view full abstract ]

Objectives
This study analyzed data from the 1998, 2003, 2008, and 2013 Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (OIS) and compared the profile of children who were reported for an urgent protection investigation versus chronic need.
Methods
The OIS utilize a multi-stage sampling design, first to select a representative sample of child welfare sites in the province, and then to sample cases within these sites. Information is collected directly from the investigating workers at the conclusion of the investigation.
OIS study Investigations were classified as urgent protection or investigations that focused on chronic need. Chi square tests were used to compare types of investigations in terms of harm, parent, child, or household characteristics and service response. T tests were used to compare differences in incidences per 1,000 children across cycles.
Results
As a proportion of all investigations, urgent protection cases have dropped from 28% of all investigations in 1998, to 18% in 2003, to 12% in 2008, to 11% in 2013. Results from the OIS-2013 analysis revealed that 5% of cases involved neglect of a child under four, 3% of cases involved sexual abuse, 2% of cases involved physical abuse of a child under four and 1% of cases involved children who had sustained severe enough physical harm that medical treatment was required. The other 89% of cases of investigated maltreatment involved situations where concerns appear to focus less on immediate safety and more on the long-term effects of a range of family related problems.
Conclusion
These findings underscore the importance of considering the dual mandate of child welfare mandates in Ontario: intervening to assure the urgent protection and safety of the child versus intervening to promote the development and well-being of the child.