School Absenteeism Associated With Child Protection System Involvement, Maltreatment Type, and Time in Out-of-Home Care

Abstract

Greater school absenteeism is associated with numerous negative educational outcomes. We used a retrospective cohort design with linked administrative data on 296,422 children to examine the relationship between school absenteeism and child protection system (CPS) involvement. Children with substantiated maltreatment had 4.1 times more unexplained and problem absences than children with no CPS involvement. In multivariate analyses, children with substantiated maltreatment had significantly greater “chronic” truancy ( OR = 3.41) and less “acceptable” levels of absences ( OR = 0.74) compared to children with no CPS involvement. Greater absenteeism was seen for children with substantiated neglect and who had their first CPS notification earlier in life. Being in out-of-home care for 3+ years was a protective factor for children who had a CPS notification before age 5. Additional adversities had a strong additive effect with CPS involvement on absenteeism and chronic truancy. This study demonstrates the potential scope for reducing problem absenteeism and helps inform the public debate regarding how the type and timing of CPS involvement might ameliorate or exacerbate harm for children.

Child Maltreatment and Mortality in Young Adults

“…2,7 CM has profound effects on mental and physical health during childhood and across the life course. 7,8 It also impacts economic and social outcomes, such as school participation 9 and achievement, welfare dependency, addiction, risky sexual behaviors, and involvement in violence. 10 The described physiological effects of child abuse and neglect on brain development, stress, and inflammatory responses support the observations as causal.…”

“…This cut point has been used previously in exploring CMassociated outcomes. 9 Persons with CPS contact are heterogenous in terms of CM exposure. DCP has adopted a hierarchical categorization that indicates increasing levels of concern to guide its response.…”

Educational and health outcomes of schoolchildren in local authority care in Scotland: A retrospective record linkage study

“…Looked after children exhibit poorer educational outcomes including lower attainment, increased absenteeism, and exclusion [2,17,18]; however, Scottish analyses were not adjusted for confounders including poorer health [2]. A recent systematic review recommended more population-wide research into educational outcomes of looked after children [17].…”

Intergenerational transmission of child maltreatment in South Australia, 1986–2017: a retrospective cohort study

“…Although some studies report little difference in outcomes by substantiated and non-substantiated notifications 27 there is growing evidence that CPS exposure types can reliably differentiate between outcomes. 28,29 We found differences in child maltreatment not only between the children of mothers with substantiated maltreatment and those with unsubstantiated maltreatment, but also between mothers with notifier-only concern notifications and those with no CPS contact. Therefore, although CPS exposure types were important risk predictors in this study, our findings support that even unsubstantiated reports repre sent increased risk of intergenerational child maltreatment.…”

“…Other research has found that earlier child removal in the presence of a higher percentage of life in out-of-home care can reduce harmful outcomes. 28 Given the added risk for mothers who have been previously placed into out-of-home care, there is an imperative to investigate the benefits and risks of the long-term mental and emotional health of those placed in care. Although children are placed in out-of-home care for their immediate safety, there is a clear obligation to support these children and provide them with access to resources that will assist them in overcoming the trauma of past abuse and to manage the new issues of a nonfamilial residence.…”