Definitions and Policies Related to the Incidence of Child Abuse and Neglect and Related Risk

2017-2022

This project will support the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in identifying federal, state, and/or local definitions and policies related to the surveillance of child maltreatment and related risk and protective factors. The primary goal is to create a State Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) Policies Database that allows researchers and policy analysts to link to other data sources to address important questions about how variations in these definitions and policies are associated with child welfare intake, screening practices, substantiation decisions, service provision, and ultimately child safety and well-being. The database includes child abuse and neglect definitions and policies collected from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. A SCAN Policies Database website allows key stakeholders to download summary state profiles of the child maltreatment policies and definitions as well as access resources to help understand and guide the interpretation of this information.

This project is conducted through a contract to Mathematica with a subcontract to Child Trends.

Point(s) of contact: Christine Fortunato and Mary Mueggenborg.

The SCAN Policies Database will also be available at the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect (NDACAN)

Related Resources

Explore ACF’s State Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) Policies Database that describe variations in key aspects of states’ definitions of child maltreatment and policies for reporting, screening, and investigating child abuse and neglect across the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.