IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aph/ajpbhl/10.2105-ajph.2006.087783_7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Public health surveillance of fatal child maltreatment: Analysis of 3 state programs

Author

Listed:
  • Schnitzer, P.G.
  • Covington, T.M.
  • Wirtz, S.J.
  • Verhoek-Oftedahl, W.
  • Palusci, V.J.

Abstract

Objectives. We sought to describe approaches to surveillance of fatal child maltreatment and to identify options for improving case ascertainment. Methods. Three states - California, Michigan, and Rhode Island - used multiple data sources for surveillance. Potential cases were identified, operational definitions were applied, and the number of maltreatment deaths was determined. Results. These programs identified 258 maltreatment deaths in California, 192 in Michigan, and 60 in Rhode Island. Corresponding maltreatment fatality rates ranged from 2.5 per 100 000 population in Michigan to 8.8 in Rhode Island. Most deaths were identified by child death review teams in Rhode Island (98%), Uniform Crime Reports in California (56%), and child welfare agency data in Michigan (44%). Compared with the total number of cases identified, child welfare agency (the official source for maltreatment reports) and death certificate data underascertain child maltreatment deaths by 55% to 76% and 80% to 90%, respectively. In all 3 states, more than 90% of cases ascertained could be identified by combining 2 data sources. Conclusions. No single data source was adequate for thorough surveillance of fatal child maltreatment, but combining just 2 sources substantially increased case ascertainment. The child death review team process may be the most promising surveillance approach.

Suggested Citation

  • Schnitzer, P.G. & Covington, T.M. & Wirtz, S.J. & Verhoek-Oftedahl, W. & Palusci, V.J., 2008. "Public health surveillance of fatal child maltreatment: Analysis of 3 state programs," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 98(2), pages 296-303.
  • Handle: RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2006.087783_7
    DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2006.087783
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.2105/AJPH.2006.087783
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2105/AJPH.2006.087783?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Whitt-Woosley, Adrienne & Sprang, Ginny & Gustman, Brian D., 2014. "Lives at risk: Uncovering factors associated with fatal child maltreatment," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(P3), pages 307-313.
    2. McLaughlin, Michael & Jonson-Reid, Melissa, 2017. "The relationship between child welfare financing, screening, and substantiation," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 407-412.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2006.087783_7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Christopher F Baum (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.apha.org .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.