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NSCAW I and II

Updates and New Field Work for a Child Welfare Landmark Study

John Landsverk, Ph.D.Child & Adolescent Services Research Center

Rady Children’s Hospital – San Diego

Moving Research and Evidence into Child Welfare Organizations

Co-Located with Child Maltreatment Conference

San Diego – January 30, 2009

NSCAW I and II

Updates and New Field Work for a Child Welfare Landmark Study

John Landsverk, Ph.D.Child & Adolescent Services Research Center

Rady Children’s Hospital – San Diego

Moving Research and Evidence into Child Welfare Organizations

Co-Located with Child Maltreatment Conference

San Diego – January 30, 2009

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Presentation OverviewPresentation Overview• NSCAW within the context of Child Welfare research

and evidence and national studies of child serving sectors of care

• Update on NSCAW I with multiple Wave V data, publications, and volumes

• Update on NSCAW II – planning, field work and data release

• How can NSCAW be useful for serving the Child Welfare Research Agenda for California

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Context and PromiseContext and Promise

• Through NSCAW, child welfare is the only child serving service sector in the United States with the capacity to make national estimates - cross-sectional and longitudinal (data available for all researchers through the Cornell University National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect

• Not available for mental health, juvenile justice, etc.

• Detailed focus on well-being and safety/permanence

• Capacity to link context level factors (PSU, agency, community) to individual level outcomes – with additional MH, CW, JJ data from NIMH funded CCCW and MacArthur Fd. studies (2 networks)

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Brief Description of NSCAW IBrief Description of NSCAW I• Cohort study of over 6,000 children and families

representing the reported and investigated child welfare population in the United States – (multi-stage sampling at agency (Primary Sampling Unit PSU)

and child level with 60 children sampled per PSU– Estimates available for U.S child welfare population, 8 largest

states as 8 of 9 strata and 9th strata all other states

• Authorized by the PL 104-193 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of Cohort study of over 6,000 children and families representing the reported and investigated child welfare population in the United Stat1996

• NSCAW I Cohort for 36 months with 4 waves of data (3 face-to-face and 1 telephone (baseline [5-6 months], 12 months, 18 months, and 36 months) with 5th wave for infants and adolescents – all data available at Cornell Archive

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Unique Strengths of NSCAW Studies

Unique Strengths of NSCAW Studies

• 36 and more months of follow-up for all sampled cases investigated – including investigated only, investigated with CWS services to child/family in the biological home, and children and families served through out-of-home care (65%, 24%, 11% respectively at baseline

• Multi-stage national probability sample can produce estimates for U.S. CWS investigated cases and for 9 strata, including 8 largest states

• Full use of standardized measures for data collected from care-giver, child, teacher, case work record, CWS administration with emphasis on child well-being in addition to measurement of safety and permanence

• Strong services information about children receiving services from child welfare, mental health, developmental, special education

• Ability to conduct multi-level analyses with contextual data from 90 PSUs (mostly counties)

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SamplingSampling

• Over sampled on basis of – Children/families receiving services– Infants– Sexually abuse children

• Not sampled on basis of – Substantiated reports (cases were included whether

substantiated or not)

• Samples– Enter through investigation N = 5,504– Long-term foster care (12 months) N = 727– Total N = 6,231

• Children involved in investigations and closed between 10/01/1999 and 12/31/2000

• 85% retention rate for cohort at each time point

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Description of NSCAW IIDescription of NSCAW II• Study with new cohort in NSCAW I sampled PSUs with

fieldwork in 2008-2009 at baseline (compared to NSCAW I 1999-2001 at baseline).

• Comparable sampling and measurement designs to allow for comparison of child welfare populations, services and practice over approximately a decade.

• Improved measurement for better precision in selected areas

• Two waves of planned data collection – baseline and 18 months

• Ability to connect NSCAW II data to AFCARS and NCANDS through contract with Walter R. McDonald Associates – dating and data for CA&N reports and foster care placements.

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NSCAW II ModificationsNSCAW II Modifications• Age range: NSCAW I = 0-14 NSCAW II = 0-

17.5 yrs.

• Better precision on service use, e.g., outpatient mental health dosage, medications, insurance status, parental substance use, permanency planning, living environments, child health and disability status, child health services, child cognitive status, etc.

• Sample sizes in NSCAW II range from 40-200 (vs. 60 in NSCAW I)

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NSCAW II Report from the FieldNSCAW II Report from the Field• Baseline fieldwork – May, 2008 – August, 2009

with release of data to NDACAN archives January, 2010

• 92 PSUs in NSCAW I 73% (n = 67) in NSCAW II

• 81 PSUs participating in NSCAW II, including 12 replacement PSUs

• Coverage: 94.&% of U.S. CWS population in NSCAW I vs. 87% in NSCAW II

• 68% overall baseline response rate

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NSCAW II ChallengesNSCAW II Challenges• Recruitment of agencies has been much slower due to

increased perception of risk and involvement of legal staff

• Marked increase in first-contact states – with four additional states dropped from NSCAW II participation due to agency-first requirement and inability to waive requirement

– Related to consumer movement and seen in health organizations as well with HIPPA regulations

– Need to work through issues for conducting viable research

• Total of 8 states from NSCAW I and II now have agency first requirement and twice and many agencies had formal IRB committees as well.

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NSCAW Sources and PapersNSCAW Sources and Papers• See hand out for websites

• Website: ACF http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/abuse_neglect/nscaw/index.html

• Website: National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglecthttp://www.ndacan.cornell.edu/

• Website: Caring for Children in Child Welfarehttp://www.casrc.org/projects/CCCW/index.htm

• Website: Child Welfare Information Gatewayhttp://www.childwelfare.gov/

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NSCAW - Child Welfare Research Agenda for California

NSCAW - Child Welfare Research Agenda for California

• Safety (differential response) – NSCAW standardized measures on complexity of family issues (work sponsord by Annie E. Casey Fd.)

• Decision to remove: NSCAW – 11% at baseline, approximately 25% by 36 months.

– 9.4% removal for families at 6 months after investigation who had not had child removed in that 6 months

– 23% removal in the subsequent 7-36 months for families who were receiving CW services at Wave I (6 months) where there had already been a removal between investigation and 6 month

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NSCAW - Child Welfare Research Agenda for California

NSCAW - Child Welfare Research Agenda for California

• Permanence

• Factors predicting reunification, adoption… multiple papers from the NSCAW I study

• Well-Being

• Models predicting child outcomes over time by type of CWS involvement – e.g. Stahmer at al study of behavioral and developmental outcomes for young children in NSCAW I showed no differences in trajectories over 36 months between three groups - investigated only, investigated plus services in home, removed to foster care.