An analysis of temporal dimensions in maltreatment reporting and child protection responses

Abstract

Background: The health services literature indicates that the day and time of a medical encounter is often significant factor in patient outcomes, yet little is known about the role of temporal dimensions in child maltreatment reporting or substantiation.

Objective: We examined time-specific dynamics of screened-in reports of alleged maltreatment from different reporter sources, including their relationship to the likelihood of substantiation.

Participants and setting: We used a population-based dataset of administrative records for 119,758 child protection investigations involving 193,300 unique children in Los Angeles County, California, between 2016 and 2017.

Methods: For each report, we coded three categorical temporal dimensions of the maltreatment report: season, day of the week, and time of day. We descriptively examined how temporal characteristics varied by reporting source. Finally, we ran generalized linear models to estimate the likelihood of substantiation.

Results: We observed variability overall and by reporter type for all three measures of time. Reports were less likely during summer months (22.2 %), during the weekend (13.6 %), and after midnight (10.4 %). Counts of reports from law enforcement were more common after midnight and contributed to a greater proportion of substantiations over the weekend than other reporter types. Weekend and morning reports were nearly 10 % more likely than weekday and afternoon to be substantiated, respectively. Reporter type was the most prominent factor for substantiation regardless of temporal dimensions.

Conclusions: Screened-in reports varied by season and other classifications of time, but temporal dimensions exhibited only a modest influence on the likelihood of substantiation.

Keywords: Child maltreatment; Child protection system; Reporter type; Seasonality; Substantiation; Time; Weekend.