Public Policies, Community Conditions, and Child Abuse and Neglect: National and Statewide Data Analyses and Literature Reviews

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PROJECT SUMMARY The goal of the proposed study is to understand the relationships of community conditions and public policies with child abuse and neglect (CAN) report rates. Addressing important knowledge gaps in this area will inform efforts to prevent CAN. The proposed study has two specific aims. The first aim is to examine the associations between community conditions and CAN report rates. This study will examine, for the first time, the relationships of community-level food insecurity, child care availability, medical/mental/behavioral health service availability, and home visiting program provision with CAN report rates using US national and Illinois statewide data. Other known community risk factors (e.g., poverty rate) will also be examined, as well as potential variation by child demographics (i.e., race/ethnicity, age, and sex), rural/urban status, and CAN subtype for the first time in the national and state data. The second aim is to review existing literature to uncover the impact of policies on community conditions and predict changes in CAN report rates by changes in these policies. To that end, the study will undertake a literature review of federal and state policies influencing community conditions that have a strong relationship with the CAN report rates in the Aim 1 analyses. Next, the study will utilize the Monte Carlo method to estimate the impact of policies on CAN report rates as mediated by community conditions (policy → community condition → CAN report rate) based on the effect sizes from the literature review (policy → community condition) and the estimates from Aim 1 (community condition → CAN report rate). To pursue these aims, Dr. Hyunil Kim will receive training to enhance expertise in (1) establishing indicators of community conditions; (2) obtaining, linking, and managing data; (3) analyzing longitudinal and multilevel data; (4) translating research findings into policy implications; and (5) writing grants and disseminating research findings. Dr. Kim will complete the training and research activities under the mentorship of Drs. Craig Gundersen and Liliane Windsor. The proposed study will address important knowledge gaps in the NCIPC’s research priorities aimed at preventing CAN. The training and research activities will allow Dr. Kim to become an independent investigator who can conduct R01/03 research that provides evidence useful to reducing CAN rates at the population level.