What Can National Child Abuse Reporting Data Tell Us About the Overlap Between Domestic Violence and Child Maltreatment?

This study explores the overlap of domestic violence (DV) and child maltreatment (CM). We assessed the face validity of the DV indicator in the NCANDS Child File, a national record of children investigated by Child Protective Services (CPS). In the FY 2016 NCANDS data, we found that only 26 states met a threshold of 5% of investigated children including an indication of DV. Using these states, we found that 12.5% of children had reports with noted DV. These children were younger, from larger families, and lived in lower-income counties than children without indicated DV. They were also over twice as likely to be in a report originating from law enforcement. Their rates for substantiation (41.21% vs 15.66%) and foster care placement (8.29% vs 3.77%) were more than twice as high as children without DV concerns. The re-report rate (48.02% vs. 45.46%) was slightly higher for those with indicated DV. This study highlights the importance of assessing face validity when using NCANDS data for research and underscores the need for improved DV data collection in CPS systems, thereby strengthening collaboration between DV and CPS agencies.