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This factsheet discusses laws that require child welfare agencies to make reasonable efforts to provide services that will help families remedy the conditions that brought the child and family into the child welfare system. The issues examined include what constitutes reasonable efforts, when reasonable efforts are required to be made, and the circumstances under which reasonable efforts to reunify the family are not required. Summaries of laws for all States and U.S. territories are included.

This book by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, commonly called the Greenbook, provides communities a framework to develop interventions and measure progress as they seek to improve their responses to families experiencing spouse abuse and child maltreatment. It presents community and institutional leaders with a context-setting tool to develop public policy aimed at keeping families safe and stable. The book is divided into 5 chapters. Chapter 1 articulates an overall principle of safety, well-being, and stability for all victims of family violence and the need to hold batterers accountable for their violence. In chapter 2, a series of principles are developed to guide communities in structuring their responses to families experiencing dual forms of violence. Chapters 3, 4, and 5 focus on specific recommendations for the child protection system, the network of domestic violence service providers, and the juvenile or other trial courts with jurisdiction over child maltreatment cases. Three appendices provide the following information: definitions; federal legislation; and curricula, protocols, and publications. Numerous references.

Examines State laws for maintaining records of child abuse and neglect. Almost all States maintain a statewide central registry, which is a centralized database of child abuse and neglect investigation records. In some States, the individual State agencies that received the reports of suspected abuse or neglect are required to maintain these records. Central registry reports are typically used to aid social services agencies in the investigation, treatment, and prevention of child abuse cases and to maintain statistical information for staffing and funding purposes. Central registry records also are used to conduct background checks on prospective foster and adoptive parents.

This report presents a synopsis of the background and objectives of the Third National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS-3), its design and methods, and its key findings. The NIS-3 findings are based on a nationally representative sample of over 5,600 professionals in 42 counties. NIS-3 used the harm and endangered standards to provide insights into the incidence and distribution of child maltreatment and into changes in incidence since the previous study. Results indicate that the incidence of child abuse has increased since the last incidence study was conducted in 1986, the total number of abused and neglected children was two-thirds higher in the NIS-3 than in the NIS-2 using the harm standard to determine the incidence of maltreatment, the number of maltreated children nearly doubled between 1986 and 1993 using the endangerment standard, and the total number of children seriously injured and the total number endangered both quadrupled in the interval between NIS-2 and NIS-3. The study shows that the age and sex of a child victim were related to the rate of maltreatment, but the child's race was not; the incidence of maltreatment varied according to family income, structure, and size and the metropolitan status of a family's county of residence; only a small percentage of maltreated children received attention from child protection services (CPS) for their maltreatment; and the percentages of children whose cases were investigated by CPS declined significantly since NIS-2. In addition, the study provided data on the distribution of child maltreatment by perpetrator characteristics. The report concludes with a discussion of the implications of NIS-3 findings.

This second double issue on differential response discusses practice, policy, and research related to understanding and implementing a differential response approach as an alternative to traditional investigations into child abuse or neglect. It begins by explaining that differential response focuses on partnering with families to provide services that meet their needs while dismissing the labels of perpetrator and victim and removing the determination or finding. Following articles summarize key findings for the 2006 National Study on Differential Response in Child Welfare; findings from the Parent Support Outreach Project, a pilot project in Minnesota that created a preventive pathway for families; findings for the Another Road to Safety program based in Alameda County, California; findings from the implementation of differential response in 11 rural counties in Northern California; findings from a review of the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System on the safety of children served through differential response pathways; and findings related to the use of the North California Family Assessment Scale for General Services, a family assessment instrument designed for differential response. The final two articles explore the possible intersections and common values between differential response and family involvement strategies, and the importance of partnering with families in order to successfully sustain system changes such as differential response. Numerous references.

Multiple copies available at: American Humane at info@americanhumane.org.
Contents: Differential Response: Progressive Child Welfare Amy Rohm -- Another Look at the National Study on Differential Response in Child Welfare Caren Kaplan and Lisa Merkel-Holguin -- The Parent Support Outreach Program: Minnesota's Early Intervention Track David Thompson, Gary L. Siegel, and L. Anthony Loman -- Implementation of Differential Response in Ethnically Diverse Neighborhoods Amy Conley and Jill Duerr Berrick -- Implementation of California?s Differential Response Model in Small Counties Sofya Bagdasaryan, Walter Furman, and Todd Franke -- Outcomes for Children with Allegations of Neglect Who Receive Alternative Response and Traditional Investigations: Findings for NCANDS Mary Jo Ortiz, Gila R. Shusterman, and John D. Fluke -- Development and Field Testing of a Family Assessment Scale for Use in Child Welfare Practice Settings Utilizing Differential Response Raymond S. Kirk -- The Intersection Between Differential Response and Family Involvement Approaches Betty Christenson, Scott Curran, Kelli DeCook, Scott Maloney, and Lisa Merkel-Holguin -- Six Principles of Partnership: Building and Sustaining System-Wide Change Daniel P. Comer and Deborah Vassar.

Presents State laws regarding the options available to youth who are transitioning to independent living, including the ability to voluntarily extend their placement in out-of-home care. The requirements for remaining in placement and the programs and services available to support the transition to independence also are discussed. Summaries of laws related to these issues for all States and U.S. territories are included.