Differential Response in Child Protective Services

Differential response is a system reform that enables child protective services (CPS) to differentiate its response to reports of child abuse and neglect based on several factors. The CPS system selects the initial response (investigation or assessment) based on a number of factors. Differential response is an area of CPS reform also referred to as dual track, multiple track, or alternative response.

Allied for Better Outcomes: Child Welfare and Early Childhood (PDF - 985 KB)
Stepleton, McIntosh, & Corrington (2010)
Center for the Study of Social Policy
Proposes an approach to child welfare practice that responds to the urgent needs of the youngest and most vulnerable group of children receiving services, enhances their well-being by attending more effectively to their developmental needs, and includes their families and caregivers as valued and necessary allies in supporting healthy development.

Alternative Responses to Child Maltreatment : Findings from NCANDS
Author(s)
United States. Dept. of Health and Human Services. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.;Walter R. McDonald and Associates.
Shusterman, Gila R.;Hollinshead, Dana.;Fluke, John D.;Yuan, Ying-Ying T.
Availability View
Download (PDF - 1,290KB)
Year Published 2005
This report is the second in a series of three reports, based on the Secondary Analysis On Child Abuse and Neglect Topics of Current Policy Interest. This research examined case-level data reported to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) by six States Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Wyoming that offered both alternative response and traditional investigation. Case characteristics, circumstances of reports, and outcomes were examined for 313,838 children of whom 140,072 received an alternative response during 2002. Overall, the findings from the included States indicate that the use of alternative response was either increasing or stable over time, possibly reflecting States at different stages of implementation. It also appears that though children who had been previously referred to alternative response do experience subsequent reports and responses by CPS, they are not generally at any greater risk for subsequent reports than those who received an investigation.

Differential Response Approach in Child Protective Services: An Analysis of State Legislative Provisions (PDF - 462 KB)
National Quality Improvement Center on Differential Response in Child Protective Services (2010)
Provides a statutory analysis of the 10 major provisions identified in differential response legislative enactments in 14 States.

Differential Response in Child Protective Services: A Guide for Judges and Judicial Officers (PDF - 1,444 KB)
National Quality Improvement Center on Differential Response in Child Protective Services (2011)
Explains what differential response is; describes differential response outcomes for children, families, and agencies based on research to date; and discusses the court's role as a stakeholder in differential response.

Formal Public Child Welfare Responses to Screened-Out Reports of Alleged Maltreatment (PDF - 314 KB)
National Quality Improvement Center on Differential Response in Child Protective Services (2011)
Provides a national landscape of how State child welfare systems are responding to screened-out reports of alleged child abuse and neglect.

Key Elements of a Successful Differential Response Approach, 2006–2010
Child Welfare Information Gateway (2011)
View Abstract and Document
Provides a bibliography prepared for the National Resource Center for Permanency and Family Connections' December 8, 2010, teleconference on "Understanding the Key Elements of a Successful Differential Response Approach: The Hawaii Experience."

Lessons From the Beginning of Differential Response: Why It Works and When It Doesn't (PDF - 490 KB)
Siegel (2012)
Institute of Applied Research
Examines the evaluations of the Institute of Applied Research of early differential response pilot projects that seek to answer the question, What have we learned about differential response so far?