skip to body
Skip to main content
  • U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
  • Administration for Children & Families
  • Children's Bureau
Child Welfare Information Gateway
REPORT ABUSE OR
NEGLECT
FIND HELP WITH A
PERSONAL SITUATION   

Home Topics Publications Library State Resources More Tools & Resources News & Events
REPORT ABUSE OR
NEGLECT
FIND HELP WITH A
PERSONAL SITUATION   
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Chat
  • Free Subscriptions
  • Resources in Spanish
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Chat
  • Resources in Spanish
  • Shopping Cart
  • Home
  • Topics
    • Family-Centered Practice
      • Philosophy and Key Elements of Family-Centered Practice
      • Family-Centered Practice Across the Service Continuum
      • Engaging Families
      • Family-Centered Casework Practice
      • Family Group Decision-Making
      • Engaging Communities to Support Families
      • Creating a Family-Centered Agency Culture
    • Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Definitions of Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Identification of Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Risk Factors That Contribute to Child Abuse and Neglect
      • People Who Engage in Child Abuse or Neglect
      • Impact of Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Child Abuse & Neglect Fatalities
    • Preventing Child Abuse & Neglect
      • National Child Abuse Prevention Month
      • Overview: Preventing Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Promoting Child & Family Well-Being
      • Public Awareness & Creating Supportive Communities
      • Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Programs
      • Developing & Sustaining Prevention Programs
      • Evidence-Based Practice for Child Abuse Prevention
      • Evaluating Prevention Programs
    • Responding to Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Introduction to Responding to Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Reporting Child Abuse and Neglect
      • Assessment in Child Protection
      • Differential Response in Child Protective Services
      • Child Protection Casework Practice
      • Responding to Child Maltreatment Near Fatalities and Fatalities
      • Trauma-Informed Practice in Child Welfare
      • Collaborative Responses to Child Abuse & Neglect
    • Supporting & Preserving Families
      • Supporting Families With Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders
      • Introduction to Family Support and Preservation
      • In-Home Services Involved With Child Protection
      • Family Support Services
      • Resources for Managers of Family Support and Preservation Services
      • Family Preservation Services
    • Out-of-Home Care
      • National Foster Care Month
      • Overview
      • Foster Care
      • Group and Residential Care
      • Kinship Care
      • Casework Practice in Out-of-Home Care
      • Transition to Adulthood and Independent Living
      • Placement Decisions
      • Resources for Foster Families
    • Achieving & Maintaining Permanency
      • Overview
      • Reunifying Families
      • Recruiting and Retaining Resource Families
      • Permanency With Relatives and Kin
      • Guardianship
      • Permanency for Specific Populations
      • Legal and Court Issues in Permanency
      • Interjurisdictional Placements
      • Working With Children, Youth, and Families in Permanency Planning
      • Working With Children, Youth, and Families After Permanency
      • Resources for Administrators and Managers About Permanency
      • Resources for Families About Permanency
    • Adoption
      • National Adoption Month
      • Children's Bureau Adoption Call to Action
      • All-In Foster Adoption Challenge
      • Adoption and Guardianship Assistance by State
      • Introduction to Adoption
      • Ethical Issues in Adoption
      • For Adopted People
      • For Adoption Program Managers & Administrators
      • For Expectant Parents Considering Adoption and Birth Parents
      • How to Adopt
      • Laws Related to Adoption
      • Parenting After Adoption
      • Postplacement Adoption Casework Practice
      • Preplacement Adoption Casework Practice
      • Search & Reunion
    • Management & Supervision
      • Administering & Managing Child Welfare Agencies & Programs
      • Child Welfare Practice Improvement
      • Disaster Preparedness & Response
      • Ethical Practice & Client Rights
      • Evaluating Program and Practice Effectiveness
      • Funding
      • Information Systems & Data
      • Supervising Child Welfare Services
      • System Reform
      • Training
      • Workforce
    • Systemwide
      • Assessment
      • Behavioral Health & Wellness
      • Courts
      • Cultural Responsiveness
      • Diverse Populations and Communities
      • Domestic Violence
      • Human Trafficking
      • Laws & Policies
      • Service Array
      • Statistics
      • Well-Being
      • Youth
  • Publications
    • Publications Series
    • Browse by Topic
    • Browse by Title
    • índice de Títulos en Español (Spanish Title Index)
  • Library
    • Search Our Library
    • Library Policy
  • State Resources
    • State Statutes
    • National Foster Care & Adoption Directory
    • State Guides & Manuals Search
    • State-Related Organizations Lists
    • Adoption and Guardianship Assistance by State
  • More Tools & Resources
    • Related Organizations
    • Learning Center
    • Resources From the Children's Bureau
      • Children's Bureau Discretionary Grants
      • Children's Bureau Timeline
      • Children's Bureau Video Series
      • The Children's Bureau Legacy: Ensuring the Right to Childhood
      • The Story of the Children's Bureau
    • Child Welfare Information Gateway Podcast Series
    • Multimedia
      • Videos
      • Webinars
    • Family Engagement Inventory
  • News & Events
    • Adoption Triad
    • Free Subscriptions
    • Children's Bureau Express (CBX)
    • The Grantee Connection
    • New on Information Gateway
    • New From the Children's Bureau
    • Event Calendar
  • Home
  • Topics
  • Responding to Child Abuse & Neglect
  • Assessment in Child Protection
  • Recurrence of Child Abuse or Neglect

Recurrence of Child Abuse or Neglect

One of the primary purposes of child protective services interventions is to prevent future harm for children who have already experienced abuse or neglect. To realize a family’s full potential, the broader spectrum of trauma and challenges faced by both parents and children must be addressed. The two-generation approach works by targeting children and the adults in their lives together. Two-generation approaches build family well-being through engaging parents and children in policies and programs that support and strengthen them. This can be an effective tool in ending the cycle of child abuse and neglect. On this page, find resources to help understand when and why maltreatment reoccurs and help improve interventions. Resources include State and local examples.

Caregiver Physical Health and Child Maltreatment Reports and Rereports (PDF - 280 KB) 
Chiang, Jonson-Reid, & Drake (2020) 
Children and Youth Services Review, 108 
Examines caregiver health issues and maltreatment occurrence and recurrence. The study found that poor caregiver health was linked with increased risk of neglect, but for recurrence, it was only associated in cases where families did not receive services after the initial maltreatment report.  

Intergenerational Patterns of Child Maltreatment: What the Evidence Shows

Series Title
Issue Briefs
Author(s)
Child Welfare Information Gateway
Availability
View
Download (PDF - 722KB)
Order (Free)
Year Published
2016
Explores what is currently known about intergenerational patterns of maltreatment, the limits of our current knowledge, implications of what we know and what we do not know (including promising prevention strategies), and areas for further research. This issue brief also describes theories to explain intergenerational maltreatment (IGM) and practical implications to IGM.

Latent Class Analysis Risk Profiles: An Effective Method to Predict a First Re-Report of Maltreatment? (PDF - 457 KB)
Kim, Jonson-Reid, Kohl, Chiang, Drake, Brown, McBride, & Guo (2020)
Evaluation and Program Planning, 80
Presents the results of a study that uses a person-centered approach to identify families at low and high risk of recurrence of child maltreatment. Findings showed using a person-centered assessment may be helpful for child welfare agencies wanting to target resources to the highest need families and prevent maltreatment recurrence.

Parenting Programs for the Prevention of Child Physical Abuse Recurrence: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PDF - 672 KB)
Vlahovicova, Melendez-Torres, Leijten, Knerr, & Gardner (2017)
Offers evidence supporting parental behavioral programs based on social learning theory to reduce the recurrence of child physical abuse.

Repeat Reports Among Cases Reported for Child Neglect: A Scoping Review (PDF - 619 KB)
Jonson-Reid, Chiang, Kohl, Drake, Brown, Guo, Kim, & McBride (2019)
Child Abuse & Neglect, 92
Presents a review of studies of maltreatment recurrence focusing on child neglect. The review aims to guide future research, child welfare practice, and policymaking by summarizing findings about the recurrence of neglect.

Sibling Child Protective Services Involvement Following a Child Maltreatment Fatality (PDF - 208 KB)
Corlis, Damashek, Meister, Richardson, & Bonner (2020)
Child Maltreatment, 25(1)
Examines the child protective services involvement of children who have had a sibling die from child maltreatment. Findings showed that surviving siblings were likely to be reported to child protective services and 81 percent of the original victims had siblings with subsequent maltreatment reports.

(Back to Top)

State and local examples

Reducing Maltreatment Recurrence Through Home Visitation: A Promising Intervention for Child Welfare Involved Families
Lee, Kirkland, Miranda-Julian, & Greene (2018)
Child Abuse & Neglect, 86
Investigates the long-term outcomes from a home visiting program, Healthy Families New York, and examines the program’s impact on preventing child maltreatment recurrence.

(Back to Top)

Related Content

Identification of Neglect

Preventing the Recurrence of Abuse or Neglect

Family Treatment Courts for Families Affected by Substance Use Disorders in Child Welfare

Children’s Bureau

Child Welfare Information Gateway is a service of the

  • Children’s Bureau
  • Administration for Children and Families
  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
↑ Back to top
  • HOME
  • TOPICS
    • Family-Centered Practice
    • Child Abuse & Neglect
    • Preventing Child Abuse & Neglect
    • Responding to Child Abuse & Neglect
    • Supporting & Preserving Families
    • Out-of-Home Care
    • Achieving & Maintaining Permanency
    • Adoption
    • Management & Supervision
    • Systemwide
  • National Initiatives
    • National Adoption Month
    • National Child Abuse Prevention Month
    • National Foster Care Month
  • Publications
    • Publications Series
    • Browse by Title
    • Browse by Topic
    • Índice de Títulos en Español
  • Library
    • Search the Library
  • State Resources
    • State Statutes
    • National Foster Care & Adoption Directory
    • State Guides & Manuals
    • State Related Organizations Lists
    • Adoption Assistance by State
  • More Tools & Resources
    • Related Organizations
    • Learning Center
    • Children's Bureau Resources
    • Family Engagement Inventory
  • NEWS AND EVENTS
    • New on Information Gateway
    • New From the Children's Bureau
    • Free Subscriptions
    • Event Calendar
  • ABOUT US
    • How to Report Child Abuse or Neglect
    • Find Help With a Personal Situation
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Glossary
    • Search A to Z
  • Contact Us
    • 1-800-394-3366
    • info@childwelfare.gov
    • Subscribe to Free Updates
    • Chat With Us
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on YouTube
  • POLICIES & HELPFUL LINKS
    • Disclaimer and Policies
    • Privacy Policy
    • Accessibility
    • FOIA requests
    • No FEAR Act data
    • Office of the Inspector General
    • Performance reports
    • Vulnerability Disclosure Policy
    • USA.gov
    • Download Acrobat Reader
  • ↑ Back to top