Parental Criminal Justice Involvement and Children's Involvement With Child Protective Services: Do Adult Drug Treatment Courts Prevent Child Maltreatment?
Abstract
BACKGROUND: In light of evidence showing reduced criminal recidivism and cost savings,
adult drug treatment courts have grown in popularity. However, the potential spillover
benefits to family members are understudied. OBJECTIVES: To examine: (1) the overlap
between parents who were convicted of a substance-related offense and their children's
involvement with child protective services (CPS); and (2) whether parental participation
in an adult drug treatment court program reduces children's risk for CPS involvement.
METHODS: Administrative data from North Carolina courts, birth records, and social
services were linked at the child level. First, children of parents convicted of a
substance-related offense were matched to (a) children of parents convicted of a nonsubstance-related
offense and (b) those not convicted of any offense. Second, we compared children of
parents who completed a DTC program with children of parents who were referred but
did not enroll, who enrolled for <90 days but did not complete, and who enrolled for
90+ days but did not complete. Multivariate logistic regression was used to model
group differences in the odds of being reported to CPS in the 1 to 3 years following
parental criminal conviction or, alternatively, being referred to a DTC program. RESULTS:
Children of parents convicted of a substance-related offense were at greater risk
of CPS involvement than children whose parents were not convicted of any charge, but
DTC participation did not mitigate this risk. Conclusion/Importance: The role of specialty
courts as a strategy for reducing children's risk of maltreatment should be further
explored.
Type
Journal articleSubject
Drug treatment courtschild maltreatment
convictions
substance use
Adolescent
Child
Child Abuse
Child Protective Services
Child of Impaired Parents
Child, Preschool
Crime
Criminal Law
Female
Humans
Infant
Logistic Models
Male
Multivariate Analysis
Parents
Street Drugs
Substance-Related Disorders
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/12796Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.3109/10826084.2015.1089906Publication Info
Gifford, Elizabeth J; Eldred, Lindsey M; Sloan, Frank A; & Evans, Kelly E (2016). Parental Criminal Justice Involvement and Children's Involvement With Child Protective
Services: Do Adult Drug Treatment Courts Prevent Child Maltreatment?. Subst Use Misuse, 51(2). pp. 179-192. 10.3109/10826084.2015.1089906. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/12796.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Lindsey Eldred Kozecke
Staff
Lindsey Eldred Kozecke is a Research Scholar at Duke University. She first joined
Duke in 2005, shortly after earning her law degree from Benjamin Cardozo School of
Law. She began her research at Duke in the Center for Health Policy (now known as
the Global Health Institute), and joined the Department of Economics in 2009. Ms.
Eldred Kozecke focuses her research on the intersection of health and the law. Her
current research focuses on substance use and misuse, treatment courts, and legal
levers
Elizabeth Joanne Gifford
Associate Research Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy
Beth Gifford is an associate research professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy.
Gifford is leading the Social and Economic Component of the Children’s Health and
Discovery Institute housed within the Duke School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics.
She uses large administrative and population-level datasets to study individual
Frank A. Sloan
J. Alexander McMahon Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Health Policy and Management
Professor Sloan is interested in studying the subjects of health policy and the economics
of aging, hospitals, health, pharmaceuticals, and substance abuse. He has received
funding from numerous research grants that he earned for studies of which he was the
principal investigator. His most recent grants were awarded by the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation, the Center for Disease Control, the Pew Charitable Trust, and the National
Institute on Aging. Titles of his projects include, “Why Mature S
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