Purpose: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, funds a large-scale (17 site) randomized controlled trial of Early Head Start. Children and families have been tracked through the fifth grade, and results have shown positive parenting and mental and language development outcomes. To-date, however, there had not been an investigation of actual child maltreatment reports. This study gathered child maltreatment data on the Early Head Start and control samples at five sites.
Project Design: NPC Research, along with its subcontractor Brazelton Touchpoints Center, collected and analyzed data on child maltreatment at five study sites in order to answer the following questions:
- How many parents in the sample have been involved in the child welfare system (report, substantiated report, out-of-home placement)?
- Does the percentage of parents involved in the child welfare system significantly differ between EHS participants and the control sample?
- Was EHS involved in the reporting (potential surveillance bias)?
- How does this link with other risk data? (i.e., family demographic risks, family conflict, discipline, social networks, observed parenting behaviors)?
- What are the factors that increase or decrease these children’s risk of maltreatment, and to what extent does EHS play a role in buffering these risks?
Funding Source: United States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Start Date: August 2010
NPC Project Team
Principal Investigator
Project Director