Cumulative incidence of child protection system contacts among a cohort of Western Australian Aboriginal children born 2000 to 2013
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(Published version)
Date
2023
Authors
Harrap, B.
Gibberd, A.
O'Donnell, M.
Simons, K.
Jones, J.
Lima, F.
McAullay, D.
Falster, K.
Banks, E.
Eades, S.
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Journal article
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Child Abuse and Neglect, 2023; 143(106297):1-11
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Abstract
Background: Reducing the over-representation of Aboriginal children in the child protection system is a key target for the Australian government.
Objective: We aimed to provide more recent evidence on the population-level cumulative incidence of contacts for Aboriginal children with child protective services (CPS) in Western Australia (WA).
Participants and Setting: Linked administrative data was provided for WA CPS between 2000 and 2015 for 33,709 Aboriginal children born in WA between 2000 and 2013.
Methods: Descriptive summaries and cumulative incidence estimates were used to examine changes in CPS contact trends over time and within sibling groups.
Results: There was an increase in early-childhood contacts for children born more recently, with 7.6 % and 2.3 % of children born in 2000–2001 having a notification and placement in out-of-home care by age one, respectively, compared to 15.1 % and 4.3 % of children born in 2012–2013. Among sibling groups where at least one sibling had a CPS contact, approximately half of children had their first contacts on the same date as another sibling. For children born after one of their siblings had been placed in out-of-home care, 31.9 % had themselves been placed in out-of-home care by age one.
Conclusions: Multiple children tend to be placed into out-of-home care when at least one sibling is, which is likely to have a significant impact on families affected. The additional risk of placement also carries over to children born after the first removal in a sibling group, highlighting the need for further support to prevent future removals.
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Copyright 2023 The Authors. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Access Condition Notes: This is an open access article under the CCBY-NC-ND license.