This study examines the incidence of substantiated maltreatment among children with cognitive, physical, emotional or learning disabilities, with specific attention given to the relationship between maltreatment and disabilities. It also investigates the incidence of child abuse and neglect among children in substance abusing families, and the relationship between child abuse and familial substance abuse. The data were collected from a nationally representative group of 35 Child Protective Services (CPS) agencies, which were asked to provide information on all cases of substantiated maltreatment over a four to six week period in early 1991. The Archive distributes 5 data files for this study which provide information on a total of 1,249 substantiated maltreatment incidents. A case-level data file includes demographic information on the children and adults involved in each case, information on the timing, type, and reporting of maltreatment, data on the relationships between the individuals involved in each case, and case status. A second file contains caseworker assessments of children with suspected or known disabilities, as well as information on the sources and reliability of those assessments. An estimated 14.1 percent of the children in the study were identified by caseworkers as having one or more disabilities, using the definition found in the Americans with Disabilities Act (P.L. 101-336). A third data file contains substance abuse information for each adult in the study suspected of substance abuse. In addition to the three files mentioned above there are two files the which the Archive distributes which are restructured versions of the case-level file, in which the unit of analysis has been changed to represent an individual involved in a case.

Investigators: Ratnofsky, A., & Crosse, S.