Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Limited access to economic resources is highly correlated with child maltreatment and child protective services (CPS) involvement. However, evidence of causal relationships in these areas is almost nonexistent. Randomized controlled trials of either income-reducing or income-enhancing interventions have rarely involved child maltreatment or CPS outcomes, and few studies have been conducted that apply rigorous techniques for isolating income’s exogenous impact on child maltreatment.

This study presents preliminary results from Project GAIN (Getting Access to Income Now), a randomized evaluation of an income support intervention intended to prevent child maltreatment and CPS involvement. The intervention is designed to prevent child abuse and neglect by assisting families at risk for child maltreatment in accessing economic resources, reducing financial stressors, and increasing stability for the children and adults in the home. The target population is families who have been reported to and investigated by child protective services (CPS) in Milwaukee, WI, but for whom no ongoing services are provided (i.e., cases closed following an initial assessment). Rates of re-report among families deflected from CPS are quite high and many of these families will have CPS cases eventually opened. Key features of GAIN include (1) a comprehensive eligibility assessment for an array of public and private economic supports and assistance accessing these resources, (2) collaborative work with a GAIN financial support specialist to identify financial goals and steps to achieve them, and improve financial decision-making, and (3) in some cases, access to one-time emergency cash supplements to alleviate immediate financial stressors. The combination of these three “pillars” of the model are predicted to increase family financial stability and income level, which in turn are predicted to improve family functioning overall (e.g., reduced parenting stress and mental health problems, improved parenting skills and self-efficacy).

Approximately 2,200 families per year are being randomly assigned to either GAIN or status quo CPS case closure procedures. The intervention is provided by a community economic support agency that is not affiliated with CPS. Families were randomized between September 2012 and December 2013 and followed through the end of 2014. All families are followed using an extensive array of administrative data on CPS involvement, earnings, and participation in a wide array of public benefit programs (SNAP, TANF, UI, child support, child care, etc.). We will present both intent-to-treat and treatment-on-the-treated (using and instrumental variables strategy in which randomization status is used to instrument program take-up) estimates for program effects on in economic resources (and sources thereof) and CPS involvement over the 12-month period following randomization.

 Despite the wealth of evidence that family income and poverty status are correlated with child maltreatment, it is unknown whether economic factors play a causal role in this association. This study asks: “How much maltreatment prevention can be achieved by intervening with at-risk families around economic stressors?” If we knew whether and the extent to which economic support interventions reduce child maltreatment, and for whom such interventions are most effective, this would bring enormous value in the development of a comprehensive prevention infrastructure.