PATERNITY ESTABLISHMENT
AMONG CHILDREN REPORTED TO CHILD
PROTECTIVE SERVICESJoseph Magruder, PhD
Emily Putnam-Hornstein, PhD
Wendy Wiegmann, MSWBarbara Needell, PhD
January 13, 2012
Society for Social Work Research
Washington, DC
Thank you to our colleagues at the Center for Social Services Research and the California Department of Social Services
Funding for this and other research arising from the California Performance Indicators Project generously provided by the California Department of Social Services, the Stuart Foundation, & Casey Family Programs
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Possible automated case management system indicators of paternal involvement:
Paternal identity
Contacts
Known address
Case plan participation
INDICATORS OF PATERNAL INVOLVEMENT
Vital Statistics: Birth Records for 4,317,321 children born in California
between 1999 and 2006
Child Welfare Services Case Management System: Child Welfare Services records for 237,211 California
infants born between 1999 and 2006 and referred to child welfare as infants
Child Welfare Services records for 126,981 children born between 2007 and 2010 and referred to child welfare as infants (364,192 Child Welfare referrals in all)
Match Birth certificate match for 211,665 (89%) of the 237,211
Child Welfare Services children born between 1999 and 2006
DATA SOURCES
The Child Welfare Data for this presentation are based on extracts from California’s Child Welfare Services/Case Management System (CWS/CMS)
Extracts are confi gured into a longitudinal database as part of a collaboration between the California Department of Social Services and the Center for Social Services Research (CSSR) at UC Berkeley
DATA SOURCES
INDICATOR: PATERNAL IDENTITY– BIRTH CERTIFICATE
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
Unknown FathersInfants born 1999 to 2006
Birth Certificate
Most Intensive Child Welfare Service LevelPerc
en
t w
ith
Un
kn
ow
n F
ath
ers
INDICATOR: PATERNAL IDENTITY - CWS RECORD
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
Unknown FathersInfants born 1999 to 2006
Birth CertificateCWS Record
Most Intensive Child Welfare Service LevelPerc
en
t w
ith
Un
kn
ow
n F
ath
ers
INDICATOR: PARENTAL CONTACTS
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 20100.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
90.0%
100.0%
Reported Percent of Parents ContactedWithin 2 Months of Referral - Removals Only
MothersFathers
Birth Year
Perc
en
t of
Infa
nts
wit
h R
ep
ort
ed
P
are
nt
Con
tact
INDICATOR: PATERNAL VS. MATERNAL CONTACTS
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 20100.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
Reported Ratio of Children with Paternal Agency Contact to Children with Maternal Agency Contact
All RemovalsAll Referrals
Birth Year
Rati
o o
f C
hil
dre
n w
ith
Pate
rnal
Co
nta
ct
to C
hil
dre
n w
ith
Mate
rnal
Co
nta
ct
Reported knowledge of parental addresses was constant for the 1999 to 2010 cohorts.
As the child moves into the system, the proportion of children whose parents’ addresses are known increases as does the ratio of known fathers’ addresses to known mothers’ addresses.
The exception is adoption.
INDICATOR: KNOWN ADDRESS
MothersFather
s Ratio
% %
Referral Only 91.7 43.2 0.47
Substantiated Referral, no case or removal 97.0 51.2 0.53
Case Opened, no Removal 98.5 52.7 0.54
Removal, no Adoption 99.0 57.0 0.58
Adoption 95.9 50.1 0.52
All Referrals 94.8 48.4 0.51
The involvement of the father in the case planning process is a potential indicator, but case plan functionality is a recent addition to CWS/CMS.
For cohorts between 2005 and 2010 for children with an open case: 33% of mothers had some reported case plan involvement 19% of fathers had some reported case plan involvement Ratio of paternal to maternal involvement was .58, with
no trend over time
The low rates even for mothers suggest that the system’s case planning functionality is not yet being fully utilized.
INDICATOR: CASE PLAN PARTICIPATION
Paternal identity: Caseworkers, and mothers, are identifying fathers, especially when stakes are high – especially when compared with birth records
Contacts: Increased success contacting fathers and/or in documenting those contacts
Known address: Locating fathers continues to be elusive
Case plan participation: Engaging fathers continues to be diff icult
CONCLUSIONS
INDICATOR: FATHER KNOWN - CWS RECORD
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
Unknown FathersInfants born 1999 to 2006
Birth CertificateCWS Record
Most Intensive Child Welfare Service LevelPerc
en
t w
ith
Un
kn
ow
n F
ath
ers
[email protected]@berkeley.edu