Evaluating a Community Response Program for High-Risk Families Diverted From CPS After a Child Abuse Investigation: A Propensity Score Analysis of Re-Reports and Substantiations

Abstract

Each year, child protective services (CPS) agencies in the U.S. investigate millions of maltreatment allegations, and roughly 80% are diverted from CPS—either screened out after an initial call or closed following an investigation. Some diverted families closed at investigation are referred to Community Response Programs (CRPs) to prevent future maltreatment, but such referrals are rarely tracked, and prior evaluations mix CRP definitions, populations, and follow-up times yielding inconsistent findings. This study addresses this gap by comparing high-risk families diverted from CPS that participated in a CRP between 2013 and 2018 to a randomly selected comparison group that was closed at investigation but did not receive the CRP. Propensity score analyses produced a matched sample of 473 CRP participants and a matched comparison group of 473 children, and logistic regression models estimated CRP’s effect on re-reports and substantiations at one year and overall after service completion. Families who received CRP had lower re-report and substantiation rates than comparison families overall (though the re-report rate at 1 year was only marginally significant). Findings suggest CRPs are a promising component of the post-investigation services continuum for high-risk families diverted from CPS and underscore the value of rigorous evaluation methods in advancing child welfare practice.