Fourth National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS–4)

Sentinels in only three non-investigatory agency categories had CPSinvestigate the majority of the children they recognized as maltreated: social services,public housing, and mental health agencies. Children recognized at social servicesagencies had the highest rate of CPS investigation (94%). Children recognized at publichousing authorities (a new sentinel category in the NIS–4) ranked second with 67%receiving CPS investigation. Here again, as was the case for the Harm Standard findings,this source contributed very few countable children to the NIS, so the bar representingthese children is almost indiscernible in the figure. Among children recognized bymental health sentinels, 53% received investigative attention from CPS.Hospitals ranked fourth among the non-investigatory agencies in theinvestigation of children they recognized as maltreated, with only one-quarter of thechildren they recognized receiving CPS investigation (25%).Only one-fifth (20%) of the children with Endangerment Standardmaltreatment recognized at schools received CPS investigation. In view of the sheermagnitude of their contribution to the NIS estimates of recognized maltreated children,this low investigation rate contributes disproportionately to the investigated versus notinvestigated subgroups. School sentinels rank third as a source of investigatedEndangerment Standard children (i.e., the size of their contribution to the investigatedpopulation, on the left side of the figure). They contribute 17% of the total investigatedEndangerment Standard children. In contrast, the contribution of school sentinels to theright-hand side of the figure, which represents the Endangerment Standard children whoare not investigated, far outweighs the contribution of all the other groups. Schoolsentinels contribute 52% of all the children represented on the right-hand side of thefigure: the Endangerment Standard children who are not investigated.Children recognized by professional staff in shelters, another new sentinelsource in the NIS–4, and those recognized by day care center personnel were unlikely toreceive CPS investigation of their maltreatment (only 19% and 12%, respectively).As noted above in connection with Figure 8–6, children recognized by “CPSonlySources” can only enter the NIS through a CPS investigation. These children, bydefinition, universally receive CPS investigation. Including these children in the CPSinvestigation rates gives an overestimate of the extent of CPS investigation of countable8–21