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

Incorporating the TAG input, DHHS directed that subsequent planningproject activities conduct in-depth work on six proposed enhancements—two pertainingto the sample design, one examining and refining the NIS definitions, and threedeveloping methodologies and materials for supplementary studies to help inunderstanding the main NIS findings:• Sample design enhancements. Statisticians explored the properties ofthe NIS–3 sample and estimates and identified strategies for improvingthe efficiency of the sample and precision of estimates in the NIS–4. 1• Definitions review and refinement. This effort began withcomprehensive review of all states’ statutes on mandated reporting ofchild abuse and neglect and of maltreatment classifications in the recentresearch literature. It compared the maltreatment events and categorydistinctions in these classifications against those in the NIS definitionsand recommended ways to differentiate and clarify the typology for theNIS–4. These modifications did not change NIS criteria for countingchildren as abused or neglected. Rather, they clarified the meaning ofthe NIS classification codes in order to improve their reliability andthey identified the correspondence between NIS codes and themaltreatment situations listed in states’ reporting statutes (Sedlak,Mettenburg, Schultz, & Cook, 2003).• Supplementary studies. The NIS–4 planning effort establishedmethodologies for three studies to improve the interpretability andclarify the policy implications of the main NIS findings.♦The CPS Structure and Practices Mail Survey (SPM) was modeledafter the Local Agency Survey (LAS) in the National Study ofChild Protective Service and Reform Efforts, which was conductedin 2002 with CPS agencies in 375 counties in the United States(U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administrationfor Children and Families/Children's Bureau and Office of theAssistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, 2003). CPSagencies that participate in the NIS complete this mailquestionnaire about their structure, responsibilities, workarrangements, and specific practices. In relation to the main NIS–41 Statisticians assessed the NIS design effect and the power needed to compare specific subgroups; theyrecommended strategies for reducing the design effect and improving the precision of estimates (Park,Winglee, Clark, Sedlak, Morganstein, & Rust, 2003). A separate effort examined the NIS PSU selection,explored the statistical efficiency of alternative size measures and stratification, and recommendedmodifications for PSU selection in the NIS–4 (Park, Winglee, Clark, & Sedlak, 2003).1–3