Synapse
⌘+K
Synapse
PulseExploreClubsResearchersJournals
Instagram
HomeClubsExplore
July 10, 2026PEDIATRICS

Child Welfare System Involvement in the United States: 2016–2023

View Full Paper
Ask AI
Bookmark
Share

Authors

YYYoungmin YiFEFara EdwardsSWSara Wakefield

Discussion

Loading...

Member takes

Overview

This analysis estimates child welfare involvement trends in children across racial and ethnic groups, indicating variations before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Key Points

  • The aim is to understand trends in child welfare system involvement and risks of maltreatment in children during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Constructed a synthetic cohort life table of age-specific and cumulative risks of child welfare contact.
  • Utilized population data on child welfare events from various national databases, including the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System.
  • Analyzed data across different racial and ethnic groups from 2016 to 2023.
  • Cumulative prevalence of investigation was 32.2%, confirmed maltreatment 9.0%, foster care placement 3.6%, and parental rights termination 0.9% as of 2023.
  • There were declines in cumulative risks of child welfare system contact between 2016 and 2023, with the largest decrease between 2019 and 2020.
  • As of 2023, the highest risks were noted among American Indian/Alaska Native and Black children, while Asian children showed the lowest risks.

Cite This Study

Yi et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a508ea56eeac72a437a15b4https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2025-074635
View Full Paper
Ask AI
Bookmark
Share

Also Consider

Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context:

  1. 1The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Child Protection Systems through the Lens of Administrative Data: A Systematic Review2026
  2. 2A Whole-Population Study of National Trends in Child Abuse and Neglect by Sex, Race, and Ethnicity in the US2025
  3. 3Child Maltreatment During COVID-19: Triangulating Data Across Reporting Sources2025
  4. 4The scale and timing of child protection system contacts from 0-18 years: a study of 1.9 million Australian children2024 · 1 citations
  5. 5Child safety reporting, services, and child welfare interventions with newcomer families during the COVID-19 pandemic: A survey of ontario child welfare workers.2024 · 1 citations