Child protection involvement pathways, adversities, and children’s reading achievement trajectories: a population linked-data study

Child protection-involved children have adverse educational outcomes; however, research on their educational trajectories is limited, particularly in conjunction with pathways through the child protection system. Within a West Australian birth cohort (N = 177,582) who sat Year 3 reading tests, (MageT1 = 8.4, 51.3% male, 4% child protection contact by Year 3), all child protection groups had increased risk for low or declining achievement to Year 9. The lowest scores were among children with early unsubstantiated maltreatment and late out-of-home care. Child, family and neighborhood characteristics were associated with trajectories. Child protection involved children require educational support via early-years interventions and intervention for late-arising declines.