Using Child Protective Services Case Record Data to Quantify Family-Level Severity of Adversity Types, Poly-victimization, and Poly-deprivation.

Abstract Background Child protective services (CPS) case records contain a vast amount of narrative information that is underutilized for estimating risk, conceptualizing family needs, and planning for services. Objective The current study applied a novel method for quantifying family-level severity of maltreatment and non-maltreatment-related adversity types to narrative information reflecting a family’s full CPS history. Participants and setting Cases were randomly sampled (N = 100) from two regions of Connecticut that were referred over a specified 6-month period. Methods De-identified data were extracted through comprehensive chart review of electronic and paper case records. The Yale-Vermont Adversity in Childhood Scale (Y-VACS; Holbrook et al., 2015) was used to quantify adversity severity across a range of intrafamilial and extrafamilial experiences. Results Several family-level adversity severity ratings were associated with administrative data on allegations and investigative outcomes. Poly-victimization (β = .47, p Conclusions Findings support the feasibility of a novel method that uses narrative case record information to quantify severity of maltreatment and non-maltreatment-related adversity types, as well as cumulative measures of threat- and deprivation-based adversities at the family level. Implications for utilizing case record data to inform CPS intervention are discussed.