Child abuse disposition: Concurrences and differences between a hospital team, child protection agency and the court

Ninety-six children admitted to a pediatric ward for maltreatment are described statistically using variables characterizing the child, the family and the type of abuse. Recommendations of the hospital's child protection team in 81 cases are compared to those of the county childrens services Board and the court. Multiple regression analysis is used to identify which variables influenced the decisions of these three agencies.