Effects of the Child Protection System on Parents

Marie-Pascale Grimon ()
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Marie-Pascale Grimon: Swedish Institute for Social Research, Stockholm University, Postal: SOFI, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden, http://sofi.su.se

No 2/2023, Working Paper Series from Stockholm University, Swedish Institute for Social Research

Abstract: Child protective services investigate a third of child-homes for maltreatment, yet repercussions for parents remain unclear. I show that parents face considerable adversity when referred for alleged child maltreatment. Using a novel strategy that combines event studies with variation in intervention tendencies across investigators, I find that child protective services interventions mostly affect mothers. Mothers increase enrollment in mental health and substance abuse treatment services for a year, even when not mandated to do so. Earnings and employment are unaffected, but social services support decrease. Long-run effects differ by whether the intervention involves a child removal. Removals increase repeat child welfare involvement and short-run incarceration for parents.

Keywords: child welfare; parents; substance abuse (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H53 H75 I12 I38 J01 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 69 pages
Date: 2023-03-16, Revised 2024-04-16
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hhs:sofiwp:2023_002

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