This cohort study will compare the life course of infants whose families are receiving comprehensive services after a report of child maltreatment to infants of similarly-reported families who have only received follow-up by the state welfare agency and to a control group up of matched infants. This cohort is drawn from among the most violent neighborhoods in Chicago. This study will be able to examine the differential impact of experiences of child abuse or neglect versus the experience of witnessing violence on a regular basis from the time of infancy. Videotaped studies of parent-infant interaction in the first years of life will also permit this study to examine the relationship between parent-child attachment and subsequent maltreating behaviors.

Howard Dubowitz, MD MS (Principal Investigator) is Professor of Pediatrics and Co-Director of the Center for Families at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.  Dr. Dubowitz is Chair of the Child Maltreatment Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Maryland Chapter and he is on the State Council of Child Abuse and Neglect.  He is a clinician, researcher, and educator and is active in the policy arena at the state and national levels, representing APSAC on the National Coalition on Child Abuse and Neglect.

Jonathan Kotch, MD, MPH (Principal Investigator) is a board certified specialist in both pediatrics and preventive medicine. Dr. Kotch is Professor and Interim Chair in the Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His specific areas of interest include child health services, child health policy, child abuse and neglect, injury prevention, and health and safety of children in out-of-home child care.

This is a cohort study, first funded by Maternal & Child Health, of infants identified in 1986-87 as "high risk" by the state public health department’s infant tracking program. These children constitute a birth cohort, recruited not for maltreatment history, but identified because of extreme poverty, young maternal age, single parenthood, and low birth weight. In 1991, children from this original cohort who had been reported for neglect or abuse were selected for study in LONGSCAN, along with a control group of unreported children matched for gender, race, social class, and family composition. Of special interest to the North Carolina study is the extent to which family stress and social support predict child maltreatment and subsequent child outcomes such as school failure, adolescent pregnancy, substance abuse, and criminal or violent behaviors.

Alan Litrownik, PhD (Principal Investigator) is Professor of Psychology at San Diego State University and a member of the faculty in the San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego, Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology.  His primary research interests focus on at-risk children and factors that determine adaptive and maladaptive outcomes. 

This is a cohort study of maltreated children who were placed in foster care in the first 18 months of life and followed until age 4 with an NIMH grant examining factors predicting family re-unification and child developmental outcomes. This sample was recruited into LONGSCAN at Age 4 to continue the study of kinship vs. non-family foster care, the consequences of re-unification, and the utilization and impact of health care and mental health services.

University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Diana English, PhD (Principal Investigator) is the Director of Research for the Child Welfare Research Group at the School of Social Work, University of Washington, and the Director of Research and Development for the Child Welfare League of America. She is a nationally recognized expert on child abuse/neglect, and child welfare services.

This is a cohort study of children (ages 1-4), consecutively classified as "moderate risk" by Child Protective Services offices in Seattle following a report for child maltreatment. The Seattle study will yield valuable data about the risk assessment process and allow an examination of the impact of social service and mental health interventions. It has particular relevance for welfare reform as we discover which child, family and community variables are most related to repeated reports to local welfare agencies and ultimately to child outcomes. Improving caseworkers’ accuracy in identifying the families most in need of intervention will allow for the most efficient targeting of service delivery.