Social Work Commons^™

Differential Response And Agency Decision Making: A National Study Of Child Neglect Cases, Colleen Emily Janczewski

Theses and Dissertations

A growing number of child protective service (CPS) agencies have adopted differential response (DR), which allows for the provision of case management and support to moderate-risk CPS cases without launching a formal investigation. Previous research has established that DR does not compromise child safety, and that it promotes family engagement. Yet DR's broader impact on CPS agencies remains largely unknown. Given that DR diverts some cases from traditional investigations, this dissertation explored DR's impact on child neglect cases that do not get diverted. Specifically, the study examined how DR changes the proportion and characteristics of the population of children experiencing …