TYPES AND FREQUENCY OF CHILD MALTREATMENT BY FAMILY FOSTER-CARE PROVIDERS IN AN URBAN-POPULATION

Types and frequency of child abuse and neglect reports in family foste r care in Baltimore, Maryland as compared to reports among nonfoster f amilies are reported. Data on maltreatment incidents in foster homes w ere abstracted from Child Protective Services investigation records fo r the years 1984-1988. Comparisons were made to community reports. Res ults indicated that foster families had over a three-fold increased fr equency of maltreatment reports as compared to nonfoster families. Rep ort frequency was highest for physical abuse with a seven-fold risk of report as compared to nonfoster families. Overall, 20% of foster care reports were substantiated as compared to 35% of nonfoster reports, a lthough the risk of having a substantiated report was significantly hi gher in foster care. The distribution of report types in foster care d iffered from those in the community with physical abuse the most frequ ent allegation in foster care, as compared to neglect as the most freq uent allegation in the community. Explanations for these findings incl uding differences in criteria for report and substantiation are advanc ed.