CASCW’s new Minn-LInK brief, Child Protection and the Achievement Gap, details a recent study whose purpose was

to evaluate the educational outcomes of youth involved in Child Protective Services (CPS) at varying levels, including involvement in an accepted case of child protection (CP) and involvement in out-of-home placement (OHP).

Specifically, the study analyzed the achievement gap associated with CPS involvement to determine whether more extensive involvement in CPS yielded increasingly negative academic outcomes.

The achievement gap is generally thought of in terms of socioeconomic status and race; more recently, researchers have begun finding associations between child maltreatment and poor educational outcomes among children and youth involved in child protection.

This study sought to answer the following two questions:

  1. Is there evidence of a CPS achievement gap after controlling for differences in
    socioeconomic status and race?
  2. If so, is more extensive involvement in CPS associated with increasingly poor academic outcomes?

After controlling for socioeconomic status and race, our researchers found that youth involved in CPS had poorer academic proficiency, regardless of whether they had an out-of-home placement. These findings show that the achievement gap is present by the time youth are involved in CPS; thus, while CPS is not the cause of the achievement gap, CPS can be used as a potential collaborative intervention point for ameliorating the achievement gap for these youth. Waiting for a youth to be placed in out-of-home care may be too late.

For more detailed study information and findings, including limitations of the study, download the 4-page Minn-LInK brief here.