Age at entry into the Dutch child protection system of children of parents with intellectual disability: A case-control study

Background: It is well established that children of parents with intellectual disability (ID) are disproportionately involved in child protection. It is important to identify the characteristics of their child protection trajectories. Objective: Children of parents with and without ID were compared...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lianne Bakkum, Carlo Schuengel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-07-01
Series:Child Protection and Practice
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S295019382500049X
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Summary:Background: It is well established that children of parents with intellectual disability (ID) are disproportionately involved in child protection. It is important to identify the characteristics of their child protection trajectories. Objective: Children of parents with and without ID were compared on the following characteristics of care: age at entry (weeks), duration of the first intervention (weeks), and the likelihood of having a sibling involved in child protection. Participants and setting: Dutch population-level administrative data were used. Children of parents with ID (cases) were 1:1 matched with controls. The following samples were used: N = 4526 cases in child protection; N = 3200 cases in youth services with child protection; N = 318 cases in youth services without child protection. Methods: Linear and logistic regression models were used. Findings: Children of parents with ID were younger at entry into child protection (B = −176.76, [-187.68; −165.83]), youth services with child protection (B = −152.73, [-165.97; −139.48]), and youth services without child protection (B = −143.10, [-188.72; −97.47]), and they had longer initial child protection interventions (B = 34.68, [25.94; 43.42]). Further, these children were more likely to have a sibling in child protection (OR 1.28, [1.18; 1.40]), youth services with child protection (OR 1.14, [1.02; 1.27]), and youth services without child protection (OR 69.23, [30.84; 198.00]). Conclusion: Children of parents with ID enter child protection and youth services at younger ages and for longer periods, more often accompanied by a sibling. This study highlights the need to investigate contextual factors contributing to this differential treatment.
ISSN:2950-1938