Child, parent, and family predictors of child welfare services involvement among TANF applicant families

Data from the Milwaukee TANF Applicant Study were used to identify parent, family, and child-specific predictors of child welfare services involvement among 1075 families that applied for TANF assistance in 1999. Child-specific measures related to a randomly selected focal child from each applicant family were collected. Thirty-eight percent of the families were investigated for child maltreatment and 11% of the focal children were placed in out-of-home care between the 1999 TANF applications and the end of 2005. Prior child welfare services involvement and economic hardships were significant predictors of both child maltreatment investigations and out-of-home care placements. However, neither outcome was related to child-specific attributes nor behaviors once parent and family characteristics were taken into account. These findings suggest that TANF agencies are serving a population that needs help balancing family and work responsibilities.