Child maltreatment re-notifications in Germany: Analysis of local case files

Studies on child maltreatment rereferral are rare outside the US and virtually absent in Germany. The present study replicates American studies, and investigates rates and risk factors of re-notifications using case files from the local child protection system in two German cities. The data included 397 notifications and re-notifications, and initial notifications were followed up to be matched with re-notifications, for up to 22 months. Statistical analyses used Chi-square tests of group independence and logistic regression analyses. During the 22 months, 10.3% of the total cases were re-notifications. Six factors were significantly associated with re-notifications at the bivariate level: age of the youngest child, mental health problems of caretakers, response time, case judgment of acute danger, placement, and in-home service provision. Three factors significantly predicted the odds of re-notification at the multivariate level: response time, case judgment of acute danger, and in-home service provision. It was concluded that the German child protection system responds differently to re-notifications compared to initial notifications, as hypothesized. Interpretations and implications for practice were discussed.