Although the association between youth victimization and risky sexual behaviors (RSB) is well established, the developmental timing and pathways through which polyvictimization contributes to young adult RSB are unclear. This study prospectively examined the respective impacts of childhood and adolescent polyvictimization (i.e., physical abuse, sexual abuse, and witnessed family and community violence) on young adult RSB (i.e., sex under the influence and past-year number of sexual partners; MAge = 23.78), and whether internalizing/externalizing problems at age 18 mediate these associations. Structural Equation Modeling revealed no direct effects of polyvictimization on adult RSB. Externalizing behaviors at age 18 mediated the relationship between both childhood and adolescent polyvictimization and sex under the influence. Delinquency specifically mediated the link between adolescent, but not childhood, polyvictimization and number of sexual partners. Internalizing behaviors and chronic polyvictimization were unrelated to RSB. Externalizing problems are an important pathway through which both childhood and adolescent victimization experiences are linked to sexual risk-taking into young adulthood.

This study examined racial and ethnic disparities in child maltreatment reporting, Child Protective Services (CPS) decision-making, re-involvement, and foster care experiences in Illinois. Using tract-level regressions for all 2021 census tracts and individual-level logistic regressions for 153,850 reported children and 6,736 foster care entrants, we assessed key decision points. The Black-White disparity in report rates-nearly twofold unadjusted-was fully explained by neighborhood poverty and single-parent family rates, providing no empirical support for racially biased reporting. Latino children had consistently lower report rates than White children despite higher socioeconomic disadvantage, replicating the "Latino paradox." Among reported children, Black and other-race children generally had equal or lower odds than White children of substantiation, Intact Family Services (IFS), foster care placement, or re-involvement; Latino children showed slightly higher odds for substantiation and IFS. In foster care, non-White children were more likely to experience frequent placement disruptions and, for Black children, non-kin placements, but had no worse outcomes for distant placement, termination of parental rights, or permanency. Findings indicate disparities are front-loaded at the reporting stage, largely reflecting structural socioeconomic inequities rather than differential CPS treatment, underscoring the need for upstream poverty reduction and family support to advance child welfare equity.

In 2016, we summarized the state of trauma-informed care (TIC) in a special issue of Child Maltreatment by concluding that the practice and implementation of TIC had outpaced the conceptualization of and evidence for TIC. In the decade since, interest in TIC has continued to grow in systems, settings, and organizations that serve children and youth. This 10-year update and new special section was intended to identify promising new TIC research and to describe the current state of TIC. The four papers included in this special section were selected based on their clear definitions of TIC, rigorous evaluation, large-scale implementation of TIC, inclusion of youth/family outcomes, and/or their ability to advance the field of TIC research. These papers add to the slowly growing evidence-base for TIC across a range of child-serving settings. However, growth in TIC practice continues to outpace TIC research. Significant questions remain about the benefits of TIC on youth and families, including how to most effectively and efficently conceptualize and operationalize TIC broadly and in specific settings or for specific populations.

Children under age three represent a disproportionate share of foster care entries, yet evidence-based interventions for this population remain limited. This study examined the impact of an infant-toddler court program in Wayne County, Michigan comparing outcomes for 60 cases assigned to the specialized docket with 240 matched controls receiving services as usual. Using propensity score matching and Fine-Gray competing risks regression, we found that infant-toddler court cases had double the likelihood of achieving reunification compared to matched controls (subdistribution hazard ratio = 2.04, 95% CI: 1.45-2.88). No significant differences were detected in time to permanency or placement stability. Results were observed in a jurisdiction predominantly serving Black families, with high rates of kinship placement, demonstrating the effectiveness of specialized courts in supporting family preservation in similar settings. Findings suggest that broader implementation of infant-toddler courts could substantially improve reunification outcomes for young children in the child welfare system.

Jones et al. (2020) showed that compared to non-abused others, sexually abused jurors are more likely to empathize with child sexual abuse (CSA) victims, perceive victims as credible, and convict defendants in CSA mock trials. We extend these findings by investigating effects of sexually abused mock jurors' abuse severity on CSA victim empathy and trial judgments. Data were derived from all known mock trial studies measuring mock juror abuse history (N = 7), including 361 undergraduate jurors. Meta-analyses examined effects of four separate abuse-severity indices: (a) emotional scarring from sexual abuse, (b) abuse frequency, (c) perpetrator relationship, and (d) age abuse began. Twenty separate meta-analyses revealed that the more severe mock jurors' victimization was, the more empathy they had for child victims of sexual abuse generally. Although Jones et al. (2020) showed that victims are more likely than non-victims to vote guilty in CSA cases, we found that, among victims, abuse severity has no additional effect on guilt. Thus, attorneys will not achieve a legitimate legal goal by questioning victims about intimate details of their abuse during jury selection. Moreover, because victimization is one of many unique experiences from which jurors can draw during deliberation, it is important not to disproportionately exclude these individuals as jurors.

The present study examined profiles of service needs among caregivers with child welfare involvement. Participants were 589 caregivers of children 12-36 months old at baseline from the second National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being. Latent class analysis was used to profile unique characteristics of and changes in caregivers' needs across an 18-month period. Four classes of caregiver needs were identified with differential risks for maltreatment. Compared to caregivers with "No Needs" (25%), caregivers with "Chronic Multi-Type" needs (25%) and "Parenting Only" needs (26%) were both significantly more likely to engage in psychological aggression, physical abuse, and neglect. Caregivers with "Changing Needs" (24%) were significantly more likely to engage in psychological aggression and neglect. Involvement with child welfare services represents a critical opportunity to offer support to families, especially among those with multiple chronic needs, needing parenting skills, and those with needs that are unstable over time.

Child welfare caseworkers typically have high turnover rates, and little is known about how to increase their job satisfaction. Utilizing structural equation modeling, this study investigates the connections between empowerment, leadership, learning culture, physical environment, and job satisfaction among social workers in child welfare organizations. We employ a dataset from a comprehensive organizational health assessment survey of 2801 individuals to analyze the direct and indirect effects of empowerment variables on job satisfaction, as well as the influence of leadership, learning culture, and the caseworkers' physical environment. The findings highlight the potential for empowerment as a tool for strengthening culture and increasing job satisfaction. Specifically, trust and self-determination had the strongest relationship with the empowerment construct in this study.

One overlooked result in a 1989 Science paper on the "cycle of violence" was a race-specific increase in risk for arrest for violence among Black maltreated children, but not White maltreated children. We examine whether race differences in the cycle of violence are explained by risk factors traditionally associated with violence. Using a prospective design, maltreated and non-maltreated children were matched on age, sex, race, and approximate family social class and interviewed at mean age 28.7years (N = 1196). Arrest histories were obtained through age 50.5. Regression analyses included maltreatment, race, self-reported violent behavior, and risk factors (e.g., family, school, neighborhood variables). For arrests for violent crime, race was a significant predictor, whereas childhood maltreatment was not significant. For violent arrests, there was a significant race × maltreatment interaction when the total number of risk factors were included controlling for self-reported violent behaviors. For self-reported violent behaviors, childhood maltreatment remained significant for some risk factors. However, race did not predict self-reported violent behaviors. Offending behavior and traditional risk factors did not explain the disproportionate arrests among Black maltreated children. This disparity in the cycle of violence may reflect complex processes influenced by racial bias or structural racism.

This paper describes incident characteristics and dynamics associated with six specific forms of image-based sexual exploitation and abuse of children (IBSEAC). Data were collected on a national sample of 2639 individuals aged 18-to-28 from a probability-based online panel. Respondents completed a self-administered survey questionnaire, providing detailed follow-up information on their experiences of image-based sexual victimization before the age of 18. A total of 607 incidents of IBSEAC were included in the analyses. Findings show substantial diversity in incident characteristics within and across the six forms of IBSEAC (nonconsensual sharing of sexual images, nonconsensual taking or making of images, forced image recruitment, threatened sharing, voluntary image sharing with an older adult, and commercial sexual exploitation involving images). Some notable patterns include frequent involvement of perpetrators who are other youth or young adults, who are known in-person to the victim, and who are intimate partners. The diversity and complexity of dynamics revealed in this study underscores the need for careful design and evaluation of prevention programs and the core messages directed at youth.