An examination of delinquency in a national Canadian sample of child maltreatment-related investigations

Objectives: To examine factors associated with delinquency/youth justice system involvement in a national sample of child welfare investigations and explore whether delinquency/justice system involvement predict child welfare service provision. Methods: Secondary analysis was conducted using data from the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect, 2008 (CIS-2008), specifically examining a weighted sample of 57,601 pre-adolescents (age 8-11), and 58,641 adolescents (age 12-15). Delinquency was examined in pre-adolescents and youth justice system involvement was examined in adolescents. Descriptive analysis was conducted and is reported as frequencies. After identifying significant bivariate relationships between delinquency/justice system involvement and youth, household, case, and service characteristics, logistic regressions were used to determine whether the presence of delinquency/justice system involvement predicted the investigation being transferred to ongoing child welfare services. Results: For pre-adolescents, delinquency increased the likelihood that a case would be transferred to ongoing child welfare services. For adolescents, youth justice system involvement did not increase the likelihood of case transfer. Conclusions and Implications: The results provide important information about delinquency/youth justice system involvement in a national sample of Canadian child welfare investigations. Implications: Future research should continue to explore this area to determine how to best meet the needs of vulnerable young people with both delinquency/justice system involvement and involvement in the child welfare system.