Economic Issues in the Community Response to Child Maltreatment

Abstract

Child maltreatment is a large and complex problem for all societies. Determining how best to respond is critically important. Child maltreatment imposes high costs on children, families and society, and the task of the child protection system is to ensure children are safe. This chapter takes an economic perspective in thinking about the performance of the child protection system and the role of government in it. It looks at how to critique the child protection system – the reporting and response system. The need for a correct causal model is also highlighted. If the causes of child maltreatment are not understood, the child protection system is unlikely to provide the best response to vulnerable families and disrupt the intergenerational pattern of child abuse and neglect. If we are not successful in this, we face an ongoing future of profound disadvantage for many children and families with an associated never-ending stream of costs on families and society.