DOI: 10.3886/icpsr03933
title: Evaluation of the Transfer of Responsibility for Child Protective Services to Law Enforcement in Manatee, Pasco, and Pinellas Counties, Florida, 1995-2001
title: Archival Version

description: In 1998 Florida law required that the responsibility for
 child maltreatment investigations be transferred from a statewide
 child welfare agency to the sheriff's offices in Manatee, Pasco, and
 Pinellas Counties. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcomes
 produced by this change. This study used a nonequivalent control
 group design. Performance in Manatee, Pasco, and Pinellas Counties was
 compared to performance in selected counties before and after the
 change in service took place. Data were obtained from the Florida
 Abuse Hotline Information System (FAHIS), an online data system that
 contained records of all reported incidents of abuse and neglect in
the state of Florida.
description: In 1998 Florida law required that the
 responsibility for child maltreatment investigations be transferred to
 the Sheriff's Offices in Manatee, Pasco, and Pinellas Counties. The
 investigations had previously been conducted by the Department of
 Children and Families, a statewide child welfare agency. In Manatee
 County the Sheriff's Office began accepting all maltreatment cases in
 January 1998, in Pinellas County in November 1999, and in Pasco County
 in April 2000. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcomes
 produced by this change. The research questions that drove the
 evaluation were: (1) Were the children who had been reported as abused
 or neglected in the experimental counties safer as a result of the
 transfer of responsibility for investigations to the sheriff's office?
 (2) Were the perpetrators of criminal abuse or neglect more likely to
 face criminal sanctions in a county where the sheriff's office
 conducts maltreatment investigations? (3) Were there impacts or
 consequences in other parts of the child welfare system as a result of
 the transfer to the sheriff's office? and (4) Was the new system
 created in the sheriff's office actually implemented as intended, and
were there implementation factors that affected the outcomes?
description: This study used a nonequivalent control group
 design. Performance in Manatee, Pasco, and Pinellas Counties was
 compared to performance in selected counties before and after the
 change in service took place. Pinellas County was compared to
 Hillsborough County, and Manatee and Pasco Counties were compared to
 Lee County. Data were obtained from the Florida Abuse Hotline
 Information System (FAHIS), an online data system that contained
 records of all incidents of abuse and neglect reported in the state of
 Florida. The hotline, located in Tallahassee, was a statewide service
 run by the Department of Children and Families. Intake counselors
 responded to phone reports of child maltreatment, decided which of the
 reports would be accepted for investigation, and transmitted report
 data to county field offices or sheriff's offices where investigations
 were initiated. FAHIS records were updated as investigations proceeded
 from initial visit through final court disposition. The study included
 all reports of maltreatment that were received between January 1995
 and December 2000. Data on investigations were included through August
 2001. This study used data from four datasets obtained from the FAHIS
 relational database: (1) a report dataset (one record per report with
 records of four report types: Initial Abuse Report, Duplicate Report,
 Additional Investigation Report, and Supplemental Information Report),
 (2) a dependent dataset (one record per child [victim or other] per
 incident), (3) a caretaker dataset (one record per adult [caretaker or
 other] per incident), and (4) a reporter dataset (one record per
 reporter). Due to the fact that Lee County was the comparison county
 for both Manatee and Pasco Counties and Manatee and Pasco Counties
 underwent the change in service at different dates, separate Lee
 County data were created for the Manatee and Pasco comparisons. Parts
 1, 3, and 5 contain the Lee County data used to compare Lee County to
 Manatee County (and the data for the other four counties in the
 study). Parts 2, 4, and 6 contain the Lee County data used to compare
 Lee County to Pasco County. In Parts 1, 3, and 5, Lee County cases
 reported between January 1, 1995, and December 31, 1997, are
 identified as pre-experimental, and those reported between January 1,
 1998, and December 31, 2000, are identified as post-experimental. In
 Parts 2, 4, and 6, Lee County cases reported between January 1, 1995,
 and March 31, 2000, are identified as pre-experimental, and those
 reported between April 1, 2000, and December 31, 2000, are identified
 as post-experimental. Part 1, Report Data -- Five Counties, was
 created by merging those records marked as Initial Abuse Report from
 the FAHIS report dataset and the reporter dataset and selected
 variables from the dependent dataset. This file contains specific
 information on reports and investigations, maltreatment allegations
 and findings, summary information on victims and family members, and
 dispositions. Part 2, Report Data -- Lee County, contains the same
 data on Lee County as Part 1, except that different cases were
 identified as pre- and post-experimental to allow comparison to Pasco
 County. Part 3, Family Data -- Five Counties, was created using the
 data in Part 1 and the FAHIS dependent dataset. This file includes
 information on family-specific report history, summary information on
 victims, abuse allegations, findings, and dispositions. Part 4, Family
 Data -- Lee County, contains the same data on Lee County as Part 3
 except that different cases were identified as pre- and
 post-experimental to allow comparison to Pasco County. Part 5, Victim
 Data -- Five Counties, was created from the dependent dataset by
 including only reports that identified a dependent as a
 victim. Reports were dropped that involved only a dependent who was
 involved in an incident but not victimized by it. Part 6, Victim Data
 -- Lee County, contains the same data on Lee County as Part 5 except
 that different cases were identified as pre- and post-experimental to
allow comparison to Pasco County.
description: Part 1, Report Data -- Five Counties, variables
 include investigation close date, case priority status, number of
 dependents in report, reporter type, whether the report was made
 before or after the sheriff's takeover, number of family members in
 the report, number of victims in report, number of substantiated
 victims, and the ZIP code for the first child in the report. Part 1
 also includes the following information for the first six children in
 the report: interim placement, disposition code, disposition date,
 race, gender, age, whether maltreatment was found, and the type of
 maltreatment. Part 2, Report Data -- Lee County, contains the same
 variables as Part 1. In Parts 3 through 6 pre-experimental and
 post-experimental data were differentiated by creating two sets of
 variables: one set identified as "pre" and the other as "post." As a
 result, Parts 3 through 6 contain two sets of variables that provide
 the same information but apply to different time periods. Part 3,
 Family Data -- Five Counties, includes these variables for the pre-
 and post-experimental periods: residence county, number of reports on
 family, ethnicity of the first child in the first report on the
 family, total substantiated reports on the family, number of victims
 in each report, family ZIP code in first dependent record, and a
 family maltreatment severity score. Part 3 also includes the following
 information on the first six pre-experimental and the first six
 post-experimental reports on each family: report received dates,
 number of substantiated abuse victims, caretaker and dependent counts,
 disposition index, whether maltreatment was found, type of
 maltreatment, and investigation close date. Part 4, Family Data -- Lee
 County, contains the same variables as Part 3 except that it does not
 have family maltreatment severity scores. Part 5, Victim Data -- Five
 Counties, includes these pre- and post-experimental variables:
 residence county, gender, ethnicity, number of reports on dependent,
 and number of reports substantiated. Part 5 also includes the
 following information for the first 24 pre-experimental reports and
 the first 12 post-experimental reports: report received date, age,
 reporter type, interim placement, disposition index, disposition date,
 whether maltreatment was found, type of maltreatment, and
 investigation close date. Part 6, Victim Data -- Lee County, contains
 the same variables as Part 5 except that Part 6 includes data on the
 first 22 pre-experimental and the first seven post-experimental
reports.
description: Response Rates: Not applicable.
description: Presence of Common Scales: Part 3 includes a family maltreatment severity score.
description: Comparison counties were selected for two reasons: (1) they
 were geographically close to the experimental counties (to minimize
 travel costs), and (2) they were similar enough in terms of selected
 demographic variables. Parts 3 and 4: If a report included multiple
 families, it was not included in these files. Approximately 8 percent
 of the reports included multiple families and were dropped. Families
 that moved from one county to another during either the pre- or
 post-experimental period were also excluded. Two percent of pre-stage
 families and less than 0.1 percent of post-stage families were
 eliminated for this reason. Families were not eliminated that only
 changed residence counties across stages. Parts 3 and 5: Reports that
 were entered during the transitional period in Manatee (July 1997
 through December 1997) were excluded from these files for both Manatee
 and Lee, Manatee's comparison county. During this period both the
 Manatee Sheriff's Office and DCF handled investigations and it was
 impossible to attribute outcomes to a specific agency. Parts 5 and 6:
 Victims were excluded who changed their residence during either
 experimental stage. Approximately 2 percent of pre-stage victims and
1.2 percent of post-stage victims were excluded for this reason.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Report Data -- Five Counties
DS2: Report Data -- Lee County
DS3: Family Data -- Five Counties
DS4: Family Data -- Lee County
DS5: Victim Data -- Five Counties
DS6: Victim Data -- Lee County
description: Parts 1 and 2: Reports of child maltreatment received by
 the Florida Abuse Hotline between January 1995 and December
 2000. Parts 3 and 4: Families involved in reports of child
 maltreatment received by the Florida Abuse Hotline between January
 1995 and December 2000. Parts 5 and 6: Children alleged to be victims
 of maltreatment in reports received by the Florida Abuse Hotline
between January 1995 and December 2000. Smallest Geographic Unit: ZIP code
description: The user guide and codebook are provided by ICPSR as
 Portable Document Format (PDF) files. The PDF file format was
 developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated and can be accessed using PDF
 reader software, such as the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Information on how
 to obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is provided on the ICPSR Web
site.