NCJ Number
106582
Date Published
1987
Length
8 pages
Annotation
A discussion of an evaluation case study of child abuse in Queensland, Australia, accompanies an assessment of the role of data collection at organizational, State, and national levels.
Abstract
One approach to evaluation of services related to child abuse intervention is to examine the scope of service, the effectiveness of the serivce in protecting children from abuse or reabuse, and the effectiveness of resource management. The Queensland evaluation focused on the police child protection role. It took place in 1983 and used a sample of 400 cases from the 1,200 on police files. Most referrals to police were secondary ones from hospital personnel and often involved children suffering chronic abuse. Findings suggested the need for improved reporting and better interagency teamwork to increase the police time available for investigation. Analysis of the functioning of existing data bases suggests the need for new approaches. Administrative and funding problems have hampered the functioning of the data bases. National and State registers should be established and administered through the police with national funding. The Australian Institute of Criminology should define the data requirements at the State level, provide national reports, and hold regular policy meetings. Chart and 3 references.