Economic Insecurity and CPS Involvement: Bidirectional Risks and Policy Levers

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

Child welfare system involvement remains one of the most invasive forms of state intervention in the United States, disproportionately affecting families facing poverty and structural marginalization. Further, the relationship between economic insecurity and child protective services (CPS) involvement is not unidirectional. This panel presents four papers that together examine how income support policies can reduce CPS contact—and, conversely, how CPS involvement can deepen families’ economic precarity. Collectively, they offer a more holistic understanding of the dynamic feedback loop between poverty and child welfare system involvement, and the role of public policy in either reinforcing or disrupting this cycle.

Three papers focus on the protective potential of economic supports in preventing CPS contact. The first paper (Klika et al.) investigates whether paid family leave (PFL) policies reduce infant maltreatment. Leveraging a staggered difference-in-differences design with NCANDS data from 2004 to 2020, the authors find that states with PFL experienced significant declines in CPS reports, substantiations, and removals. These findings suggest that PFL can reduce early-life maltreatment risk by allowing caregivers more time and financial security during infancy—a developmental stage marked by elevated caregiving stress​.

The second paper (Ko et al.) examines whether state-level Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefit generosity reduces neglect-related CPS involvement. Using NCANDS data from 2009 to 2021 and a two-way fixed effects approach, the study finds that higher UI replacement ratios are associated with significant reductions in CPS investigations, particularly for neglect. However, the protective effect is sensitive to macroeconomic context, weakening during periods of high unemployment, such as the COVID-19 pandemic​.

The third paper (Schneider) uses experimental data from the Chicago site of the Employment Retention and Advancement project, linked with Illinois CPS records, to estimate the causal effect of income increases on CPS involvement. Results show that job promotions and wage increases reduce both neglect investigations and removals, with the strongest effects among Black families. This study provides rare experimental evidence that income stability offers meaningful protection against CPS system involvement​.

The fourth paper (Thomas & Nadon) reverses the lens to examine how CPS involvement exacerbates family economic insecurity. Based on qualitative interviews with CPS-impacted parents, the study identifies four key financial consequences of system contact: legal and transportation costs, child support obligations, lost benefits, and employment disruptions. These burdens often compound, delaying reunification and straining caregiving capacity—highlighting how the CPS system itself may entrench the economic hardship which can lead to system involvement​.

Together, these papers challenge the traditionally siloed approach to child welfare and economic policy. They reveal how upstream income supports can prevent CPS system contact and how downstream CPS processes can amplify financial precarity. By examining both causes and consequences, the panel advances an integrated policy vision—one that centers family well-being, and treats economic hardship as a condition to be alleviated rather than a marker of risk. The findings underscore the urgent need to align child welfare and social policy to minimize harm and invest in protective supports that help families remain safely together.

Policy Area

• Family and Child Policy

Secondary Policy Area

• Poverty and Income Policy

Chair

• Margaret M. C. Thomas, The University of Chicago

Discussant

• Liwei Zhang, The University of Georgia

Individual Presentations

• Paid Family Leave and Infant Maltreatment - Non-Presenting Co-Author: Jeffry Barton Klika, Florida State University; Presenting Author: Eric Thibodeau, Prevent Child Abuse America

• Unemployment Insurance Generosity and Child Protective Services Involvement - Presenting Author: Anna Ko, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Non-Presenting Co-Author: Lawrence M. Berger, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Non-Presenting Co-Author: Derek S Brown, Washington University in St. Louis; Non-Presenting Co-Author: Jessica Erin Pac, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Non-Presenting Co-Author: Runshi Tang, University of Wisconsin-Madison

• The Effect of Income on Child Welfare System Involvement - Presenting Author: Will Joseph Schneider, University of Illinois

• Child Protective Service Involvement and Parental Economic Precarity - Presenting Author: Melanie L Nadon, Wayne State University

Organizer

• Anna Ko, University of Wisconsin-Madison