THE FIELD CENTER
for Children's Policy, Practice & Research

Transfer of Responsibility for Child Maltreatment Investigations
to Law Enforcement in Nine Florida Counties

Faculty Director Richard Gelles collaborated with the Center for Research on Youth and Social Policy (CRYSP) as Co-Principal Investigator on a National Institute of Justice Grant.  The study used secondary analysis of administrative data from the Department of Children and Families in nine Florida counties to compare maltreatment recurrence and recidivism pre and post the transfer of responsibility for child maltreatment investigations to law enforcement in four of the counties. The study also developed a flowchart of the process by which cases move from substantiation to arrest to prosecution to disposition in an attempt determine the effect the transfer has had on criminalization of child maltreatment.  The study then tracked a random sample of cases in Broward County to determine how many offenders suffer criminal sanctions as a result of the actions.