Research

1. According to the South Carolina Department of Social Services, statewide there were 16,728 reports of child abuse or neglect in 2005-2006. Of these, 6,226 (37%) were founded. Greenville, Richland, and York Counties were the top three counties with reports of child abuse or neglect.


2. The following researchers presented the April 4 th teleconference on “Why have Child Maltreatment and Child Victimization Declined?” This teleconference was hosted by Prevent Child Abuse America

   David Finkelhor, Ph.D. is Director of Crimes against Children Research Center, Co-Director of the Family Research Labaratory and Professor of Sociology at the University of New Hampshire. He has studied the problems of child victimization, child maltreatment and family violence since 1977. He has edited and written 11 books and over 150 journal articles and book chapters. He has received grants from the National Institute of Mental Health and the US Department of Justice, among others. In 2005 he and his colleagues were awarded the Child Maltreatment Article of the Year award.

   Fred Wulczyn, Ph.D. is a Research Fellow at Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago. He received his Ph.D. from the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago in 1986. Wulczyn is director of the Center for State Foster Care and Adoption Data, which provides cutting edge information technology to member states for use in research and management. He constructed the original integrated longitudinal database on children’s services, now in use for 25 years, to give administrators access to child welfare outcomes across jurisdictions. He also designed to major social experiments: the Child Assistance Program and the HomeRebuilders Program. The Child Assistance Program won the Innovations in Government Award from Harvard University and the Rockefeller Foundation.

   There are three other teleconferences planned for 2007:

   • On Wednesday June 20 th at 2pm the topic will be “Unraveling the puzzle of racial disproportionality in child welfare-Lessons for Prevention” to be presented by Robert Hill (Westat).
   • On Wednesday October 17 th at 2pm the topic will be The Need for Economic Analysis in Research on Child Maltreatment to be presented by Phaedra S. Corso ( University of Georgia) and John R. Lutzker (Marcus Institute and PCA America Board Member).
   • On Wednesday December 19 th at 2pm the topic will be “Using technology to enhance prevention: an experiment with HFA” to be presented by Steve Onsderma ( Wayne State University) and Joanne Martin ( Indiana University).