June 11, 2001

Meeting Each Family's Needs: Using Differential Response in Reports of Child Abuse and Neglect

This report, written by Patricia Schene, Ph.D., Consultant in Children and Family Services, uses a story about multiple children who are different ages to show how differential response in child welfare allows for more than one approach to report of child abuse and neglect. The differential response is a system that recognizes that multiple types of child abuse and neglect report. This system allows child welfare agencies to provide services to these cases without a formal determination of abuse and neglect. The object of the story is to illustrate the benefit of the differential response approach.