CWS Referrals By Child

The CWS Referrals by Child report provides the total number of Child Welfare Services (CWS) referrals assigned to Child Protection and Permanency (CP&P) local offices. This report has three different units of analysis: by child, by case status, and by reported to prosecutor. Users can select the unit of analysis that corresponds to the information they are interested in obtaining by clicking on the appropriate radio button. Below are definitions to clarify the various units of analysis.

• By Child: A referral may include multiple children with one or more request for services. In this instance, the referral is counted per child. In addition, a child may be counted multiple times due to multiple referrals received on separate occasions.
• By Case Status: This unit of analysis is counted by referral, not by child or child welfare assessment.
• By Reported to Prosecutor: This unit of analysis is counted by child welfare assessment, not by child or referral.

Data Portal Functionality:

The Data Portal allows users to select additional variables to gain further insight into the selected report. In addition, each variable can be further filtered to provide a subset of data within the variable. Data are provided as a table or, when available, a graph.

Variable Definitions:

1. Age: Age is calculated in this report based on the age of the child when the referral was received by the agency. The age categories for this report are limited to:
   • Under 1
   • 1 to 5
   • 6 to 12
   • 13 to 17
   • 18 and over
2. County: the county in this report is based on the county of the referral. The twenty-one (21) counties in New Jersey are: Atlantic, Bergen, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Essex, Gloucester, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Salem, Somerset, Sussex, Union and Warren counties. The category of "Other" is added to the list and includes children in cases where a county of referral could not be determined at the time of the data extract.
3. Gender: The identified gender of a person. Gender categories are:
   • Male
   • Female
   • Missing or Undetermined
4. Year: Year represents data for the calendar year.
5. Case Status: Status of the case when the referral was received by the agency. The case status categories are:
   • New
   • Open
   • Reopen
6. Reported to Prosecutor: An indication of whether or not the prosecutor was notified during the assessment phase. The categories are:
   • Yes: the prosecutor's office was notified during the assessment
   • No: The prosecutor's office WAS NOT notified during the assessment
7. Reporter: A categorical description of the individual who made the referral to the hotline. Reporter types are:
   • Anonymous
   • Community Group/Individual
   • Correctional Facility
   • Court
   • CWA
   • DCP&P
   • Facility Administration
   • Friend/Neighbor
   • Health
   • Legal
   • Other Agency
   • Parent
   • Police
   • Relative
   • School
   • Self
8. Service Type: A categorical description of the child welfare services that were requested at the time the referral was received. Child welfare service categories are:
   • Child Services
   • Juvenile Services
   • Parent/Caregiver Services
   • ICPC
   • Adoption Services
   • Court/Prosecutor Requests
   • Other Services/Requests
9. Race/Ethnicity: The race categories are analyzed in combination with ethnicity. If a person's ethnicity is Hispanic, they fall under the category of "Hispanic" regardless of their race. If their ethnicity is "Non- Hispanic", they fall under their corresponding race. The category of "Another Race" includes American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, Asian, and Two or More Races. The race/ethnicity categories are:
   • Black or African American
   • Hispanic
   • White
   • Missing or Undetermined
   • Another Race

Related Reports:

The followings reports are related to CWS Referrals by Child, which may be of additional interest to our users:

All CPS & CWS Referrals

Citations:

Users may publish data obtained from this site, but we request an appropriate citation for use of this work. Below, please find an appropriate citation template, according to the American Psychological Association's (APA) guidelines.

New Jersey Child Welfare Data Hub. ([Date of Publication]). CWS Referrals by Child. Retrieved on [date] from [URL].

Abbreviation Definitions:

APA: American Psychological Association
CP&P: Child Protection and Permanency, a division within the New Jersey Department of Children and Families (DCF)
CPS: Child Protective Services reports
CWS: Child Welfare Services referrals
DCF: New Jersey Department of Children and Families
IAIU: Institutional Abuse Investigation Unit