Cumulative Incidence of Child Protective Services Involvement Among Indigenous and Nonindigenous Children: A Cross-National Analysis

In settler-colonial societies, indigenous children exhibit elevated risk of CPS involvement, but little is known about the comparative dynamics of indigenous disadvantage. We calculated the cumulative incidence of CPS involvement before age 18 years among indigenous and nonindigenous children in Australia and the United States in 2019. We applied period life-table methods to linked administrative records. Among indigenous children, the cumulative incidences of maltreatment investigation and of out-of-home placement were higher in the U.S. than in Australia, but investigations confirming maltreatment were more common in Australia than in the U.S. Indigenous–nonindigenous disparities in CPS involvement were larger in Australia than in the U.S. In both countries, indigenous–nonindigenous disparities decreased with age and were larger at later stages of CPS involvement. Comparative findings contextualize indigenous children’s CPS involvement in settler-colonial societies, informing research into its causes and prevention.