Child protective services involvement and exclusionary school discipline

Abstract

AbstractThe study examined the impact of child protective services (CPS) contact on out‐of‐school suspensions for 49,918 Wisconsin students (followed from ages 5–6 to 14–15; [school years 2010–2019; 74% White; 7% Black; 11% Hispanic; 8% other; 49% female]). A quasi‐experimental design comparing recent CPS contact to upcoming (future) CPS contact shows that both recent CPS contact without foster care and future CPS contact predict higher odds of suspension compared with no contact. Higher odds of suspension emerged prior to CPS contact and did not substantially increase during or after CPS contact, suggesting that system‐induced stress is not a primary driver of behavioral problems leading to suspension. Foster care reduced the odds of suspension among White children and children in special education.