Working Paper: NBER ID: w25419
Authors: Anthony Bald; Eric Chyn; Justine S. Hastings; Margarita Machelett
Abstract: This paper measures impacts of removing children from families investigated for abuse or neglect. We use removal tendencies of child protection investigators as an instrument. We focus on young children investigated before age 6 and find that removal significantly increases test scores and reduces grade repetition for girls. There are no detectable impacts for boys. This pattern of results does not appear to be driven by heterogeneity in pre-removal characteristics, foster placements, or the type of schools attended after removal. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that development of abused and neglected girls is more responsive to home removal.
Keywords: child welfare; abuse; neglect; removal; academic outcomes
JEL Codes: H75; I21; I24; I28; I38; J12; J13; J24
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| investigator's removal tendency (J63) | child outcomes (J13) |
| removal from abusive or neglectful homes (J12) | test scores for young girls (I24) |
| removal from abusive or neglectful homes (J12) | grade repetition likelihood for girls (I24) |
| removal from abusive or neglectful homes (J12) | participation in special education for girls (I24) |
| removal from abusive or neglectful homes (J12) | test scores for boys (I24) |
| removal from abusive or neglectful homes (J12) | grade repetition likelihood for boys (C29) |
| removal from abusive or neglectful homes (J12) | participation in special education for boys (I24) |
| removal from abusive or neglectful homes (J12) | outcomes for older children (I21) |