Safeguarding children: a comparison of England’s data with that of Australia, Norway and the United States

The Childhood Wellbeing Research Centre (CWRC) was commissioned by the Department for Education to undertake a study with the overarching aim of drawing together existing aggregate administrative data on safeguarding children and child protection and exploring the availability and comparability of these data as a tool for comparing England’s performance against that of Australia, United States, and Norway. The objective was to consider how different institutional and cultural approaches alongside different forms of provision and support may influence rates of abuse and neglect and the responses of public authorities.
The study:
1) reviews the literature on child welfare data and recent policy and practice developments in England, Australia, Norway and the United States (U.S.);
2) offers analysis and interpretation of the aggregate administrative data available in the countries above to explore changes in recognition of, and responses to, abuse and neglect over time;
3) maps changes in responses to children coming to the attention of child welfare agencies against significant events and key policy and practice developments; and
4) examines the strengths and limitations of relying on administrative datasets to compare England’s child welfare policy and practice with other