Recently Released Research from Justice Canada on Malicious Referrals to Child Welfare Agencies

The latest issue of the Weekly Checklist of Canadian Government Publications includes a Justice Canada research report from 2013 on Malicious Referrals, Custody Disputes and Police Involvement in the Canadian Child Welfare System: Data Tables from the 2008 Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect:

"This report presents information about malicious referrals to child welfare agencies in Canada using data from the 2008 Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS‑2008). The CIS‑2008 is the third national study to examine the incidence of reported child abuse and neglect in Canada ... The primary objective of the CIS‑2008 was to provide reliable estimates of the scope and characteristics of child abuse and neglect investigated by child welfare organizations in Canada in 2008..."

"The published literature examining the incidence and prevalence of false allegations in child welfare investigations is limited. Much of the research was conducted in the 1990’s and focuses primarily on false allegations of sexual abuse in the context of custody/access disputes ... In the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect 1998 (CIS‑1998), four percent of the investigations were judged to have been triggered by intentionally false allegations of child abuse or neglect... Approximately 2% of reports from custodial parents were classified as intentionally false ... Twenty‑five percent of reports from anonymous sources and 15% of reports from noncustodial parents were classified as intentionally false reports ..."

The Weekly Checklist includes a listing of titles made available by the Parliament of Canada, federal departments, and Statistics Canada to the Depository Services Program for distribution to a network of Depository Libraries in Canada and abroad.