A Systematic Review of Economic and Concrete Support to Prevent Child Maltreatment

Abstract

The association between poverty and maltreatment is well established, and numerous studies show the detrimental effects of economic and material hardship on maltreatment, child welfare involvement, and family well-being. In turn, an increasing body of literature suggests the value of programs and services that provide economic and concrete support in stabilizing and supporting families and, ultimately, reducing occurrences of maltreatment. In this article, we examine the effectiveness of economic and concrete support in reducing primary outcomes of child maltreatment and child welfare involvement and in improving secondary outcomes of child and adult well-being through a systematic review of the literature. We review studies published between 1990 and 2023 through searches of scholarly databases, child welfare websites, and evidence-based clearinghouses. We used a two-stage review process to identify a final sample of articles for data extraction. Twenty-four studies with low risk of bias were included in the synthesis. Regardless of delivery mechanism, we found consistent, favorable evidence of the impact of economic and concrete support as a prevention strategy to reduce child maltreatment and child welfare entry and to a lesser extent, improvements in child and adult well-being across these studies. Implications for policy, practice, and racial equity are discussed.