Andrea Lane Eastman

• PhD
• Professor (Assistant) at University of Southern California

Objectives The current study examined differential rates of child protective services (CPS) involvement between infants with one or two legally established parents at birth. Methods Vital birth records were used to document all children with a registered birth in California in 2017 (N = 470,854). This birth cohort was then prospectively followed i...

We examined mortality rates of adolescents and young adults before and after exiting foster care. We used administrative records to identify individuals born in California 1985-2005 who had a foster care episode on or after their 16th birthday. We linked these records to vital death records through 2022 to identify deaths occurring age 16-23. We de...

This study examined how single and multiple types of maltreatment allegations differed for young people with child protective services (CPS) only and dual system (i.e., CPS and juvenile delinquency court petition) involvement by gender and race and ethnicity. Allegation types were documented for young people with CPS only or dual system involvement...

Although a growing body of research has documented the characteristics and experiences of young people with child welfare and juvenile justice system contact (i.e., dual system involvement), less is known about the pathways leading to dual system involvement. Sequence analysis was used to empirically identify pathways by plotting child welfare and...

With the transition to the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM), additional research is needed to understand which diagnostic codes for intimate partner violence (IPV) are being used. The current study examined characteristics of IPV visits and frequency of diagnostic...

Most child protective services (CPS) investigations involve allegations of neglect. Broad and vague definitions have led to concerns that CPS-investigated neglect is driven by poverty-based material hardship. In a representative sample of 295 neglect investigations in California in 2017, structured data and narrative text fields were used to charac...

This paper explains why more attention should be paid to promoting the postsecondary education of parents in and aging out of foster care. It reviews what is known about postsecondary educational attainment among parents in or aging out of foster care and these parents’ unique challenges to pursuing postsecondary education. The paper describes the...

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is challenging to measure yet systematic surveillance of IPV is critical to informing public health prevention and response efforts. Administrative medical data provide opportunities for such surveillance, and often use the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). The primary purpose of this systematic review...

The Children's Data Network (CDN) is a data and research collaborative focused on the linkage and analysis of administrative records. In partnership with public agencies, philanthropic funders, affiliated researchers, and community stakeholders, we seek to generate knowledge and advance evidence-rich policies that improve the health, safety, and we...

The Children's Data Network (CDN) is a data and research collaborative focused on the linkage and analysis of administrative records. In partnership with public agencies, philanthropic funders, affiliated researchers, and community stakeholders, we seek to generate knowledge and advance evidence-rich policies that improve the health, safety, and we...

Females involved in child welfare (CW) or juvenile justice (JJ) systems are at-risk for commercial sexual exploitation (CSE). This study used administrative data from CW and JJ agencies in Los Angeles County to examine out-of-home care experiences and identify the types of homes that were associated with housing instability for females who experien...

Background In 2011, California enacted its public safety realignment initiative (realignment) motivated by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling to reduce state prison overcrowding and in effort to reduce recidivism. Realignment transferred authority for lower-level felony offenders from the state to the counties, leading to a rapid reduction in state prison...

Background: The estimated number of youth who come into contact with both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, or "dual system" youth, varies widely because studies use different methodologies. Recent work using linked administrative data shows promise for identifying a stable range of dual system rates, generalizable to other jurisdict...

Intimate partner violence (IPV) negatively affects children. Although IPV-related reports frequently come to the attention of child protective services (CPS), there is neither a unified standard for how CPS systems should respond, nor sufficient research documenting that reaction. The current study used population-based administrative records from...

Children’s circumstances are inextricably tied to those of their parents. Two-generation intervention strategies recognize that improving the capacity and circumstances of parents will yield benefits in this generation and the next. Administrative data from health and human services agencies present a unique source of information concerning these i...

Introduction: Measuring and comparing the incidence of child maltreatment is challenging. Linkage of statewide birth cohorts with Child Protective Services reports to study incident child maltreatment over the life course are becoming more common. This study compares the reported incidence between 2 states derived from population-based administrat...

Context: Research has documented elevated rates of early childbirth among adolescents who have spent time in foster care, and a better understanding is needed of the characteristics of vulnerable individuals and the circumstances of their time in care. Methods: California birth records for 1999-2010 were probabilistically linked to state child w...

While general U.S. rates of adolescent pregnancy and childbirth have declined over the past four decades, the rate among adolescents in foster care has not reflected this same drop. Decades of research has indicated negative outcomes for both parenting adolescents and their children compared to their non-parenting peers, however, less is understood...

In this study, we use population-based linked administrative data to document the full child protective service (CPS) histories of arrested youth and young adults. We extracted records for all individuals aged 24 and under who were arrested in California in 2014 and 2015. These records were probabilistically linked to statewide CPS records dating b...

Children born to mothers in foster care have increased numbers of reports of alleged abuse or neglect in comparison to children born to mothers who are not in care. The present investigation leveraged unstructured, case narrative fields in child welfare records to enhance knowledge about Child Protective Services (CPS) involvement among children bo...

Objective: This study identified children born to mothers in foster care and documented Child Protective Service (CPS) involvement among children. Methods: Probabilistically linked birth and CPS records from California (2009-2012) were used to identify all mothers in foster care on or after conception. Children were followed prospectively using...

This article describes a dataset containing information on children exiting to kinship guardianship in California between 2003 and 2010 (N = 18,831). Children and young people in the sample were followed for up to fourteen years. The data presented here show summary statistics of the sample included in the analysis. Furthermore, the data consist of...

Although kinship guardianship is an increasingly important foster care exit pathway for children in the United States, research on the factors leading to kinship guardianship breakdown is lacking. This study examines the factors associated with guardianship breakdown for children who exited foster care to kinship guardianship in California between...

Background. Existing literature has documented a strong relationship between parental mental illness and child maltreatment, but little is known about the prevalence of mental illness among childbearing women. In the present study, linked administrative records were used to identify the prevalence of maternal mental health (MH) disorders documented...

Research on youth in foster care has focused on those placed for reasons of maltreatment rather than delinquency, yet most states provide foster care services to youth under probation supervision. This analysis generated knowledge about youth in probation-supervised foster care (PSFC) in California by examining the relationship between past child p...

This study examined factors associated with youth remaining in extended foster care. Cohorts of youth in care in California at age 17 years were defined for the period from 2003–2012. Multivariable generalized linear models documented factors associated with remaining in care through age 19. Findings indicate that: a) the population of youth in car...

A key challenge facing child protective services (CPS) is identifying children who are at greatest risk of future maltreatment. This analysis examined a cohort of children with a first report to CPS during infancy, a vulnerable population at high risk of future CPS reports. Birth records of all infants born in California in 2006 were linked to CPS...

Purpose: This analysis examined California county birth rate variations among girls in foster care. The objective was to generate data to assess potential intervention points tied to federal legislation extending foster care beyond age 18 years. Methods: Child protection records for all adolescent girls in foster care at age 17 years between 200...

For teenage mothers in California, we generated population-level estimates of the relationship between maternal history of maltreatment and next-generation abuse and neglect. California birth records for all infants born to primiparous teen mothers in 2006 or 2007 were linked to statewide child protective services (CPS) records. For each birth, we...

Maltreatment that begins during infancy is likely to be chronic in duration and developmentally consequential if the appropriate intervention is not delivered. Repeated reports of maltreatment may signal unmet service needs. This study prospectively followed infants who remained at home following an initial report of maltreatment to determine the r...

Knowledge of preincarceration experiences of abuse among youth in the juvenile justice system continues to grow, however we know very little about their experience of abuse during incarceration. Empirical evidence on abuse during incarceration is needed for policymakers to advocate on behalf of the safety of incarcerated youth. This preliminary stu...