Background

Child maltreatment is one of the most serious risks to healthy emotional development (Johnston, Kendrick, Polnay & Stewart-Brown, 2006) and is the largest single risk factor associated with developmental psychopathology (Brooker, 2001). State child protective services agencies substantiated 690,061 reports of child maltreatment in the United States during 2008 (U.S. DHHS, 2010a). Of these, 4,033 reports were in Maine- 1.4 % of the state’s children (U.S. DHHS, 2010a). Although child maltreatment rates were at a five-year low in 2008, child abuse and neglect clearly continues to be a serious problem, requiring a coordinated and thoughtful response from the public child welfare system. Reunification with birth parent(s) was the goal in 49 % of open child welfare cases nationwide (U.S. DHHS, 2010a), highlighting the importance of direct intervention with parents to address maltreatment concerns and prevent future occurrences in order to ensure child safety and permanency. Forty-three percent of child victims of maltreatment received in-home services post-investigation in the United States during 2008 (U.S. DHHS, 2010b). These families need intensive services that are responsive to the complexity of their social, emotional, and environmental needs. Compared with other parents, parents who have maltreated their children are generally less positive, supportive, and nurturing; and tend to be more negative, hostile and punitive (Johnston et al., 2006; Pianta, 1989). Compounding the issue