Child Protection Outcomes for Infants of Substance-Using Mothers: A Matched-Cohort Study

OBJECTIVE: Parental drug use is a critical public health issue; it is estimated to be present in up to 80% of referrals to Australian child protection agencies. However, no data regarding the child protection outcomes of infants of substance-using parents exist in Australia, and no comparisons have been made with infants of non-substance-using parents. We assessed differences in substantiated abuse between 2 groups of mothers in Brisbane to quantify this risk