# State economic support policies on the prevention of child abuse and neglect during and post the COVID-19 pandemic: Bridging evidence with policy implementation

> **NIH NIH K01** · UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA · 2023 · $132,381

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Child abuse and neglect (CAN) is a pressing and preventable public health issue with negative lifelong
consequences, including early deaths. Children living in economically disadvantaged families and
communities are at high risk for CAN. Economic support policies may be effective strategies towards
reducing CAN through strengthening families' financial well-being and reducing related stress. Because
states vary in policy selection and implementation (e.g., eligibility and spending), understanding the effects
of varying state-level economic support policies can inform the larger-scale implementation of economic
policies to prevent CAN. Yet, there is a lack of research examining the causal effects of state economic
support policies on CAN prevention. Also, little effort has been made to bridge macro-level policy
evaluation with community-based CAN prevention strategies. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, many states
have adjusted pre-existing programs and enacted Covid-related support policies (e.g., eviction moratoria
and extended unemployment benefits). Evaluating the impact of changing policies on CAN during pre-
Covid, Covid, and Covid-recovery eras can help determine how to direct economic support resources to
families at risk of CAN during recovery and plan for future disasters.
Leveraging a natural experimental design with nationwide data, along with a community-based
participatory design, this study will 1) identify and synthesize state-level economic support policies during
pre-Covid, Covid, and Covid-recovery eras, to examine how these policies, individually and in synergy with
each other, impact county-level CAN report rates; 2) investigate how states' policy effects on CAN are
mediated by county-level poverty and unemployment rates, and whether the effects vary by age, gender,
race/ethnicity, rural/urban status, and CAN subtype; 3) develop and implement advocacy strategies with
local communities to increase access to empirically informed economic support services that prevent CAN.
To accomplish the proposed project goals, the PI will receive mentorship from a group of interdisciplinary
experts, including Drs. Melissa Jonson-Reid, Derek Brown, and Patricia Kohl, take full advantage of the
extensive resources at the NIH-funded Center for Innovation in Child Maltreatment Policy, Research and
Training (P50HD096719), and extend existing partnerships with community stakeholders in St. Louis,
Missouri. The PI will receive training in 1) performing policy evaluations with rigorous causal inference
methodologies; 2) managing and analyzing large-scale ecological data; 3) conducting community-based
participatory research; 4) developing NIH grants and disseminating research evidence for CAN prevention.
This K01 award will enable the PI to conduct independent, community-engaged, and policy-relevant
research informing states' selection and implementation of policies to prevent CAN.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10992548
- **Project number:** 7K01HD110683-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Liwei Zhang
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $132,381
- **Award type:** 7
- **Project period:** 2023-12-01 → 2028-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10992548

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10992548, State economic support policies on the prevention of child abuse and neglect during and post the COVID-19 pandemic: Bridging evidence with policy implementation (7K01HD110683-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-01 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10992548. Licensed CC0.

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