Abstract
Child Maltreatment Fatalities (CMFs) are rare, tragic phenomena that impact everyone involved. Although there has been great progress in child welfare in reducing the rates of abuse and neglect, CMFs are the one area within child welfare where we continue to see increases. The social workers involved in CMF cases experience high-stress levels due to the death of the child and the bureaucratic processes involved. This Banded Dissertation is comprised of three different Products that look at the involvement social workers have in CMFs. Product One uses the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping to examine how CMFs impact social workers professionally and personally. Product Two is a qualitative systematic review of the literature on risk factors associated with child maltreatment fatalities and social workers’ knowledge about those risk factors. Finally, Product Three is a poster presentation on the themes and recommendations identified in Product One. To create adequate prevention programs, the problem must be clearly understood.