Because the state only retains official-report records of maltreatment for a limited number of years (see below), we limited the MOTWIN and COGA data to persons born 1981 or later, as noted above. Even with this limitation, the match could not be inclusive of all reports since birth, because many unsubstantiated reports were already purged according to legislative mandate. Thus, it is likely that the proportion of children with maltreatment reports identified in the match is an undercount. In contrast, the state data on foster care is not purged and is thus fully inclusive.
