The effect of legal representation on the the wellbeing of children involved with child protective services in Chile.

Last registered on May 07, 2019

View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

The effect of legal representation on the the wellbeing of children involved with child protective services in Chile.

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0004160

Initial registration date

May 06, 2019

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published

May 07, 2019, 10:22 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country

Chile

Region

Metropolitan, O'Higgins, Bío Bío and Valparaíso

Primary Investigator

Name

Ryan Cooper

Affiliation

Experimental Policy Unit - Chilean Budget Office

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Andrés Hojman

PI Affiliation

Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC)

PI Name

Carolina De Iruarrizaga

PI Affiliation

Dirección de Presupuestos (DIPRES) - Chilean Budget Office

PI Name

Joseph Doyle

PI Affiliation

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

PI Name

Antonia Sanhueza

PI Affiliation

Dirección de Presupuestos (DIPRES) - Chilean Budget Office

Additional Trial Information

Status

On going

Start date

2019-04-01

End date

2021-12-31

Keywords

Crime, Violence, & Conflict, Education, Labor, Other, Welfare

Additional Keywords

Justice

JEL code(s)

Secondary IDs

Abstract

This evaluation aims to provide evidence on the impact of having a lawyer who has a substantially lower caseload than usual, along with a case-management team including a psychologist and a social worker, on the the wellbeing of children involved with child protective services.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Cooper, Ryan et al. 2019. "The effect of legal representation on the the wellbeing of children involved with child protective services in Chile.." AEA RCT Registry. May 07. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.4160-1.0

Former Citation

Sponsors & Partners

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

The study is based on the national implementation of the program "Mi Abogado" in Chile. The program aims to ensure the specialized defence of children and teenagers, constructed by the lawyers that take the cases and a psychosocial duo, conformed by a psychologist and a social worker.

Intervention Start Date

2019-04-01

Intervention End Date

2019-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

Exit from residency within one year of treatment.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

1. Time in residence.
2. Percentage of cases that are assigned by Judge to the program (process indicator).
3. Number of meetings that child has with lawyer
4. Education attendance and ranking in school.
5. Health (weight and height).
6. Criminal-justice involvement.

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Under the current system the case load is of about 400 cases per curador at litem. This program guarantees a maximum load of 60 cases per lawyer that will be working with the psychosocial duo.

Because of the budget constraints the program has, it is not able to reach all the children in the system. Thus, the program will randomize the intervention between the beneficiaries, considering a prioritization of children under 6 years old and the regions in which the program must be implemented according to the Budget Law of 2019.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Ramomization done in office by a computer

Randomization Unit

Individual

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

No clusters

Sample size: planned number of observations

1872 children

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

632 treatments and 1240 controles.

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

To estimate the minimum detectable effect (MDE) we simulate the model a thousand times using the randomized sample and historical data of exit. In 2018, there was approximately a 9% rate of child exit from residence. This is the rate of exit we use for the control group. For the treatment group, we increment the rate of exit to estimate de MDE. For a power of .88 we can detect an impact of 6% (Increasing exit from 9% to 9.54%).

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB