Homeschooling and child maltreatment: A review of the regulatory context and research evidence in the United States.

An increasing number of families in the United States have opted for homeschooling as an alternative to the formal schooling system. Estimates suggest that in the United States, between 5 % and 11 % of the school-age population participates in homeschooling each year-more than 1.5 million students across the country. Recent high-profile cases of severe child abuse and torture among homeschooled children, however, have highlighted the lack of mechanisms for the detection and prevention of child maltreatment. Though these cases have raised awareness about the potential risks of homeschooling, calls for tighter regulations are often met with resistance. Homeschooling advocates argue that increased regulation in the private homes of families criminalizes parents without sufficient evidence of heightened risk. Meanwhile, critics posit that policy intervention is needed to protect the subset of students at increased risk of maltreatment given the deinstitutionalized and isolated nature of homeschooling settings. In this discussion article, we examine the evidence for heightened risk of abuse and neglect in homeschooling environments through both a review of research and an examination of the policies surrounding homeschooling and child maltreatment across U.S. states. Because of the lack of reliable data and the topic's highly political nature, empirical evidence is limited. We found that although some states have attempted to add explicit child protections to homeschooling law, most efforts have been unsuccessful.