Unintentional injury is the leading cause of death among children in the United States accounting for nearly 40 percent of deaths in this age group. Approximately 50 percent of nonfatal injuries, and 40 percent of fatalities, occur in and around the home. Elevated rates of child injury in the home environment are associated with parental substance abuse and neglectful behaviors. Childhood injuries are preventable, yet practical and cost-effective measures to identify child home safety risks are limited. This study involved a retrospective preliminary examination of the Home Safety and Beautification Checklist (HSBC) in a sample of drug-abusing mothers referred by Child Protective Services for child neglect (N = 77). The HSBC assesses child safety hazards and cleanliness and aesthetic problems in the home, and was implemented by trained assessors as part of a baseline assessment in a larger treatment outcome study. In doing so, assessors rate rooms in the home on nine categories designed to evaluate safety (toxins, electrical, sharp objects, food and nutrition needs, home access/security, heavy/tipsy objects, small objects, problems with air quality, and other), and two categories designed to evaluate cleanliness (needs clean-up and aesthetic needs). The participants also provide ratings of the safety and appearance of each room in their homes. This study was conducted to expand the current literature on practical measures to identify child home safety and appearance problems. Specifically, it examined the psychometric properties of the HSBC utilized to detect the severity of child safety hazards and aesthetic concerns when implemented in the at-risk homes of mothers referred for substance abuse and child neglect. Overall, it was determined that the HSBC had good psychometric properties and its development is a particularly useful outcome of this research
