Findings suggest that overall, children in alternative responses are kept about as safe as children receiving traditional investigations. Trajectory analysis demonstrates that approximately 17 to 19 percent of children experience a re-report within 12 months regardless of whether they receive an investigation or an assessment following their first report of maltreatment during the year. Because investigations have been the dominant response to allegations of child maltreatment, there is much concern about the impact of assessment on safety outcomes. Alternative response systems do not include determination of victimization, thereby prohibiting the calculation of recurrence of substantiated maltreatment. Using the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) data, this study tracked children in five States implementing alternative response programs statewide during 2004 and 2005, and with sufficient data on all the variables of interest, examined patterns of reentry into the child protective services system among children who received assessments and those who received traditional investigations. Figures, table, and references