Child welfare services (CWS) rely on referrals from professionals and civilians to address maltreatment and behavioural problems. To our knowledge, no prior study explored to what extent children who self-reported severe exposure to maltreatment or behavioural problems are referred to the CWS. This study is based on two data sets on a Swedish community sample of 1884 children: (i) self-reports in four waves during adolescence, including indicators of severe exposure, and (ii) a retrospective systematic review of all children's CWS records at age 18. According to self-reports, 445 matched one or more indicators of severe exposure. In total, 389 children of the total sample were referred, but only 169 of the self-reported severely exposed. Severely exposed children were more likely to be referred than other children, adjusting for several background factors. Children who did not experience severe exposure but lived in single-parent families, teenage parent families, poor families or immigrant families were more likely to be referred to CWS than other children. The findings are discussed from a children's rights perspective and inequity in relation to social work practice. In conclusion, although the referral rates are high, many children who are severely exposed to child maltreatment and behavioural problems remain undetected.