Statewide Data
Indicator

National
Standard ¹

Description

Key Data Elements

Method of
Calculating Standard

Recurrence of maltreatment

5 %

A State meets the national standard for this indicator if, of all children who were victims of substantiated or indicated child abuse and/or neglect during the first six months of the period under review, 5% or fewer children had another substantiated or indicated report within six months.

NCANDS elements:

(CHID)Child ID; (RPTDT) report date; (RPTDISP), report disposition

The indicator is based on children who were victims of maltreatment during the first six months of the calendar year (January 1 - June 30) for the NCANDS reporting period used in the review. We followed each child victim for six months from the first report date during the January-June period to determine if another substantiated or indicated report was received. We divided the count of children who met the recurrence criterion by the total number of children who were victims of maltreatment during the first six months of the calendar year. The respective percentages were calculated, fitted to the normal probability distribution, and the 75^th percentile was computed.

Incidence of child abuse and/or neglect in foster care

0.4 %

A State meets the national standard for this indicator if, of all children in foster care in the State during the period under review, the percentage of children who were the subject of substantiated or indicated maltreatment by a foster parent or facility staff is 0.4% or less.

NCANDS elements:

(CHID)Child ID; (RPTDT) report date; (PER1REL PER2REL, PER3REL), perpetrator's relationship to child; (RPTDISP), report disposition

AFCARS elements: element 21, date of latest removal and element 56, date of discharge from foster care

We determined the number of children who were reported in NCANDS as maltreated by a perpetrator who was a foster parent or a residential facility staff person for the nine-month period of January 1 through September 30 for 1997 and 1998. We divided that number by the population of children served in foster care, as reported in AFCARS, for the same time period. The respective percentages were calculated, fitted to the normal probability distribution, and the 75^th percentile was computed.

Foster care re-entries

6 %

A State meets the national standard for this indicator if, of all children who entered foster care during the year under review, 6% or fewer of those children re-entered foster care within 12 months of a prior foster care episode.

AFCARS element 19, total number of removals from home to date; element 20, date child was discharged from last foster care episode; and element 21, date of latest removal from home.

We reviewed a child's removal history to see if there was a discharge date from a previous foster care episode, within 12 months of the most recent entry date. The respective percentages were calculated, fitted to the normal probability distribution, and the 75^th percentile was computed.

Stability of foster care placements

89 %

A State meets the national standard for this indicator if, of all children who have been in foster care less than twelve months from the time of the latest removal, 89% or more children had no more than two placement settings.

AFCARS element 21, date of latest removal from home; element 24, number of previous placement settings during this removal episode; and element 56, date of discharge from foster care (needed only if child exited during the year).

We reviewed the children who were in foster care at the end of the year and the children who exited during the year to determine how many months they were in foster care. Then, for those who were in foster care less than twelve months, we determined their number of placements. The respective percentages were calculated, fitted to the normal probability distribution, and the 75^th percentile was computed.

Length of time to achieve reunification

78 %

A State meets the national standard for this indicator if, of all children who were reunified with their parents or caretakers at the time of discharge from foster care, 78% or more children were reunified in less than twelve months from the time of the latest removal from home.

AFCARS data element 21, date of latest removal from home; element 56, date of discharge from foster care; and element 58, reason for discharge.

We reviewed the discharge reasons for those children who exited foster care to reunification and then determined the time between the date of discharge and the date of the latest removal from the home. The respective percentages were calculated, fitted to the normal probability distribution, and the 75^th percentile was computed.

Length of time to achieve adoption

36 %

A State meets the national standard for this indicator if, of all children who exited foster care during the year under review to a finalized adoption, 36% or more children exited care in less than 24 months from the time of the latest removal from home.

AFCARS data element 21, date of latest removal from home; element 56, date of discharge from foster care; and element 58, reason for discharge.

We determined the number of children who exited foster care to a finalized adoption. Then we determined how many months elapsed between the time of discharge and the date of latest removal from the home. The respective percentages were calculated, fitted to the normal probability distribution, and the 75^th percentile was computed.