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Appendix D
State Commentary
Child Maltreatment 2002

Alabama

Sherry Roberts
Functional Analyst
Family Services Partnership/Assist Unit
Alabama Department of Human Resources
50 Ripley Street
Montgomery, AL 36130-1801
334-353-1033
334-353-1177 Fax
sroberts@dhr.state.al.us

Data File(s) Submitted

SDC

Level of Evidence Required

Preponderance

Reports

The estimate of child protective services (CPS) workers was based on currently filled Agency positions and the caseload standards set for CPS functions.

Perpetrators

State law does not allow a person younger than 14 years to be identified as a perpetrator.

Alaska

Kristen Tromble
Research Analyst
Office of Children's Services
Alaska Department of Health and Social Services
130 Seward Street, Room 406
Juneau, AK 99811
907-465-3208
907-465-3397 Fax
kristen_tromble@health.state.ak.us

Data File(s) Submitted

SDC

Level of Evidence Required

Preponderance

Reports

The State uses child-based reporting. There is one report or investigation per child, per incident. Reasons for screening-out reports include insufficient information, workload adjustment (used when not enough staff are available to respond to the lowest priority reports), dual track (contracting agencies provide assessment and referral services to low-priority reports of harm), tribal jurisdiction (a tribe has assumed jurisdiction, has custody of the child, and conducts the investigation), and military (referred to the military for follow-up). During this reporting period, 670 reports were referred to dual track, 91 to tribes, and 146 to the military. Separate categories of tribal jurisdiction and military were added early in 2002. Prior to 2002, most of these reports were counted in one of the other nonassigned categories. For 2002, the number of screened-out referrals excludes those screened out as non-CPS (not under this agency's jurisdiction).

In addition to the exclusion of non-CPS referrals, the decline from 2001 to 2002 in the total number of received referrals reflects both a decrease in the number of calls received and better classification of referrals of harm, including identification of duplicates.

Social services personnel include CPS agencies, human service agencies, and Native American agencies or tribes. Medical personnel include mental health personnel. Parents include custodial and noncustodial parents. Friends and neighbors include partners of custodial and noncustodial parents. The category of "other reporter" includes community members, grant agencies, and the military.

There has been a chronic problem getting investigations properly closed and entered into the State's information system. During an effort in 2001 to clear the backlog, the date of entry was entered for the disposition date rather than the actual closing date, for some cases. As a result, the number of investigations disposed during 2001 that were assigned in prior years was significantly larger than the comparable number for 2002. The drop in the total number of investigations disposed (and corresponding child victims) reflects a decrease in both the number of reports and in the investigations assigned during the year that were completed and entered into the State's information system by the time this report was generated.

Staff positions for CPS functions and for screening and intake functions may not have been actively staffed for the entire year.

In regard to response time to investigation, the State records the date received, date screened, date assigned for investigation, and date disposed for reports. The time or date of actual contact is not available. For the 10,002 reports disposed during the year, the average time in days from receipt to assignment was 2.1 days.

The average response time with respect to the provision of services is based on 2,173 reports for which children were reported as receiving services. Fifty percent of these reports were responded to within 1 day following the day of receipt.

Victims

Substantiated reports are those where the available facts indicate a child has suffered harm as a result of abuse or neglect as defined in State statute. Indicated includes "unconfirmed" reports, defined as when the worker is unable to determine if a child has suffered harm as a result of abuse or neglect. Unsubstantiated includes intentionally false and "invalid" reports. "Invalid" reports are defined as those where there are no facts to support the allegation that a child has suffered abuse or neglect.

The State has a very high proportion of substantiated and indicated dispositions, compared to unsubstantiated dispositions. One reason may be that the definition of indicated is broader than that used by many States and the definition of unsubstantiated is narrower. However, even when indicated reports are excluded, Alaska still has a higher substantiation rate. Another aspect of this difference may be the way the State defines harm. For instance, in 1998, the child protection statute was changed to include exposure to domestic violence (which is reported as psychological or emotional abuse or neglect). This increased the rate of substantiated reports.

Beginning in 2001, children were counted once for each report disposed during the year. In prior years, children were counted only once regardless of the number of reports where the child appeared.

Neglect includes medical neglect and abandonment. In prior years, abandonment was reported as other.

Since 2001, children are counted once for each report disposed. In previous years, a child was counted only once, regardless of the number of reports disposed. A report where more than one type of abuse is substantiated or indicated is recorded in the category of the most serious abuse with the most serious disposition.

The State's information system requires the entry of a birth date. If the actual date is unknown, an estimated date is entered. Alaska does not report on victims aged 18 years or older as the reporting agency does not have jurisdiction. Each child is counted once per report in the age group at the time of the report.

Only one race or ethnicity is recorded. No child has both a Hispanic ethnicity and race.

Fatalities

The number of fatalities includes deaths from child maltreatment by a primary caregiver. A primary caregiver is defined as the individual responsible—including parents, relatives, and babysitters—for care of the child. The children and families involved with these deaths may or may not have had prior contact with the State's Office of Children's Services.

Services

The number of children who received services includes children who were placed in out-of-home care during the investigation or had a continuing or new family case opened for services.

The count of child victims for whom court action was taken includes only children for whom temporary custody was requested during the investigation. Other court actions are not included.

State law mandates the appointment of a Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) in every court case in which abuse or neglect is alleged. However, a shortage of GALs in some remote areas means this requirement is not always met. The Office of Public Advocacy estimates that GALs are appointed in 95-99 percent of all cases.

Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) volunteers are required to see their child clients at least twice per month. The Office of Public Advocacy indicated that in the more populous areas of Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Bethel, caseloads are so large that GALs may only see children three or four times per year outside of court. GALs in rural areas may see children twice as often.

Arizona

Nicholas Espadas
Manager
Evaluation and Statistics Unit
Division of Children, Youth and Families
Arizona Department of Economic Security
P.O. Box 6123, Site 940-A
1789 West Jefferson
Phoenix, AZ 85005
602-542-3969
602-542-3330 Fax
nicholas.espadas@mail.de.state.az.us

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Probable cause

Reports

The number of screened-out referrals includes those in which the alleged abuse or neglect occurred on a reservation or military base and those that were referred to a private contractor in the Family Builders program. The referrals selected for the Family Builders program show a low risk of harm to the children associated with the allegations. During the program, the families are taught a variety of skills, including crisis and anger management.

Reports classified as "other disposition" are of low-priority reports (with a proportionately larger number of children) directly referred to social services agencies for voluntary services. These reports were not assigned to a local office for investigation.

Perpetrators

The State information system is limited to the designation of one perpetrator per child per allegation.

Arkansas

Darcy Dinning
CHRIS Project Manager
OST/CHRIS
Arkansas Dept. of Human Services
P.O. Box 1437 Slot N101
617 Main Street
Little Rock, AR 72204
501-682-2684
501-682-1376 Fax
Darcy.Dinning@mail.state.ar.us

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Preponderance

Reports

The Division of Children and Family Services Agency staff investigators are involved in priority 1 and priority 2 reports. The Family Protection Unit Crimes Against Children Division investigates all priority 1 reports. Priority 1 reports are those that describe abuse with a deadly weapon, bone fractures, brain damage or skull fracture, burns, scalding, immersion or suffocation, internal injuries, poison or noxious substances, oral sex, sexual contact, sexual exploitation, sexual penetration, subdural hematoma, or death.

Services

Preventive services included intensive family services, resource centers, respite care for in-home, latchkey, human service workers in the schools, supportive services, homemaker services, and daycare. The children numbers were included in the family numbers.

California

Glenn Jue
Manager
CMS Support Branch
California Department of Social Services
744 P Street, Mail Station 19-75
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-445-2752
916-322-5191 Fax
glenn.jue@dss.ca.gov

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Credible

Reports

The data are from the Child Welfare Services/Case Management System (CWS/CMS), the State version of the Federal Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS).

The number of CPS workers was estimated based on the average of the Emergency Response FTEs per month, including supervisors, for a year. The actual number of FTEs who performed Emergency Response is not reported to the State.

Fatalities

The number of child fatalities in 2002 is an estimate based upon the fatalities in 2000. The California Department of Health Services (DHS) under the auspices of the California State Child Death Review Council conducts an annual reconciliation audit. Three statewide data systems are used during the audit—DHS Vital Statistics Death Records, Department of Justice Homicide Files and Child Abuse Central Index—and the findings from the Child Death Review Team county reviews. The 2000 audit estimated 129 total fatalities. (2001 and 2002 data are not available.)

Colorado

Carolyn Bidwell, MA
Child Welfare Data Analyst
Child Welfare Services
Colorado Department of Human Services
1575 Sherman Street
Denver, CO 80203-1714
303-866-4392
303-866-4191 Fax
Carolyn.Bidwell@state.co.us

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Preponderance

General

Data year 2002 is the first year that the State has submitted the Child File and the Agency file. The data should be used cautiously when conducting longitudinal analyses. Reporting for prior years was in SDC format.

Reports

The State's recent implementation of the SACWIS system, Trails, is now the source of NCANDS data. The shift in systems may impact the comparability of previous year's data to the present.

Victims

The category of "other maltreatment type" includes court-ordered services for child protection, as well as "at-risk requests services" which indicates at-risk youth. Unknown maltreatment type includes all other program targets with abuse or neglect report dates.

Fatalities

The number of fatalities for 2002 was calculated using the Child File.

Connecticut

Jay Anderson
LINK Reports Director
Connecticut Department of Children and Families
505 Hudson Street
Hartford, CT 06106
860-550-6349
860-566-7947 Fax
jay.anderson@po.state.ct.us

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Reasonable cause

General

The Department of Children and Families (DCF) is a consolidated children's services agency with statutory responsibility for child protection, mental health services, substance abuse treatment, and juvenile justice. It is a State-managed system comprised of three regions. Each region has a main office with two or more suboffices. In addition, DCF operates four facilities—a children's psychiatric hospital, an emergency and diagnostic residential program, a treatment facility for children with serious mental health issues, and a juvenile justice facility.

Reports

A centralized intake unit—the Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline—operates 24-hours a day, 7 days a week. CPS workers receive the reports of suspected abuse and neglect and forward them to a regional office for investigation. Hotline field staff respond to emergencies when the regional offices are closed. Referrals are not accepted for investigation if they do not meet the statutory definition of abuse or neglect. Information on screened-out referrals is from the DCF Hotline.

Regional staff investigate reports of abuse and neglect. Investigation protocols include contact with the family, with the children apart from their parents, and with all collateral systems to which the family and child are known. All cases of sexual abuse—as well as serious cases of abuse, neglect, and medical neglect—are referred to the police per departmental policy.

The Consent Decree Monitoring Division, the Human Resources Division, and the DCF Hotline provided information on the numbers of screening, intake, investigation, and assessment workers.

Fatalities

DCF collects data on all reported child fatalities regardless of whether or not the child or family received DCF services. If a child, who is in an active case or has had a prior substantiated report, dies, the Special Review Unit conducts an investigation. The Medical Examiner is responsible for determining the cause of death and the criminal nature of the death. DCF makes the determination concerning abuse and neglect.

Services

The DCF staff responsible for monitoring Federal- and State-funded grants and performance-based contracts for prevention programs gathered data on preventive services. The number of clients served through established child abuse or neglect prevention contracts, including primary and secondary prevention programs, is estimated.

Primary prevention services are provided to prevent child abuse or neglect before the family is known to DCF. Secondary prevention services are provided to prevent recurrence of maltreatment after the family has come to the attention of DCF.

The information on prevention services is garnered from monthly or quarterly reports by community agencies and that are submitted to the Research Division and reviewed by the Strategic Planning Division, the Children's Trust Fund, the Adolescent Services Division, or the Substance Abuse Division.

The number of service recipients is duplicated because children and families may receive services from more than one source. The numbers refer to actual services utilized rather than the number of slots available.

Preventive services programs include Healthy Families, First Steps, Nurturing Programs, Lengthening the Ropes, Therapeutic Child Care, Early Childhood, Parent Education and Support Centers, Alcohol and Drug Prevention for Youth, Substance Abuse Screening and Evaluation, Intensive Family Preservation, Parent Aide, Young Parents' Program, and mentoring activities. Many of these preventive programs receive other sources of funding.

The State uses the Basic State Grant to fund multidisciplinary teams to improve the investigation and prosecution of sexual abuse cases. The State, in conjunction with a local hospital, also uses this grant to fund a High Risk Newborn Program, but the reports are family based, not child based.

The Community-Based Family Resource and Support Grant is administered by the Children's Trust Fund. Examples of the types of creative local prevention services supported by these minigrants include parent education, mental health consultation, and satellite Family Resource Centers.

The Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program, under the Strategic Planning Division, supports such preventive services as Family Centers, Community Collaboratives, and Family Day activities.

Delaware

Carla Bloss
Management Analyst
Division of Family Services
Delaware Department of Services for Children, Youth, and Their Families
1825 Faulkland Road
Wilmington, DE 19805
302-892-6401
302-633-2652 Fax
cbloss@state.de.us

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Preponderance

Reports

The number of children in screened-out referrals was estimated to be 2,226, using 1.4 children per referral as the multiplier.

According to the Division of Family Services policy, urgent referrals should be contacted within 24 hours, and that routine referrals should be contacted within 10 days or 240 hours. These standards were met more than 90 percent of the time.

Of the FTEs, 5 were assigned to intake and 54 were assigned to investigation at the end of 2002. In addition 10 FTEs were assigned as after-hours staff, and 7 FTEs were assigned as weekend and holiday staff to provide 24/7 hotline coverage and to respond to allegations as needed. The State also has two Institutional Abuse investigators and two Special Investigators who have statewide police powers.

Victims

The State uses 28 statutory types of primary or secondary allegations to record substantiated child abuse and neglect. The "other" category includes "dependency" and "adolescent problems." "Dependency" includes abandonment, nonrelative placement, parental mental incapacitation, or parental physical incapacitation. "Adolescent problems" includes abandonment, parent-child conflict, runaway, truant, and uncontrollable behavior. Adolescent problems, many of which do not clearly meet the usual definition of child abuse and neglect, have decreased in the past several years.

Services

In 2002, 824 (54 percent) of 1,525 victims had cases opened for treatment and received case management services.

District of Columbia

Anthea Seymour
Application Manager, FACES
Child Information Systems Administration
Child and Family Services Agency
District of Columbia Government
955 L'Enfant Plaza, SW
Washington, DC 20024
202-727-3015
202-651-3580 Fax
aseymour@cfsa-dc.org

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Credible

Reports

The hotline is a centralized system that receives all referrals of abuse and neglect. Some abuse cases are jointly investigated by CPS and by the Metropolitan Police Department.

Victims

Many records are missing race and ethnicity data.

Services

The range of service codes that have been mapped to family preservation includes "academic guidance," "case management," "family therapy," "housing subsidies," "family conferencing," "parent support groups," "psychological services," and "concrete services."

Florida

Susan K. Chase
Data Support Administrator
Child Welfare and Community Based Care
Florida Department of Children and Families
1317 Winewood Boulevard, Building 8
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0700
850-922-2195
850-488-3748 Fax
susan_chase@dcf.state.fl.us

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Indicated—credible evidence (offering reasonable grounds for being believed).

Substantiated—preponderance (superiority in weight, most of the evidence supports abuse, or quality and importance. At least one piece of evidence in support of abuse is exceptionally strong, such as DNA findings or a pediatrician's willingness to testify the injuries were from abuse).

Reports

The criteria to accept a report are that a child younger than 18 years old has been harmed or is at risk of harm by an adult caregiver or household member and the child is either a resident or can be located in the State. Screened-out referrals reflect phone calls received about situations that the caller initially thought were child abuse or neglect related, but did not meet the statutory criteria.

An estimated 5,747 children who were subjects of a report have data in the new system, Home-Safenet, Child Safety Assessment (HSn CSA). The children were entered into the new system by beta sites, Leon and Broward counties, from July to December 2002. These reports (approximately 2 percent of our total) are not included in the data presented in this publication.

"Other report source" includes attorney, spiritual healer, GAL, guardian, human rights advocacy committee, and client relations' coordinator.

The number of intentionally false dispositions is suspected to be underreported. The coding method was changed in October 1995, and the new method has not been used consistently.

Response time is based on 154,230 reports. The response commences when the CPS investigator or another person designated to respond attempts the initial face-to-face contact with the victim. The system calculates the number of minutes from the received date and time to the commencement date and time. The minutes for all cases are averaged and converted to hours. An initial onsite response is conducted immediately in situations in which any one of the following allegations is made: (1) a child's immediate safety or well-being is endangered; (2) the family may flee or the child will be unavailable within 24 hours; (3) institutional abuse or neglect is alleged; (4) an employee of the department has allegedly committed an act of child abuse or neglect directly related to the job duties of the employee, or when the allegations otherwise warrant an immediate response as specified in statute or policy; (5) a special condition referral for emergency services is received; or (6) the facts otherwise so warrant. All other initial responses must be conducted with an attempted on-site visit with the child victim within 24 hours.

The staff figures provide allocated positions as of December 31, 2002. They do not include vacancies, overtime, or temporary staff. Staff consist of 141 hotline counselors, 17 hotline supervisors, 1,401 child protective investigators, and 238 investigator supervisors. Hotline staff also take calls related to adult protective services. Child calls represent about 80 percent of their workload.

Victims

The Child File includes only children alleged to be victims, not other children in the household.

Each child is counted in only one racial category.

Perpetrators

By policy, perpetrator data are captured only for substantiated reports, which have a higher level of evidence than indicated reports.

Fatalities

Fatality counts include any report disposed during the year, even those victims whose dates of death may have been in a prior year. Only verified abuse or neglect deaths are counted. The finding was verified when a preponderance of the credible evidence resulted in a determination that death was the result of abuse or neglect. All suspected child maltreatment fatalities must be reported for investigation and are included in the Child File.

Services

Preventive services data are only for a six month period, January through June 2002.

Preventive services includes, but is not limited to, afterschool enrichment and recreation, childcare and therapeutic care, community facilitation, community mapping and development, counseling and mentoring services, crisis and intervention services, delinquency prevention, developmental screening and evaluation, domestic violence services, family resource or visitation center and full-service schools, Healthy Families America, Healthy Start, home visiting and in-home parent education, information and referral, parenting education and training, prenatal and perinatal services, Project Safety Net, respite care and crisis nursery, self-help groups and support groups, and teen parent and pregnancy program. Counts of preventive services do not include public awareness and education.

The families of the children included in child counts are also counted in the family counts; however, the family counts include additional families whose children were not included in the child counts. By statute, families may include biological, adoptive, and foster families; relative caregivers; guardians; and extended families. A single adult aged 18 years or older and living alone may be counted as one family. If a child does not have a family (because of abandonment, termination of parents' rights, institutional care, or other factors), the child is counted as one family.

Numbers reported under preventive services include families who received services (carryover and new) in the reporting period and children in the families who received services. If a parent received services, (e.g., parent education and training) all children in the family were identified as children served. Children could not be served without the family being served. For example, if a child attended an afterschool tutoring program, one child and one family were served. When one of the children in the family received a direct service but the parent did not, siblings were not counted as receiving a service. However, the family was counted. Children and families may have been counted more than once because of the receipt of multiple services or the use of multiple funding sources. A small amount of Social Services Block Grant funds was used and is counted in "other funding sources."

Georgia

Shirley B. Vassy
Unit Chief, Evaluation and Reporting
Division of Family and Children Services
Georgia Department of Human Resources
2 Peachtree Street NW, Room 19.202
Atlanta, GA 30303-3142
404-657-5133
404-657-3325 Fax
sbvassy@dhr.state.ga.us

Data File(s) Submitted

SDC

Level of Evidence Required

Preponderance

Reports

The components of a CPS report are a child younger than 18 years, a known or unknown individual alleged to be a perpetrator, and a referral of conditions indicating child maltreatment. Screened-out referrals were those that did not contain the components of a CPS report. Situations in which no allegations of maltreatment were included in the referral and in which local or county protocols did not require a response, were screened out. Such situations could have included historical incidents, custody issues, poverty issues, educational neglect or truancy issues, allegations from an individual who had three previously unfounded referrals, situations involving an unborn child, or juvenile delinquency issues. For many of these, referrals were made to other resources, such as early intervention or prevention programs.

The social services personnel count includes Department of Human Resources staff and professional counselors. "Other report sources" includes nonmandated reporters and religious leaders or staff.

Victims

Race and Hispanic ethnicity are captured as a single field in which only one of the following codes can be chosen: Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, American Indian/Alaskan, or multiracial.

Fatalities

The number of child fatalities is based on the Georgia Child Abuse and Neglect Report, which is filled out at the completion of an investigation.

Services

The State maintains data on services through counts of cases, not children. Thus, estimates were provided.

Only data for removals that occurred during an investigation are included. Data on removals that occurred after the investigation decision, or within 90 days of the decision, were unavailable.

The number of children served by CASA volunteers was estimated by counting the number of out-of-court contacts.

The Child Placement Project Study (a project of the Georgia Supreme Court) provided the number of victims who received a court-appointed representative. The program count is for the period FFY 2001.

Hawaii

Edward Nishimura
Research Supervisor
Management Services Office
Hawaii Department of Human Services
1390 Miller Street, Room 210
Honolulu, HI 96813
808-586-5109
808-586-4810 Fax
enishimura2@dhs.state.hi.us

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

No Information

Services

The Basic State Grant funds diversion, but the State definition of diversion services does not match the definition and scope of NCANDS preventive services category and definition.

Idaho

Jeri Bala
Program Systems Specialist
Division of Family and Community Services/FOCUS
Idaho Department of Health and Welfare
450 West State Street
Boise, ID 83720
208-334-5511
208-332-7351 Fax
balaj@idhw.state.id.us

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Preponderance

Reports

The 2002 Child File submission reflected changes in disposition categorization. As of March 1, 2002, the State changed from five to three dispositional findings—"substantiated," "unsubstantiated-insufficient evidence," and "unsubstantiated-unfounded." The category of indicated was discontinued. Both types of unsubstantiated dispositions were mapped to unsubstantiated.

Fatalities

As the State Mortality Review Team is two years in arrears, only Child File fatalities were reported.

Illinois

Carl L. Sciarini
Manager, Office of Quality Assurance
Illinois Department of Children and Family Services
406 East Monroe Street, Station 222
Springfield, IL 62701-1498
217-524-2035
217-524-2101 Fax
csciarini@idcfs.state.il.us

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Credible

Reports

All calls to the hotline that meet the criteria of an abuse or neglect allegation are referred for a CPS investigation.

Medical personnel reporters include mental health personnel. "Other report source" includes foster care providers and alleged perpetrators.

"Other report dispositions" refers to noninvolved children (i.e. children not suspected of being abuse or neglected) who are recorded on a child abuse or neglect report. Because there are no allegations of abuse or neglect for these children, there are no specific dispositions.

The response time to investigation is based on the average between the receipt of a report at the hotline and the time an investigator makes the first contact. The response time is determined both by priority standard and by apparent risk to the alleged victim. The priority standard, which mandates a particular response time by law, is related to the type of child abuse or neglect allegation and the investigative activities required for each priority. For example, an allegation of sexual abuse is considered a priority 1 allegation, an allegation of lack of supervision is considered a priority 2 allegation, and an allegation of inadequate housing is considered a priority 3 allegation. The response time related to initiating a report of suspected abuse or neglect is mandated by law for a given priority standard (e.g., within 24 hours) or by the apparent risk to the alleged victim(s). For example, an immediate response is required if the victim is alleged to be in immediate danger. Thus, response time is not determined only by the priority of the investigation.

Victims

Children who are at substantial risk of physical injury or substantial risk of sexual injury are counted under "other maltreatment." These involve situations where the parent, caregiver, another person residing in the home, or the parent's paramour has created a real and significant danger of sexual abuse or physical injury to the child that would likely cause disfigurement, death or impairment of physical health, or loss or impairment of bodily functions.

Indiana

Sandy Lock
Program Manager, SACWIS
Division of Family and Children
Indiana Family Social Services Administration
132 E. Washington Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204
317-234-0691
317-234-0687 Fax
slock@fssa.state.in.us

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Credible

Reports

Per State statute, there are three separate response times dependent on the type of allegation.

Fatalities

The Agency File fatality count is by State fiscal year of July 1, 2001 through June 30, 2002.

Iowa

Joe Finnegan
Bureau Chief
Child Welfare Information Systems
Iowa Department of Human Services
Hoover State Office Building—5th Floor CWIS
1305 E.Walnut, Des Moines, IA 50319
515-281-5126
515-281-4597 Fax
jfinneg@dhs.state.ia.us

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Reports

Referrals were not accepted for assessment if they did not meet the assessment criteria or if they had been previously assessed.

Screening, intake, and investigation or assessment was conducted by 268 staff members. This is the number of Social Worker III FTEs allocated in the State according to the Office of Field Support. Social Worker III is the classification of Child Protective Assessment Workers who are assigned investigations and follow them through to completion. The State does not collect the number of staff responsible for screening and intake.

State law stipulates that the Department of Human Services respond to reports within 24 hours.

Services

Postinvestigation services refer to services opened for indicated children within 90 days of the assessment. Foster care refers to children who entered foster care within 90 days after completion of the assessment.

State law requires that every child who appears in juvenile court have a GAL.

Kansas

Tanya Keys
Program Administrator
Docking State Office Building
SRS Children and Family Policy
915 SW Harrison 5th Floor South
Topeka, KS 66612-1570
785-296-3912
785-368-8159 Fax
txxk@srskansas.org

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Services

Service delivery may be through direct contact or community awareness campaigns.

Kentucky

Pam Soto
Data Analyst
Department of Applications
Office of Technology Services
Kentucky Cabinet for Families and Children
151 Elkhorn Court
Frankfort, KY 40601
502-573-3850 x206
502-573-2076 Fax
pam.soto@mail.state.ky.us

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Preponderance

Reports

This was the first full year that the State reported alternative response referrals.

Services

There is current discussion on how the State can more accurately report the number of clients receiving family preservation services. It is difficult to extract the information at this time.

Louisiana

Walter G. Fahr
Program Manager, Child Protective Services
Louisiana Office of Community Services
Department of Social Services
P.O. Box 3318
Baton Rouge, LA 70821
225-342-6832
225-342-9087 Fax
wfahr@dss.state.la.us

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Reasonable

Reports

The number of screening, intake, investigation, and assessment staff was based on the number of authorized investigative and intake staff in the agency budget.

The number of screening and intake staff was based on the number of staff allocated for intake responsibility or after hours on call in the agency budget. The FTE was based on a Random Moment Sampling of workers' time.

Services

Preventive services funded by the State Child Abuse and Neglect Grant were provided to 103 children, 66 of whom were served by the Children's Hospital FACES-HIV Prevention Program, and 37 of whom were served by the Prevent Child Abuse Louisiana Children's Nurturing Program.

The Community-Based Family Resource and Support Grant covered 28,334 children. These data excludes any one-time presentations or those programs which could be classified as primarily public awareness. There were an additional 32,500 children who are not included because the service was a single service unit and usually a one-time public appearance.

There were 651 unduplicated children who received services from the Child Protection Resource Centers' Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program.

The agency's Family Services Program under the Social Services Block Grant served 7,381 children.

There were 931 children served by the Office of Public Health/Maternal & Child Health through the Healthy Families America and Public Health Visiting Nurses Program.

The Community-Based Family Resource and Support Grant covered 7,201 families in 2002. These data exclude any one-time presentations or those programs which could be classified as primarily public awareness. There were an additional 25,320 families and 30,320 parents who are not included because the service was a single service unit and usually a one-time public presentation. These were not counted because they did not meet the NCANDS definition.

These data are for out of court contacts from 11 CASA programs that reported for a full year and one new CASA program with one case. The total number of child victims seen in 2002 was 2,179.

Maine

Robert Pronovost
Supervisor
Child Protection Intake
Bureau of Child and Family Services
Maine Department of Human Services
State House, Station 11
Augusta, ME 04333
207-287-2978
207-287-5065 Fax
robert.n.pronovost@state.me.us

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Preponderance

Reports

Screened-out referrals fall into several categories. Some of the reports are appropriate for CPS, but are referred to a community agency for followup. The community agencies do not make a determination regarding substantiation and do not provide information to the SACWIS. Some screened-out referrals do not contain allegations of child abuse or neglect involving a responsible caretaker and thus, are deemed inappropriate for CPS investigation or assessment.

The number of children reported to be subject of a report but not referred for investigation was an undercount, because only the number of children who were referred to a community agency for followup was known.

The number of FTEs was taken from the Legislative Line List. Screening and intake staff includes the full-time staff of the Central Child Protection Intake Unit and a proportion of field staff in the eight district offices perform intake and screening functions.

Fatalities

The three reported fatalities are from the Death and Serious Injury Report.

Services

Nine private agencies under contract with the Bureau of Child and Family Services provide prevention services as community intervention programs in all 16 counties. Families referred to these agencies were at high risk of child abuse and neglect.

Maryland

Stephen K. Berry
Manager
In-Home Services
Social Services Administration
Maryland Department of Human Resources
311 West Saratoga Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
410-767-7112
410-333-6556 Fax
sberry@dhr.state.md.us

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Preponderance

Reports

Maryland has a disposition category "ruled out" for situations of maltreatment that cannot be substantiated. Such reports are required to be expunged from the data base within 120 days of their receipt. Therefore, the complete counts of unsubstantiated reports and children associated with these reports were not available.

The number of staff reflects FTE positions allotted for CPS. The State does not designate screening, investigations, or continuing service tasks for these positions. Local departments determine use, based on their needs.

Services

The number of recipients of preventive services was an estimate of the number of families who received such services as Continuing CPS, Intensive Family Services, or Families Now. Each family could have received any number of additional support services (e.g., addiction counseling, daycare, or crisis intervention). The data collection system does not track preventive services provided by community service agencies outside the Department of Human Resources system.

Massachusetts

Rosalind Walter
Business Analyst
Massachusetts Department of Social Services
24 Farnsworth Street
Boston, MA 02210
617-748-2219
Ros.Walter@state.ma.us

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Reasonable

Reports

A referral is screened out because there is no reasonable cause to believe that a child was abused or neglected; the alleged perpetrator was not a caretaker; the specific situation is outdated and has no bearing on current risk to children; the specific condition is known and is being addressed by an ongoing service case; the specific condition was investigated and a duplicate investigation would be unnecessarily intrusive to the family; the reported child is 18 years old or older; or the report is not credible due to a history of unreliability from the same individual.

The estimated number of screening, intake, and investigation workers was an estimated number of FTEs that was derived by dividing the number of intakes and investigations completed during the calendar year by the monthly workload standards. The monthly workload standards are 75 screenings per FTE and 12 investigations per FTE. The number includes both State staff and staff working for the Judge Baker Guidance Center. The Judge Baker Guidance Center handles CPS functions during evening and weekend hours when State offices are closed. Because assessments are case-management activities rather than screening, intake, and investigation activities, the number of workers completing assessments was not reported.

The estimated FTE numbers were taken from Reports of Child Abuse/Neglect—Twelve Month Summary and Investigations Completed—Twelve Month Summary. The State uses these numbers for its own management purposes, and they present a clearer picture than would a count of unique individuals who performed these functions. Many Department of Social Services (DSS) social workers perform screening, intake, and investigation functions in addition to ongoing casework.

Fatalities

The State maintains a database with child fatality information entered by the Case Investigation Unit.

As of 2001, a revised version of this database records information on all child fatalities regardless of whether or not the family was known to the Department of Social Services prior to the fatality.

Michigan

Mary DeRose
Bureau of Child and Family Services
Michigan Family Independence Agency
235 South Grand Avenue, Suite 510
Lansing, MI 48909
517-373-9171
517-241-7047 Fax
derosem2@michigan.gov

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Preponderance of evidence

Reports

The total number of reports not referred for investigation was 50,018. The reasons for screening out include—already investigated, discounted after preliminary investigation, does not meet Child Protection Law definition of Child Abuse and Neglect, no reasonable cause, the referring person is unreliable or not credible, or the report is withdrawn with cause.

The total of 133,773 complaints includes those that were disposed, pending, unassigned, rejected, and transferred. The number of unassigned reports that were transferred to another county or agency for investigation was 7,851. The number of assigned reports that were pending was 1,769. The number of reports in which a preponderance of evidence was not found was 53,601. The source for these counts was the local office intake system for Wayne County and Service Workers Support System (SWSS) for the other 82 counties. These were complaint dispositions for fiscal year 2002.

Victims

CPS implemented changes to treat additional substantiated reports of maltreatment as separate cases (prior to this change the cases were linked) and therefore the recurrance rate has increased. The rate should not be viewed as an increase in maltreatment but as a more accurate view of recurrance.

Services

The State uses a five category system for case disposition. The five categories are determined by a combination of evidence, risk level, or safety assessment. Category one requires a court petition because a child is unsafe or a petition is mandated in the law for another reason. Category two is preponderance of evidence that abuse or neglect occurred and the initial risk level is high or intensive. Category three is a preponderance of evidence that abuse or neglect occurred and the initial risk level is low or moderate. Children's protective services must assist the family in voluntarily participating in community-based services. Category four is not a preponderance of evidence that abuse or neglect occurred. Category five is no evidence that abuse or neglect occurred.

Minnesota

Jean Swanson Broberg
Systems Analysis Unit Supervisor
Minnesota Department of Human Services
444 Lafayette Road
St. Paul, MN 55155-3862
651-772-3765
651-772-3794 Fax
jean.swanson-broberg@state.mn.us

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Preponderance of evidence

Reports

At the county agency, social workers respond to telephone calls, walk-ins, faxes, and letters that allege child maltreatment. According to State regulations, counties are allowed to screen-out reports when the situation has already been assessed or investigated, when the allegations as reported or discovered during the screening process do not meet the legal definitions of child abuse or neglect, or when the child is not in the county.

The State implemented a two-track response to allegations child maltreatment. This alternative response program enables CPS workers to provide a noninvestigative or alternative method of approaching families who have been reported as possibly abusing or neglecting their children. This program was in a pilot phase in previous years, and is now expanded to statewide availability. Thus, 2002 data show fewer substantiated reports and victims, as these terms were used for the investigative approach but were not appropriate for alternative responses. This reduction in numbers of substantiated reports and victims is expected to continue into future years as more county agencies adopt the alternative response.

The number of children who were screened out may be an undercount because workers may have screened out the report prior to recording all the details on every child, especially if the situation did not qualify as child abuse or neglect.

Services

The number of children who received preventive services was based on children who received health-related services, home-based support services, homemaking services, housing services, social and recreational services, money management, individual counseling, or group counseling.

Children and families who received preventive services under the Child Abuse and Neglect State Grant includes the Family Support Network and Crisis Nursery Services. Preventive services funded by "other sources" include those funded by substance abuse related grants.

Mississippi

Robin E.Wilson, LSW
Program Manager
Division of Family and Children's Services
Mississippi Department of Human Services
750 North State Street
P.O. Box 352
Jackson, MS 39205
601-359-4016
601-359-4978 Fax
rwilson@mdhs.state.ms.us

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Credible

Reports

The number of staff responsible for the screening and intake of reports during the year was comprised of workers who were responsible for intake for the statewide 1-800 abuse line.

Victims

The Department of Family and Children Services discontinued the use of the terms substantiated and unsubstantiated with the implementation of the SACWIS system. All report dispositions are now classified as "indicated" or "no evidence." "Indicated" numbers are mapped to NCANDS term substantiated.

Missouri

Bruce Hibbett
Management Analyst
Division of Family Services, Children's Services
Department of Social Services
615 Howerton Court
Jefferson City, MO 65109
573-526-5408
573-526-3971 Fax
bruce_hibbett@dssdfs.state.mo.us

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Probable cause

Reports

Screening and intake staff, which included the total number of staff in the child abuse and neglect centralized hotline registry. The screening and intake staff distributes the referrals to local staff for investigation. Screening, intake, and investigation or assessment staff included field staff who are responsible for investigating reports of child abuse and neglect.

Montana

Dave Thorsen
Bureau Chief
Operations & Fiscal Bureau
Montana DPHHS/Child & Family Services Division
P.O. Box 8005
Helena, MT 59604-8005
406-444-5930
406-444-5956 Fax
dthorsen@state.mt.us

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Preponderance

Reports

State statute mandates that the agency investigate all allegations indicating reasonable cause to suspect that a child was abused or neglected.

CPS staff includes caseworkers, licensing workers, permanency workers, supervisors, and administrative support staff. Workers in the many small rural offices perform all screening, intake, investigation, and assessment functions; therefore, it was not possible to provide the number of FTEs who perform only screening and intake.

Due to the State's rural nature, the majority of workers perform both intake and assessment functions. It was not possible to separate out the number of workers who perform only one of these functions. This number includes social workers, case aides, licensing workers, permanency workers, and supervisors.

Nebraska

Glenn G. Ogg
Business Systems Analyst
Nebraska Health and Human Services System
Office of Protection and Safety
301 Centennial Mall South, P.O. Box 95044
Lincoln, NE 68509-5044
402-571-6615
402-571-9597 Fax
glenn.ogg@hhss.state.ne.us

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Preponderance

Fatalities

The Bureau of Vital Statistics provided data about child victims who died as a result of maltreatment and were not reported in the Child File.

Nevada

Marjorie L. Walker
Social Services Program Specialist
Division of Child and Family Services
Nevada Department of Human Resources
711 East Fifth Street, Capitol Complex
Carson City, NV 89701-5092
775-684-4422
775-684-4456 Fax
mlwalker@dcfs.state.nv.us

Data File(s) Submitted

SDC

Level of Evidence Required

Reasonable

General

The State has a bifurcated social services system in which counties with populations in excess of 100,000 are required to maintain their own CPS system. As a result, there have been three data streams to be considered for each statewide data item—one each for Clark and Washoe counties and one for the remainder of the State. In 2002, the Washoe County Department of Social Services started using the State's SACWIS computer system—the Unified Information Technology System for Youth (U.N.I.T.Y.). The Clark County Department of Family Services will be converting to the State's system in 2003. For this report, the State did not count the number of children, only the number of reports.

Reports

Law enforcement reporters include coroner and juvenile probation staff. "Other report source" includes clergy members. More than one source per report may be entered.

Victims

Physical abuse includes major and minor physical injury, and fatal maltreatment. Neglect or deprivation of necessities includes physical neglect, lack of supervision, and educational neglect. Psychological or emotional abuse includes emotional abuse or neglect and abandonment.

For 2002 data, Clark County coded all Hispanics as Caucasian race.

Services

The Nevada State Community Connections Program provided much of the data for preventive services. For title IV-B, the total provided by the program officer is not unduplicated. Only individuals served are tracked and they do not distinguish between children and families. The number of families under the Child Abuse and Neglect State Grant reflects the number of reports. The SSBG family count reflects the number of adults served under the SSBG.

New Hampshire

Jane M. Whitney
Systems Analyst/Reporting Coordinator
Office of Information Systems
New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services
129 Pleasant Street, State Office Park South
Concord, NH 03301
603-271-8384
603-271-0524 Fax
jmwhitney@dhhs.state.nh.us

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Preponderance

Reports

The assessment and investigation process includes 3 special investigation workers and 65 assessment workers. This is a point-in-time snapshot taken in June 2002.

Fatalities

Data on child fatalities were obtained from the Attorney General's Office.

Services

Child count estimates were derived by multiplying the number of families by the national average number of children for Child Abuse and Neglect State, Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program and Children Funding Source: Other.

Family count estimates were derived by dividing the number of total children by the national average number of children for Social Services Block Grant and Family Funding Source: Other.

A CASA GAL is required to visit the children to whom they are appointed at least once per month. The average number of contacts was nine, which indicates that not all children are being served by a CASA GAL for all twelve months of that year. Some cases do not start until part way through the year and other cases close during the course of it.

New Jersey

Art Hull
Manager
Information Processing
Office of Information Services
Division of Youth and Family Services
New Jersey Department of Human Services
50 East State Street, 5th Floor
Trenton, NJ 08625-0717
609-292-9175
609-292-8196 Fax
ahull@dhs.state.nj.us

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Preponderance

General

During 1994, the Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) began an initiative that has a more careful classification of incoming referrals, as either child abuse and neglect or a family problem. The families classified as having "family problems" were not believed to have committed child abuse or neglect according to State statute. The types of situations that may lead to such a classification include homelessness; domestic violence; unresolved, child-related medical, emotional, or substance abuse problems; children with disabilities needing assistance; problems that affect the ability of parents to provide basic care for their children; and cases in which parents lack the skills to parent adequately. These cases are classified as alternative response nonvictim.

Reports

The DYFS requires all referrals to receive either an assessment or a CPS investigation, depending on the referral type.

The count of screening, intake, investigation, and assessment workers includes all casework staff designated as caseload carrying. These workers may be assigned to a District Office, Institutional Abuse Investigation Unit, or the Office of Child Abuse Control. Workers assigned to the Adoption Resource Centers are excluded.

Services

The total number of children who received preventive services is an estimate of DYFS and County Welfare Agency (CWA) clients who were served through established child abuse and neglect prevention contracts. The DYFS total was obtained from the Contract Administration System and reflects the combined available slots for all applicable contracts. All nonplacement-related services were considered to be preventive services and were included if the target population is children or adolescents, regardless of the funding source. Because some clients may receive the same service multiple times or may receive more than one service, this total may be duplicated.

The numbers included in preventive services were taken from the CWA annual report Services Funded by SSBG for County Welfare Agencies for 2000 (fiscal year) under the service categories prevention and intervention and case management. These totals may also be duplicated.

DYFS does not capture the number of families served through a particular service. This total was derived by dividing the estimated number of clients served by four, which DYFS believes to be an average family size. CWA data are not available by family.

Children considered "family problem at-risk" were not included in the counts on service outcomes because information about whether children did or did not receive services, or were removed as the result of a referral, is recorded only for investigations of abuse or neglect and not for assessments of children at risk.

Removals for children with unsubstantiated dispositions were emergency removals and took place before the investigations were completed.

New Mexico

Tracy Fava
Manager, Research/Evaluation Unit
Protective Services Division
Children Youth & Families Department
P.O. Drawer 5160 Rm 252
Santa Fe, NM 87502
505- 827- 8474
505- 827-8480 Fax
tlfava@cyfd.state.nm.us

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Credible

Reports

The count of screening, intake, and investigation and assessment staff represents the total number of FTEs, which includes social workers, case workers, and supervisors responsible for intake and investigations. The count of screening and intake workers represents the total number of FTEs, which includes case workers, social workers, and supervisors in the Statewide Central Intake (SCI) unit.

Services

The number of children who received services under the Child Abuse and Neglect Grant were estimated based on the contracted slots.

The average number of annual contacts per CASA worker was 10. The number of out-of-court contacts between the court-appointed representatives and the child victims they represent was calculated by multiplying the average number of annual contacts per CASA worker (10) by the number of children served by the New Mexico CASA Network Agency, for a total of 21,620.

New York

Donna Keys
Director
Bureau of Management Information
New York State Office of Children and Family Services
Riverview Center, 6th Floor (12204)
40 North Pearl Street, 8C
Albany, NY 12243
518-474-6791
518-473-8205 Fax
sv0050@dfa.state.ny.us

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Credible

Reports

There is no policy for screening out hotline calls.

North Carolina

JoAnn Lamm
Program Administrator
Family Support and Child Welfare
Services Section
Division of Social Services
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
325 North Salisbury Street
Mail Service Center 2408
Raleigh, NC 27603
919-733-9467
919-733-6924 fax
joann.lamm@ncmail.net

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Preponderance

Reports

Reasons why reports may not be referred for investigative assessment include:

• The alleged perpetrator is not a parent or caretaker;
• The victim is not a juvenile under the statutory definition; or
• The allegation does not fall within any of the statutory definitions of abuse, neglect, or dependency.

Legislation, effective in 1997, requires that for all allegations of abuse, neglect, or dependency with regard to any child in a family, all minors living in the home must be treated as alleged victims.

The staffing numbers were provided by an annual survey of the 100 social services departments.

Victims

"Other maltreatment types" includes dependency and encouraging, directing, or approving delinquent acts involving moral turpitude committed by a juvenile.

North Dakota

Mike Sjomeling
Director
Division of Research
Department of Human Services—325
600 E. Boulevard
Bismarck, ND 58501
701-328-4131
701-328-3418
sosjom@state.nd.us

Data File(s) Submitted

SDC

Level of Evidence Required

Some credible evidence

General

The child neglect and abuse law was amended in 1995 to move from an incident-based investigation method to a service method, in which assessments are made of child safety and future risk of harm. The emphasis is on what services are available to ameliorate any future risk. This approach focuses on identifying and building on the family's capacities and strengths.

The text of the statute, in part, states:

"An assessment is a fact-finding process designed to provide information that enables a determination to be made that services are required to provide for the protection and treatment of an abused or neglected child. The Department of Human Services (DHS) immediately shall initiate an assessment or cause an assessment of any report of child abuse or neglect including, when appropriate, the assessment of the home or residence of the child, any school or child care facility attended by the child, and the circumstances surrounding the report of abuse or neglect. If the report alleges a violation of a criminal statute involving sexual or physical abuse, DHS and an appropriate law enforcement agency shall coordinate the planning and execution of their investigation efforts to avoid a duplication of fact-finding efforts and multiple interviews.

Upon completion of the assessment of the initial report of child abuse or neglect, a decision must be made whether services are required to provide for the protection and treatment of an abused or neglected child. This determination is the responsibility of DHS. Upon a decision that services are required, DHS promptly shall make a written report of the decision to the juvenile court having jurisdiction in the matter. DHS promptly shall file a report of a decision that services are required under this section in the child abuse information index. The Division of Children and Family Services shall maintain a child abuse information index of all reports of decisions that services are required for child abuse, neglect, or death resulting from abuse or neglect." (Excerpted from North Dakota Legislative Code, Chapter 50-25.1)

Reports

The count of reports by report source does not include those contained in a separate Residential Child Abuse and Neglect database.

Victims

The State uses dispositions of services required or no services required. The number reported for alternative response victims represents the Services Required assessments. The number reported for alternative response, children not identified as victims represent the No Services Required assessments.

Ohio

Leslie B.McGee
Child Protective Services Supervisor
Bureau of Family Services
Ohio Department of Job and Family Services
255 East Main Street, 3rd Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
614-466-9274
614-466-0164 Fax
mcgeel@odjfs.state.oh.us

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

No Information

General

Effective April 1, 2001, the State began requiring dispositions on all reports. From January 1, 1998 through this date, the majority of reports received a case resolution (overall level of risk) only. Children with no report disposition were reported to NCANDS under the alternative response victim or nonvictim categories based upon the level of risk assessed.

The NCANDS data for 2002 represents the first full year since 1998 that dispositions were required for all reports of child abuse and neglect. As expected, this had a substantial impact on the data. Specifically, the State reported significantly fewer numbers of children under the alternative response categories, and considerably higher numbers of children under the disposition categories.

Reports

"Other relatives" report source includes parents. Response time is the median rather than the mean.

Fatalities

The number of fatalities may be underreported because CPS agencies do not investigate all child deaths.

Services

Social Services Block Grant services that fall under abuse, neglect, and prevention include foster care; independent living/transitional living; prevention and intervention; and protective services.

Victims who had been reunified within the past 5 years include child victims who were in foster care and whose parent(s), (e.g., mother, father, adoptive mother, or adoptive father) was (were) listed as the alleged perpetrator.

Oklahoma

Bill Hindman
Program Administrator
CFSD/Adoptions, Research & Technology Unit
Department of Human Services
P.O. Box 25352
Oklahoma City, OK 73125
405-522-1968
405-521-4373 Fax
Bill.Hindman@okdhs.org

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Credible

Reports

There were 19,370 referrals and an additional 36,633 children screened out prior to being referred for investigation or assessment. The State considers referrals that allege child abuse and neglect as "family based."More than one child can be involved within one referral and children can be duplicated if additional reports are received during the calendar year. Allegations that are entered in the SACWIS system and become "information/referral" are counted as screen outs, but may not have client information and therefore, will not have child counts.

Response time is based on the identified priority of the referral. The following is the average response time based on priority:

• Priority I—11 hrs. (Maximum time allowed is 24 hrs);
• Priority II—350 hrs. (Maximum time allowed is 15 days or 360 hrs); and
• Priority III—624 hrs. (Maximum time allowed is 30 days or 720 hrs).

Child Welfare staff whose primary worker type is "intake" have the responsibility to receive, screen, investigate, and assess reports of abuse and neglect. However, Child Welfare staff whose primary worker type is "generic" also have the responsibility to receive, screen, investigate and assess reports of abuse and neglect as part of their assigned work. Therefore, this count is an estimate of the number of staff during calendar year 2002 whose primary assignment was "intake" and a percentage of the staff who are "generic." These numbers are staff and not FTE.

There were 33 screening and intake workers during 2002 that staffed the Statewide Child Abuse Hotline and two metro County Child Abuse Hotlines.

Contacts by CASAs were not documented in the Oklahoma SACWIS system. All 77 county court systems in the State appointed their advocates. Many court systems used CASA, but others have their own advocate programs. Their documentation methods vary from county to county and most often consist of narrative type reports to the court. All children involved in the juvenile court system had either a court-appointed advocate or a GAL.

Of the children in the Child File, 1,104 children had a previous removal where their removal end date was reunification. The average number of out-of-court contacts between the court-appointed representatives and the child victims they represent is not available in SACWIS. Court-appointed representatives are assigned to every child who is involved in the Juvenile Court system; however the type of services and contacts vary from county to county.

Services

The Department of Human Services provided preventive services to 4,528 children who were identified as at risk. The Department of Education: Childhood/Family Education Office provided preventive services through the Parents as Teachers (OPAT) program. The Oklahoma Children's Services Parents Assistance Center, (State Funded) provided education and support groups for at risk families.

During State fiscal year 2002, the Oklahoma State Department of Health, Family Health Services provided the following prevention programs to families:

• Office of Child Abuse Prevention, community-based family resource and support programs, providing home visitation and center-based activities;
• Children First, Public Nurse home visitation;
• Sooner Start, Early Intervention: families received intervention services for their infants and toddlers who have disabilities; and
• Department of Education: Childhood/Family Education Office provided prevention services through the Parents as Teachers (OPAT) program.

The Tribal Programs served 1,321 families and the Parents Assistance Programs served 380 families.

The Department of Human Services provided preventive services directly and through contracts with various agencies. These programs are both funded by the state. Department of Education: Childhood/Family Education Office provided preventive services through the Parents as Teachers (OPAT) program, which served families. Oklahoma Children's Services Parents Assistance Center, (State Funded) provides group support and education. Oklahoma High Risk Project, Parenting Helpline.

Fatalities

Information on child fatalities not reported in the Child File, is not documented in the SACWIS.

Oregon

Maria Duryea
Research Analyst
Department of Human Services/
Children, Adults and Families
500 Summer Street NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-945-6510
503-581-6198 Fax
Maria.Duryea@state.or.us

Data File(s) Submitted

SDC

Level of Evidence Required

Reasonable

Reports

Data were reported based on the assessment date. The State classification "unable to determine" was mapped to the NCANDS term "other dispositions"

Victims

The numbers of children with unsubstantiated and "other dispositions" were estimated.

The classification "threat of harm" is mapped to "other maltreatment types."

Services

The same child could be removed more than once during the year and associated with different reports. Each removal is counted.

Pennsylvania

Susan Stockwell
Program Specialist
Office of Children, Youth and Families
Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare
P.O. Box 2675
Harrisburg, PA 17105
717-772-6902
717-772-6442 Fax
sstockwell@state.pa.us

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Clear and convincing/Beyond reasonable doubt

General

The State does not accept funds from the Basic State Grant.

Reports

The State has a narrow definition of child abuse, CPS investigations account for approximately 30 percent of the total reports investigated or assessed by the child welfare system. The number of screened-out referrals includes referrals of general protective service, information and referral, and emergency clearances for placements.

In the county-administered child welfare system, some counties have caseworkers that specialize in CPS investigations or assessments, while other counties have generic caseworkers that perform other child welfare functions in addition to investigations or assessments. Any caseworker that performed a direct child welfare function was reported.

Reports of "imminent risk of physical and sexual abuse" have been included in the physical abuse and sexual abuse categories. The number of reports for those categories includes 92 reports of "imminent risk of physical abuse" and 44 reports of "imminent risk of sexual abuse."

Victims

State policy addresses neglect through a general protective service investigation rather than a CPS investigation. These neglect cases are not classified as child abuse.

The definition of abuse includes "(i.) any recent act or failure to act by a perpetrator that causes nonaccidental serious physical injury to a child less than 18 years old; (ii.) an act or failure to act by a perpetrator that causes nonaccidental serious mental injury to or sexual abuse or sexual exploitation of a child less than 18 years old; (iii.) any act or failure to act or series of such acts or failure to act by a perpetrator which creates an imminent risk of serious physical injury to or sexual abuse or sexual exploitation of a child less than 18 years old; (iv.) serious physical neglect by a perpetrator constituting prolonged or repeated lack of supervision or the failure to provide the essentials of life, including adequate medical care, which endangers a child's life or development or impairs the child's functioning." (Pennsylvania Child Protective Services Law, title 23, PA C.S.A. Chapter 63.)

State law does not allow the collection of data on race.

Perpetrators

The other category includes eleven perpetrators of "student abuse" (six teachers, one counselor, and four other school staff).

Adoptive parents are included in the biological parents category.

All perpetrators of child abuse are caretakers. Perpetrators of "student abuse" are not caretakers.

Fatalities

Three reports of child maltreatment resulting in death had a final disposition of "founded" in 2002 as a result of criminal court action. These reports had initial dispositions of pending criminal court in 2000 and 2001 and had not been previously reported to NCANDS.

Rhode Island

Rebecca Connors
RICHIST Program Manager
Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families
101 Friendship Street
Providence, RI 02903
401-528-3816
401-528-3922 Fax
rconnor@dcyf.state.ri.us

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Preponderance

Reports

Reports that contain the following four criteria are investigated.

• The report must involve a child younger than 18 years or younger than 21 years if living in DCYF foster or institutional care or in DCYF custody, regardless of placement.
• Harm or substantial risk of harm to the child is present.
• A specific incident or pattern of incidents suggesting child abuse or neglect can be identified.
• A person responsible for the child's welfare or living in the same home has allegedly abused or neglected the child. State statute defines a person responsible for the child's welfare as the child's parent, guardian, foster parent (relative or nonrelative), an employee of a public or private residential home or facility, or any staff person providing out-of-home care (out-of-home care includes include family daycare, group daycare, and center-based daycare).

A report that contains at least one, but not all four criteria, is considered an "early warning report," and is not investigated.

While the RICHIST system can link more than report source per report, only one person can be identified as the person who actually makes the report. If more than one report is linked to an investigation, the person identified as the reporter in the first report is used in the Child File.

The number of screening, intake, investigation, and assessment workers was based upon a point in time count of FTEs for Child Protective Investigators and Child Protective Supervisors who accept and investigate reports meeting the criteria for investigation and screening. The number of screening and intake workers is based upon a point in time count of all FTEs for Social Caseworkers II and Social Caseworker Supervisors II working in the Intake Unit, who are responsible for screening and intake.

Victims

"Other maltreatment types" includes institutional allegations such as corporal punishment, other institutional abuse, and other institutional neglect.

Services

The CASA organization provided the average number of out-of-court contacts. This number represents the contacts made by CASA volunteers and does not include the contacts of GALs.

South Carolina

Joanne L. Schaekel
Program Liaison, Child Protective Services
Office of Family Preservation and Child Welfare Services
South Carolina Department of Social Services
P.O. Box 1520
Columbia, SC 29202-1520
803-898-7318
803-898-7217 Fax
jschaekel@dss.state.sc.us

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Preponderance

General

In June 2002, there were extensive revisions to the South Carolina Code of Laws, which impacted the reporting of data to NCANDS. Significant amendments are listed below.

• The definition of threat of harm was removed and "significant risk of harm" language was substituted. This change clarifies the definition while preserving the concept of risk of harm in the statute. As a result, the State no longer reports a large amount of data in the "other maltreatment types" because the substantial risk of injury is more clearly linked to the specific maltreatment type.
• Information about screened-out referrals and unfounded investigations are now preserved for at least 5 years on the automated system and the information is available to staff when screening subsequent reports.
• The Department is permitted to maintain identifying information and other demographics on alleged perpetrators.

Reports

As a result of a South Carolina Supreme Court ruling and with guidance from the State Attorney General, the Department accepts referrals on a viable fetus when the mother is alleged to be using illegal substances. A viable fetus is defined as an unborn child 24 weeks or more into fetal development.

The Department distinguishes between "unfounded situations" by statute as follows: unfounded because abuse or neglect was ruled out, unfounded because there was insufficient information to substantiate, unfounded because the investigation could not be completed as a result of the family fleeing or other compelling reason, and unfounded because the information was not taken for investigation. For NCANDS purposes, referrals reflecting information not taken for investigation are reported as screened out, rather than as part of the "unfounded population." The automated system also collects data on investigations unfounded as a result of actions due to parental good conscience. Investigations that are unfounded because the family fled can be reopened for another 45-day investigation without requiring a new referral, when the family is located.

Fatalities

The number of child deaths due to child maltreatment represents investigations conducted jointly between the Department of Social Services and law enforcement or by law enforcement alone. South Carolina Code of Laws does not require the Department of Social Services to conduct an investigation unless there are surviving siblings. The category of children reported as being investigated by outside agencies alone is the result of a yearly reconciliation activity that takes place to ensure that children reported to NCANDS meet the statutory definitions for child maltreatment rather than the broader definition of the charge of Homicide by Child Abuse contained in the criminal code.

The number of fatalities for the 2002 reporting period includes one child whose death occurred in 2001 but the case determination was not made until 2002. All other child deaths reported through the Child File occurred in 2002 and had case determinations made in 2002.

Services

The Department currently does not maintain any automated data on the frequency of contact between GALs and children. GALs are appointed primarily from certified individuals associated with the South Carolina Guardian ad Litem Program, which is not part of the Department of Social Services. Also, at least one judicial district primarily appoints guardians who are also attorneys. For South Carolina, the estimated number of children who received preventive services was calculated by multiplying the number of families who received preventive services by 1.8, which is the estimated number of children per family. The estimated number of children per family was derived by dividing the total number of children by the total number of reports.

South Dakota

Mary Livermont
Program Specialist II
Child Protection Services
South Dakota Department of Social Services
700 Governors Drive
Pierre, SD 57501
605-773-3227
605-773-6834 Fax
mary.livermont@state.sd.us

Data File(s) Submitted

SDC

Level of Evidence Required

Preponderance

General

By August of 2002, all Child Protection Services Offices in the State were trained and began implementing the Initial Family Assessment (IFA) process. This takes the place of the investigation and assessment processes that were in place until this time. When a report of child maltreatment needs to be investigated, the IFA process is used, which results in the following actions:

• A thorough family-centered evaluation of child maltreatment and family functioning.
• Findings related to maltreatment, risk, and safety.
• Specific assessment and attention to immediate threats of safety and foreseeable threats of harm.
• Sufficient information to meet evidentiary standards.
• An accurate determination of whether or not the case should be open for service.
• An information and decision foundation for effectively continuing CPS involvement.
• A greater likelihood that families will experience a family friendly approach.

Tennessee

Kimberly A. Moore
Case Manager III
Child Protective Services
Tennessee Department of Children's Services
CPS Centralized Intake
1200 Foster Avenue, Sills 4
Nashville, TN 37243
615-253-6569
615-253-6588 Fax
Kimberly.a.moore@state.tn.us

Data File(s) Submitted

SDC

Level of Evidence Required

Material evidence

Reports

The functions of staff who are responsible for the screening and intake of reports during the year are determined by county agencies. These functions, across the 95 counties, are performed on an as-needed basis by a variety of staff, including non-CPS staff.

Services

The Children Funding Source: Community-Based Family Resource and Support Grant data represent an unduplicated count for fiscal year 2002.

Texas

Deborah Washington
System Analyst
Information Technology
Department of Protective & Regulatory Services
8100 Cameron Road, Mail Code Y960
P.O. Box 149030
Austin, TX 78714-9030
512-834-3762
512-834-3780 Fax
deborah.washington@tdprs.state.tx.us

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Preponderance

Reports

The average response time was 17.75 hours for Priority 1 calls and 172.35 hours for Priority 2 calls.

During 2002, there were 3,590 CPS FTE caseworkers, with 1,012 CPS FTE caseworkers assigned to handle intake and investigations as their primary responsibility. All cases on the workload are captured each month, and if 80 percent are intakes, the worker is classified as an intake worker. If 80 percent of the cases are investigations, the worker is classified as an investigation worker.

Services

There were of 58,681 children served by the Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program. The Services to At-Risk Youth program served 34,475 children and the Community Youth Development served 24,206 children.

The Second Chance Teen Parenting program served 609 children; the At-Risk Mentoring program served 2,435 children and the Community in Schools program served 83,383 children for a total of 86,427 children served by other programs.

The Healthy Families program served 1,768 families and the Home Institution program for Preschool Youngsters served 393 families for a total of 2,161 families served by other funded programs.

Utah

Navina Forsythe
Data Unit Supervisor
Division of Child and Family Services
Utah Department of Human Services
120 North 200 West, Suite 123
Salt Lake City, UT 84103
801-538-4045
801-538-4420 Fax
nforsythe@utah.gov

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Reasonable

Reports

The disposition of closed with no finding includes cases when the family could not be located.

Initial investigation is defined as face-to-face contact with the alleged victim. Consequently, the average time may be longer than other States with less stringent standards. Outlying data points were excluded.

The number of screening, intake, investigation, and assessment workers is an estimate. Many workers perform multiple functions, (e.g., conduct investigations as well as other types of work). This number includes all workers who conduct some investigations.

A call may be screened out when one of the following apply—the minimum required information for accepting a referral is not available (e.g., location of victim); the information is determined to not be credible or reliable; the specific incidence or allegation has been previously investigated; or the specific allegation is under investigation.

Vermont

Phillip M. Zunder, Ph.D.
Information Technology Manager
Vermont Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services
103 South Main Street
Waterbury, VT 05671-2401
802-241-2106
802-241-2980 Fax
pzunder@srs.state.vt.us

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Reasonable

General

The Vermont Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services is responsible for investigating allegations of child abuse or neglect by caretakers and sexual abuse by any person. The department investigates "risk of physical harm" and "risk of sexual abuse." Beginning with 2002, these are mapped to NCANDS terms physical abuse and sexual abuse respectively. In previous years, both were mapped to neglect.

Services

The number of recipients of "other preventive services" is a duplicated count of recipients of at risk childcare, intensive family-based services, and parent education programs.

Virginia

Mary M. Carpenter
Child Protective Services Specialist
Division of Family Services
Virginia Department of Social Services
730 East Broad Street, 2d Floor
Richmond,VA 23219
804-692-1688
804-692-2215 Fax
mmc900@dss.state.va.us

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Preponderance

General

An alternative response system was implemented statewide beginning with May 2002. Reports placed in the "investigation" track receive a disposition of "founded" (substantiated) or "unfounded" (unsubstantiated) for each maltreatment allegation. Reports placed in the "family assessment" track receive a family assessment; no determination is made as to whether or not maltreatment actually occurred.

Reports

Referrals were screened out if they did not meet the State definition of a valid report or if they had insufficient information to locate the family. Criteria for a referral to be screened in include the alleged victim was younger than 18 years old; the alleged abuser or neglector met the definition of "caretaker;" the allegation met the definition of abuse or neglect; and the alleged abuse or neglect occurred in the State, or the child was a State resident.

State law requires that records of unsubstantiated and alternative response referrals be purged from the database one year after the report date. As a result, some unsubstantiated and alternative response cases were not included in the NCANDS file.

The total FTEs for all child protective services were estimated by statewide random moment sampling of program activity for the year.

Victims and Perpetrators

The Department of Social Services continues to improve its use of identifiers. Every time a new referral is entered in the State's SACWIS, the system assigns each person in the referral a new identification number. Workers are instructed to search the database for identical children and perpetrators and to employ a merge function to combine the records for each individual, thus, giving them a single identification number. This is not done consistently, which impacts the counts of unique victims and perpetrators and measures of maltreatment recurrence. The Department of Social Services has revised the SACWIS to correct some problems with the merge function and continues to address the issue through training.

Services

The service of a juvenile court petition is not a mandated field for workers to fill out. Thus, the reported number is an undercount.

The number of children with out-of-court contacts was derived from aggregate reports from some local CASA programs. The Department of Criminal Justice Services received data for State fiscal year 2002 from 10 of the 26 CASA programs. Not all localities are served by a CASA program.

Workers enter data into the SACWIS to indicate that a case was opened for postinvestigation services. In most localities, the specific services planned and provided are documented in the SACWIS only for foster care children.

Washington

Cynthia Ellingson
Program Manager
Children's Administration
Washington Department of Social and Health Services
P.O. Box 45710
14th and Jefferson Street, OB-2
Olympia, WA 98504-5710
360-902-7929
360-902-7903 Fax
elcy300@dshs.wa.gov

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Preponderance

Reports

A referral was screened out for the following reasons: the child could not be located, the alleged subject was not a caretaker, or the allegation of child abuse and neglect did not meet the State's legal definition. Of the referrals that were screened in, some were assessed as needing a "high standard of investigation" (face-to-face contact with the victim) and some were assessed as "families in need of services."

Each social worker's responsibilities are identified at the office level and coded as "CPS," "intake," or "after hours." The monthly average for all three categories is 486.5 FTEs. The monthly average for just "intake" and "after hours" is 114.1 FTEs.

During 2002, the State implemented a Central Intake Unit, which was dissolved mid-2003.

For the response time with respect to the initial investigation of reports of child abuse or neglect, 85 percent of the victims in the screened-in referrals were seen within 10 days. This is a State agency program standard.

Victims

With respect to the average number of out-of-court contacts between the court-appointed representatives, 34.1 hours was the average number of hours spent with a client.

Services

Families received preventive services from the following sources: Community Networks; CPS Child Care Services; Family Reconciliation Services; Family Preservation; and Intensive Family Preservation Services.

The Families Funding Source: Community-Based Family Resource and Support Grant value is estimated from community programs.

The Department opens a case for services at the time a CPS referral is screened-in. The automated information system does not distinguish between services provided for the purpose of the investigation and services provided during the investigation, which are for the purpose of supporting the family or reducing the risk present in the family. By policy, investigations are to be completed within 90 days of the referral. To most accurately distinguish between those children who received services, in addition to CPS investigation or assessment services, and those who did not, CPS cases open longer than 90 days were counted as receiving postinvestigative services, and cases open for 90 or fewer days were counted as not having received postinvestigative services.

West Virginia

Tom Strawderman
Program Manager II, Resource & Development
Bureau for Children and Families
Department of Health and Human Resources
350 Capitol Street
Room 730
Charleston, WV 25301-3711
Phone: 304-558-7980
Fax: 304-558-8800
tstrawderman@wvdhhr.org

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

No information.

General

The Families and Children Tracking System (FACTS) has been in operation for 5 years; this is the fourth full report obtained from the new system. Revisions are continuously being made to improve programming and ease of use by workers.

Reports

The number of staff responsible for CPS functions is based on payroll data. This estimate of FTEs is determined by multiplying the percentage of time workers spend on CPS cases by the total number of CPS workers and social workers in the State. Workers are cross-trained and assist each other in performing the various CPS functions. Therefore, the estimate of screening and intake workers cannot be made.

Fatalities

In addition to the 13 fatalities reported in the Child File, 16 fatalities were reported by the WV Child Fatality Review Team. Those deaths included eight cases of homicide; seven cases in which death resulted from a parent, caregiver, or responsible adult's failure to adequately supervise or protect the child; and one death resulted from an unrestrained child killed in a motor vehicle accident.

Services

The numbers of children and families receiving preventive services through the Child Abuse and Neglect State Grant (Basic State Grant) were tabulated from monthly or annual performance reports submitted by contracted providers funded through this source. Preventive services provided through the Community-Based Family Resource and Support Grant included many of the same contracts as the Child Abuse and Neglect State Grant. The numbers of children and families receiving preventive services through the Safe and Stable Families Program were tabulated from monthly or annual performance reports submitted by contracted providers funded through this source.

Some of the contracted providers were Family Refuge Center, West Virginia Youth Advocate, Stop Abusive Family Environments, Prestera Center, TEAM for West Virginia Children, Children's Home of Wheeling, and Community Action of Southern West Virginia.

Wisconsin

John Tuohy
Director
Office of Policy, Evaluation, and Planning
Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services
1 West Wilson Street
Madison, WI 53708
608-267-3832
608-267-6836 Fax
tuohyjo@dhfs.state.wi.us

Data Sources

SDC

Level of Evidence Required

Preponderance

General

Child abuse and neglect data were submitted by local agencies for manual entry into a database. The State is implementing a SACWIS system that collects more complete and timely child abuse and neglect data. The reporting features were implemented in Milwaukee County during 2001 and will be implemented statewide by 2004. For 2002, approximately 40 percent of the data is from the SACWIS system and 60 percent from the manual process. Child File reporting will begin once the reporting features are in use statewide.

Reports

The State is child-based, that is, each report in the SDC has only one child. Abuse or neglect reports that are investigated by local agencies can involve multiple children.

There can be more than one source per report. The category "other dispositions" refers to those investigations where critical sources of information that are necessary for establishing a preponderance of evidence cannot be found or accessed.

Victims

In addition to dispositions of substantiated abuse and neglect, the data includes dispositions where evidence justifies a belief that abuse or neglect is likely to occur. "Other dispositions" includes children who are subjects of reports with a disposition indicating the likelihood of abuse or neglect.

Perpetrators

There may be more than one perpetrator per child.

Fatalities

The count of fatalities includes only those children who were subjects of reports of abuse or neglect in which the allegation was substantiated. The State updated the Child Fatality count to 12 (rather than 14). This update was not able to be changed in Child Maltreatment 2002, but the update will be included in future reports on fatalities.

Wyoming

Heather Babbitt
Social Services Consultant
Protective Services
Wyoming Department of Family Services
2300 Capitol Avenue
Cheyenne, WY 82002
307-777-5479
307-777-3693 Fax
hbabbi@state.wy.us

Data File(s) Submitted

Child File, Agency File

Level of Evidence Required

Credible

Report

Each active worker—with at least one open CPS incident at the time this report was generated— was counted as a screening, intake, investigation, or assessment worker. As a general practice, there is no difference between screening and intake workers and investigation and assessment workers.

Services

Children were considered to have received family preservation services in the last 5 years if family preservation contracts were written on any incident in that period. Children were considered to have received reunification services if in the 5 years prior to the beginning of the reporting period, there was a placement that ended with reunification.

 

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