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Home > Statistics & Research > Child Welfare Outcomes 2000 > Alabama

 

Child Welfare Outcomes 2000: Annual Report
Chapter IV - State Data

Context Data | Outcomes Data | Federal Comment
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Alabama [ Context Data ]

A. Key Context Statistics

General Population	1998	1999	2000
Total children under 18 years	1,084,135	1,066,177	1,123,422
Race/ethnicity (%)1
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.3	0.3	0.5
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.7	0.8	0.7
Black	32.2	32.2	31.8
Hispanic	1.4	1.5	2.2
White	65.3	65.3	63.3
Two or more races	N/A	N/A	1.3
Other	N/A	N/A	0.1
% Child population in poverty	25.9	24.0	19.2
% Child population living in metropolitan areas	69.5	75.5	69.9

 

Child Welfare	1998	1999	2000
Child maltreatment victims	16,668	13,773	9,990
Children in foster care on 9/30	5,198	5,511	5,621
Children adopted	115	153	202

1) The 2000 Census of the United States includes two new race catagories: (1) Persons of two or more races and (2) Other. Back

 

B. Child Maltreatment Data (NCANDS)

	Number			Rate
Maltreatment Information Overview	1998	1999	2000	1998	1998	2000
Children subject of an investigated report alleging child maltreatment	35,705	35,919	32,655	32.9 per 1,000	33.7 per 1,000	29.1 per 1,000
Child maltreatment victims2	16,668	13,773	9,990	15.4 per 1,000	12.9 per 1,000	8.9 per 1,000
Child fatalities	25	29	27	2.3 per 100,000	2.7 per 100,000	2.4 per 100,000

 

Age of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000
Under 1 year	7.0	7.7	8.6
1-5 years	27.8	27.2	27.4
6-10 years	30.6	29.3	27.9
11-15 years	27.4	28.1	28.9
16+ years	5.6	5.1	5.2
Unknown	1.5	2.5	1.9
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	16,668	13,773	9,990

 

Race/Ethnicity of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.1	0.2	0.1
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.2	0.2	0.2
Black	36.6	38.0	38.5
Hispanic	0.7	1.0	0.9
White	62.1	60.0	59.7
Two or more races	N/A	N/A	-
Other/Unknown	1.0	1.6	0.6
Total %3	100.7	101.0	100.0
Number	16,668	13,773	9,990

 

Maltreatment Type of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000
Emotional abuse	6.4	4.9	3.7
Medical neglect	-	-	-
Neglect	46.3	46.0	43.8
Physical abuse	39.7	40.9	40.4
Sexual abuse	21.4	23.1	26.5
Other	-	-	-
Unknown	-	-	-
Total %4	113.8	114.9	114.5
Number	16,668	13,773	9,990

2) Children with more than one report of substantiated or indicated maltreatment may be counted more than once. Back
3) Percentages may total more than 100 percent because Hispanics may be counted both by Hispanic ethnicity and by race. Back
4) Percentages may total more than 100 percent because children could have been victims of more than one type of maltreatment. Back

C. Children in Foster Care
(AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database)

Number of Children	In Care on 10/1	Entered Care	Exited Care	In Care on 9/30	Total Served
FY1998 (10/1/97-9/30/98)	5,246	2,803	2,851	5,198	8,049
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	4,839	2,734	2,062	5,511	7,573
FY2000 (10/1/99-9/30/00)	5,294	2,661	2,334	5,621	7,955
Median Length of Stay (Months)
FY1998 (10/1/97-9/30/98)	19.3	N/A	9.4	22.3	N/A
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	22.0	N/A	8.8	21.5	N/A
FY2000 (10/1/99-9/30/00)	21.8	N/A	11.1	22.0	N/A

 

Age of Children in Foster Care (%)	In Care on 10/1/97	In Care on 10/1/98	In Care on 10/1/99	Entered Care During FY 1998	Entered Care During FY 1999	Entered Care During FY 2000	Exited Care During FY 1998	Exited Care During FY 1999	Exited Care During FY 2000	In Care on 9/30/98	In Care on 9/30/99	In Care on 9/30/00
Under 1 year	3.9	4.0	3.8	14.3	14.3	15.4	5.3	5.1	5.7	4.0	4.0	4.3
1-5 years	24.5	22.6	23.3	24.3	25.2	24.2	25.0	25.4	25.7	23.5	23.5	22.8
6-10 years	24.2	25.0	24.6	21.8	21.5	22.8	22.5	20.5	22.0	24.7	24.4	23.9
11-15 years	28.5	30.2	29.8	28.5	28.7	29.5	24.0	24.5	23.5	29.0	29.7	30.8
16-18 years	17.0	16.0	16.2	11.0	9.9	7.9	18.7	19.3	17.0	16.5	16.0	16.1
19+ years	1.9	2.2	2.3	0.0	0.3	0.1	4.0	4.9	5.0	2.2	2.3	2.1
Unknown	-	0.1	0.1	-	0.1	0.1	0.5	0.4	1.1	0.1	0.1	0.1
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	5,246	4,839	5,294	2,803	2,736	2,661	2,851	2,062	2,334	5,198	5,511	5,621

 

Race/Ethnicity of Children in Foster Care (%)5	In Care on 10/1/97	In Care on 10/1/98	In Care on 10/1/99	Entered Care During FY 1998	Entered Care During FY 1999	Entered Care During FY 2000	Exited Care During FY 1998	Exited Care During FY 1999	Exited Care During FY 2000	In Care on 9/30/98	In Care on 9/30/99	In Care on 9/30/00
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.1
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.0	0.1	-	0.3	0.3	0.1	0.2	0.2	-	0.1	0.1	0.0
Black	55.1	55.6	55.9	48.9	49.5	46.1	48.7	48.7	47.7	55.2	55.1	54.6
Hispanic	0.7	0.6	0.7	1.2	0.9	1.5	1.2	1.1	1.0	0.7	0.6	0.9
White	43.8	43.5	42.9	49.4	48.9	51.2	49.6	49.9	50.8	43.7	43.7	43.6
Two or more races	-	-	0.2	-	-	0.9	-	-	0.2	-	-	0.5
Unknown	0.1	0.0	0.2	-	0.4	0.3	0.1	-	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.2
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	5,246	4,839	5,294	2,803	2,734	2,661	2,851	2,062	2,334	5,198	5,511	5,621

 

5) In this and subsequent race/ethnicity tables, data for two or more races may be provided for 1998 and 1999 because of States' resubmissions. However, data for 1998 and 1999 may not capture all children of two or more races and therefore may not be comparable to the 2000 data pertaining to two or more races. Back

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D. Children Waiting to Be Adopted
(AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database)⁶

 

Overview	9/30/98	9/30/99	9/30/00
Children waiting to be adopted	972	1,013	1,162
Children whose parents' rights have been terminated (TPR)	489	567	653

 

Age of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Under 1 year	2.4	2.4	2.8
1-5 years	29.8	27.5	27.8
6-10 years	37.6	36.2	35.1
11-15 years	20.2	24.3	25.9
16+ years	5.3	5.1	4.6
Unknown	4.7	4.4	3.7
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	972	1,013	1,162

 

Race/Ethnicity of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.5	0.4	0.3
Asian/Pacific Islander	-	-	-
Black	55.7	53.4	53.6
Hispanic	1.0	0.4	0.7
White	42.5	45.5	45.0
Two or more races	-	-	0.3
Unknown	0.3	0.3	0.2
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	972	1,013	1,162

6) Waiting children are children who have a goal of adoption and/or whose parents’ rights have been terminated. Children 16 years and older with TPR, but with a goal of emancipation, have been excluded from the waiting children and TPR populations. Back

E. Children Adopted
(AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database)

 

Age of Adopted Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Under 1 year	3.5	1.3	2.5
1-5 years	45.2	49.0	48.5
6-10 years	37.4	37.3	33.2
11-15 years	13.9	11.8	13.4
16+ years	-	0.7	2.5
Unknown	-	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	115	153	202

 

Race/Ethnicity of Adopted Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Alaska Native/American Indian	-	-	-
Asian/Pacific Islander	-	-	-
Black	47.0	51.0	40.6
Hispanic	2.6	2.0	1.0
White	50.4	46.4	57.9
Two or more races	-	-	0.5
Unknown	-	0.7	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	115	153	202

 

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Alabama [ Outcomes Data ]

 

1. Reduce Recurrence of Child Abuse and/or Neglect
(NCANDS)

1.1 Recurrence of Maltreatment Within 6 Months (%)	1998	1999	2000
Children without a recurrence	-	-	-
Children with one or more recurrences	-	-	-
Total %	-	-	-
Number	-	-	-

 

2. Reduce the Incidence of Child Abuse and/or Neglect in Foster Care
(NCANDS, AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database Jan —Sept)

2.1 Maltreatment in Foster Care (%)	1998	1999	2000
Children maltreated while in foster care	-	-	-
Children not maltreated while in foster care	-	-	-
Total %	-	-	-
Number	-	-	-

3. Increase Permanency for Children in Foster Care
(AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database)

3.1 Exits from Foster Care (%)	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	-	-	6.2
Guardianship	-	-	-
Reunification	82.1	81.3	77.7
Other	7.6	7.4	9.0
Missing data	10.3	11.3	7.2
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	2,851	2,062	2,334

 

3.2 Exits of Disabled Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	-	-	12.4
Guardianship	-	-	-
Reunification	60.6	69.9	53.2
Other	19.2	15.6	25.3
Missing data	20.2	14.5	9.1
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	208	173	186

 

3.3 Exits of Children Over Age 12 at Entry (%)	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	-	-	-
Guardianship	-	-	-
Reunification	77.7	74.1	72.8
Other	12.9	12.7	14.7
Missing data	9.4	13.2	12.4
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	837	629	651

 

3.4 Exits to Emancipation (%)	1998	1999	2000
Children age 12 or younger at entry	64.4	63.0	61.2
Children older than 12 at entry	35.6	37.0	38.8
Missing data	-	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	87	81	103

 

3.5 Exits by Race/Ethnicity (%)	Alaska Native/A.I.			Asian/P.I.			Black			Hispanic
	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6.0	-	-	8.7
Guardianship	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Reunification	100.0	50.0	-	80.0	60.0	-	82.5	80.6	75.7	88.6	86.4	87.0
Other	-	50.0	66.7	-	40.0	-	9.1	8.4	10.8	2.9	9.1	4.3
Missing data	-	-	33.3	20.0	-	-	8.4	11.1	7.5	8.6	4.5	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	-	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	7	2	3	5	5	-	1,389	1,004	1,113	35	22	23
	White			Unable to Determine			Two or More Races			Missing Data
	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	-	-	6.3	-	-	-	-	-	20.0	-	-	-
Guardianship	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Reunification	81.5	82.0	79.4	50.0	-	100.0	-	-	80.0	-	-	-
Other	6.3	6.2	7.3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Missing data	12.2	11.8	7.0	50.0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	-	100.0	-	-	100.0	-	-	-
Number	1,413	1,029	1,185	2	-	5	-	-	5	-	-	-

 

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4. Reduce Time to Reunification Without Increasing Re-entry
(AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database)

4.1 Time to Reunification (%)	1998	1999	2000
Less than 12 mos.	63.1	63.5	61.7
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	19.8	16.6	20.0
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	7.3	10.2	7.4
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	3.3	3.3	3.6
48 or more mos.	6.5	6.4	7.3
Missing data	-	-	-
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	2,341	1,676	1,813

 

4.2 Children Who Entered Foster Care (%)	1998	1999	2000
Children entering care for the first time	80.8	81.1	81.8
Children re-entering care within 12 mos. of a prior episode	8.5	8.6	7.9
Children re-entering care more than 12 mos. after a prior episode	10.2	10.0	10.0
Missing data	0.5	0.3	0.3
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	2,803	2,734	2,661

 

5. Reduce Time in Foster Care to Adoption
(AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database)

5.1 Time to Adoption (%)	1998	1999	2000
Less than 12 mos.	-	-	4.8
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	-	-	8.3
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	-	-	22.8
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	-	-	25.5
48 or more mos.	-	-	38.6
Missing data	-	-	-
Total (%)	-	-	100.0
Number	-	-	145

 

6. Increase Placement Stability
(AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database)

6.1 Number of Placements by Time in Care (%)	Year	Children With 2 or Fewer Placements	Children With 3 or More Placements	Missing Data	Total %	Number
Less than 12 mos.	1998 1999 2000	94.7 96.0 96.4	5.3 4.0 3.6	- - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	3,277 3,078 3,064
At least 12 mos., but <24 mos.	1998 1999 2000	82.4 83.9 84.2	17.6 16.1 15.8	- - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	1,651 1,357 1,557
At least 24 mos., but <36 mos.	1998 1999 2000	69.6 71.9 74.3	30.4 28.1 25.7	- - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	881 978 895
At least 36 mos., but <48 mos.	1998 1999 2000	69.2 62.4 63.9	30.8 37.6 36.1	- - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	539 572 689
48 or more mos.	1998 1999 2000	49.0 48.6 47.0	51.0 51.4 53.0	- - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	1,689 1,577 1,743
Missing data	1998 1999 2000	91.7 90.9 100.0	8.3 9.1 -	- - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	12 11 7

 

 

7. Reduce Placements of Young Children in Group Homes or Institutions
(AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database)

7.1 Most Recent Placement Settings of Children Who Entered Care During the Fiscal Year and Were Age 12 or Younger at the Time of This Placement (%)	1998	1999	2000
Group homes	2.4	1.8	4.0
Institutions	6.2	6.9	6.8
Other settings	88.1	87.8	88.4
Missing data	3.3	3.5	0.8
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	1,929	1,876	1,907

 

Alabama [ Federal Comment ]

The following discussion focuses on Alabama?s performance with regard to each of the outcomes assessed in the Child Welfare Outcomes Annual Reports to Congress. Information from the State?s Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) Final Report is used to provide a context for interpreting the State?s performance (the Alabama CFSR was conducted in FY 2002). In addition, because data reported in the State Data Pages do not address child well-being issues, the last section of this discussion provides information from the CFSR Final Report relevant to the State?s performance on meeting children?s educational and physical and mental health needs.

Outcome 1. Reduce recurrence of child abuse and/or neglect
Alabama?s attainment of outcome 1 cannot be assessed as part of the Federal Comment section because the State does not provide data to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) for calculating this outcome. Only data from NCANDS are presented for this outcome in the Report to Congress. However, for the CFSR, the State provided data for this outcome using an alternative source. These data are presented in Alabama?s CFSR Final Report.

Outcome 2. Reduce the incidence of child abuse and/or neglect in foster care
Alabama?s attainment of outcome 2 cannot be evaluated as part of the Federal Comment section because the State does not provide data to NCANDS for calculating this outcome. Only data from NCANDS are presented for this outcome in the Report to Congress. However, for the CFSR, the State provided data for this outcome using an alternative source. These data are provided in Alabama?s CFSR Final Report.

Outcome 3. Increase permanency for children in foster care
In fiscal year (FY) 2000, 83.9 percent of children leaving foster care were discharged to permanent homes (which is lower than the national median of 84.7 percent), 65.6 percent of children with a diagnosed disability who exited from foster care were discharged to permanent homes (which is lower than the national median of 79.5 percent), and 72.8 percent of children who were older than age 12 at entry into foster care exited to a permanent home (which is close to the national median of 72.6). In addition, 61.2 percent of the children exiting foster care through emancipation were age 12 or younger at the time of entry into foster care, which is the highest percentage for this measure of all States. These data suggest that the State is not consistently successful in attaining permanency for children in foster care and in ensuring that children do not “grow up” in foster care. Information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that a key barrier to attaining permanency is the agency practice, in some cases, of establishing a case goal of long-term foster care for children even when they are younger than 12 years old. This practice was noted to occur when the agency maintained a goal of reunification for a long period of time without implementing concurrent planning efforts. Often, when the agency re-evaluated the goal, the child was considered “too old” to be adopted, and the goal was changed to long-term foster care.

Outcome 4. Reduce time to reunification without increasing re-entry
In FY 2000, the percentage of all reunifications occurring within 12 months of children?s entry into foster care was 61.7, which does not meet the national standard of 76.2 percent and is less than the national median of 68.0 percent. Information from the CFSR Final Report identifies the following as potential barriers to achieving timely reunifications: (1) inconsistent efforts on the part of the agency to maintain or strengthen the parent-child relationship through frequent visitation and other supportive services; (2) a lack of services to address the underlying causes of child maltreatment, particularly domestic violence and mental health services; (3) failure to consistently involve parents in the case planning process; and (4) infrequent face-to-face contacts between caseworkers and parents to ensure ongoing assessment of risk factors and expedite permanency.

Alabama?s performance with regard to reunification within 12 months must be balanced by the finding that in FY 2000, the percentage of children re-entering foster care within 12 months of discharge from a prior foster care episode was 7.9, which meets the national standard of 8.6 percent, and is lower than the national median of 10.3 percent. Information from the Final Report suggests that the low rate of re-entries into foster care may be attributed to the following agency practices: (1) providing families with extensive post-reunification services for as long as the family believes they are necessary, and (2) requiring a committee review of all cases prior to case closure to ensure that risk factors have been adequately addressed.

Outcome 5. Reduce time in foster care to adoption
In FY 2000, the percentage of all finalized adoptions occurring within 24 months of the child?s entry into foster care was 13.1, which does not meet the national standard of 32.0 percent, and was lower than the national median of 19.7 percent. These data are difficult to interpret because the number of finalized adoptions in FY 2000 reported to the AFCARS Adoption Database was 202, but the number of children reported as exiting to a finalized adoption (outcome measures 3.1 and 5.1) was only 145. Therefore, the calculation of this measure included only 72 percent of the children who achieved a finalized adoption in FY 2000. However, information from the CFSR Final Report identifies the following as potential barriers to achieving finalized adoptions in a timely manner: (1) agency delays in setting the goal of adoption, filing for termination of parental rights, and completing paperwork to finalize adoptions; (2) court delays in setting hearings; (3) the unwillingness of some judges in the State to terminate parental rights, particularly when children are older than age 10; (4) inconsistent efforts to search for adoptive placements for children; and (5) the failure in some cases to provide foster parents and relative caregivers with accurate information about adoption, such as the availability of adoption subsidies.

Outcome 6. Increase placement stability
In FY 2000, the percentage of children who experienced no more than 2 placements during their first 12 months in foster care was 96.4, which exceeds the national standard of 86.7 percent as well as the median of 84.3 percent. Information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that the State?s performance on this outcome may be attributed to the following: (1) the agency practice of conducting thorough early assessments of children?s placement needs to ensure appropriate matching of children and foster placements; and/or (2) the high level of supports and services that agency caseworkers tend to provide to foster parents.

Outcome 7. Reduce placements of young children in group homes and institutions
In FY 2000, the percentage of children age 12 or younger placed in a group home or institution was 10.8, which is higher than the national median of 9.0 percent. The State?s performance on this measure is difficult to interpret because information from the CFSR Final Report indicates that State policy strongly discourages the use of temporary placements in shelters, particularly for younger children, and that the number of therapeutic foster care (TFC) programs has significantly increased over the past 5 years to prevent placement of children in more restrictive environments.

Child well-being outcomes
With respect to child well-being, information from the CFSR Final Report indicates that the child welfare agency is effective in meeting children?s physical health needs, but is not as effective in addressing their educational or mental health needs. The Final Report identifies the following as possible barriers to meeting these needs: (1) inconsistent agency efforts to provide services to children once educational needs have been identified; (2) a lack of agency follow up to ensure that children are receiving recommended mental health services; and (3) the questionable quality of some of the mental health services available for children.

 

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