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

 

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

Context Data | Outcomes Data | State Comment | Federal Comment
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Arkansas [ Context Data ]

A. Key Context Statistics

General Population	1998	1999	2000
Total children under 18 years	653,721	660,224	680,369
Race/ethnicity (%)1
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.6	0.6	0.7
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.8	0.8	0.8
Black	21.2	21.1	20.6
Hispanic	3.0	3.2	4.7
White	74.5	74.3	71.3
Two or more races	N/A	N/A	1.7
Other	N/A	N/A	0.1
% Child population in poverty	27.4	18.5	25.5
% Child population living in metropolitan areas	49.1	45.4	50.5

 

Child Welfare	1998	1999	2000
Child maltreatment victims	8,578	7,564	7,479
Children in foster care on 9/30	3,138	2,919	3,045
Children adopted	258	318	325

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	29,572	23,970	23,335	45.2 per 1,000	36.3 per 1,000	34.3 per 1,000
Child maltreatment victims2	8,578	7,564	7,479	13.1 per 1,000	11.5 per 1,000	11.0 per 1,000
Child fatalities	5	9	12	0.8 per 100,000	1.4 per 100,000	1.8 per 100,000

 

Age of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000
Under 1 year	3.2	2.8	5.9
1-5 years	28.0	27.4	27.4
6-10 years	31.3	29.8	29.3
11-15 years	26.5	29.0	30.0
16+ years	8.9	10.3	6.9
Unknown	2.0	0.7	0.5
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	8,578	7,564	7,479

 

Race/Ethnicity of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.5	0.2	0.1
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.1	0.1	0.3
Black	27.2	19.1	22.4
Hispanic	2.3	2.3	2.2
White	67.0	56.6	72.5
Two or more races	N/A	N/A	-
Other/Unknown	5.2	23.9	2.6
Total %3	102.3	102.3	100.0
Number	8,578	7,564	7,479

 

Maltreatment Type of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000
Emotional abuse	1.0	0.6	0.6
Medical neglect	4.5	4.8	3.4
Neglect	67.2	68.9	52.7
Physical abuse	27.5	27.2	22.3
Sexual abuse	27.2	37.0	27.9
Other	-	-	1.2
Unknown	-	-	-
Total %4	127.4	138.5	108.0
Number	8,578	7,564	7,479

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)	2,490	2,737	2,094	3,138	5,227
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	2,589	2,489	2,160	2,919	5,078
FY2000 (10/1/99-9/30/00)	3,182	3,542	3,679	3,045	6,724
Median Length of Stay (Months)
FY1998 (10/1/97-9/30/98)	11.3	N/A	3.8	12.2	N/A
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	15.2	N/A	5.5	12.5	N/A
FY2000 (10/1/99-9/30/00)	12.3	N/A	4.6	12.6	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	4.6	3.8	3.6	9.6	9.3	9.7	5.1	4.0	4.8	4.2	3.8	4.7
1-5 years	23.0	23.0	23.3	24.4	25.8	26.2	27.6	26.9	26.4	22.5	23.4	23.0
6-10 years	21.5	23.9	21.7	23.9	23.2	23.8	20.7	23.8	23.7	23.6	22.4	21.6
11-15 years	30.1	29.4	30.4	23.1	31.5	29.3	25.1	24.3	26.6	30.5	31.1	29.9
16-18 years	19.8	18.6	19.6	9.9	10.2	11.0	20.4	19.3	17.3	17.8	18.1	19.4
19+ years	0.7	1.2	1.3	-	0.0	-	0.8	1.6	1.1	1.1	1.0	1.3
Unknown	0.3	0.1	0.1	0.1	-	-	0.3	0.1	0.2	0.3	0.2	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	2,490	2,589	3,182	2,737	2,489	3,542	2,094	2,160	3,679	3,138	2,919	3,045

 

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	0.6	0.3	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.1	0.8	0.5	0.4	0.4	0.3	0.1
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.1	0.2	0.3
Black	41.7	41.6	40.5	31.7	31.9	30.7	29.6	29.9	32.1	40.9	42.1	39.4
Hispanic	1.3	1.6	2.1	2.2	2.6	2.2	2.2	2.3	2.4	1.5	1.9	1.9
White	55.6	55.2	54.9	61.8	61.5	62.5	63.9	64.4	61.4	55.5	53.8	55.8
Two or more races	-	0.1	0.7	-	0.3	1.8	-	0.1	1.7	-	0.3	0.7
Unknown	0.6	0.9	1.2	3.7	2.9	2.3	3.2	2.5	1.7	1.6	1.5	1.9
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	2,490	2,589	3,182	2,737	2,489	3,542	2,094	2,160	3,679	3,138	2,919	3,045

 

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	335	867	817
Children whose parents' rights have been terminated (TPR)	37	287	63

 

Age of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Under 1 year	4.5	4.6	3.7
1-5 years	30.4	36.1	30.7
6-10 years	33.1	31.4	33.3
11-15 years	30.1	26.0	28.9
16+ years	1.8	1.8	3.4
Unknown	-	0.1	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	335	867	817

 

Race/Ethnicity of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Alaska Native/American Indian	-	0.1	-
Asian/Pacific Islander	-	0.1	0.1
`	42.7	41.6	41.4
Hispanic	0.3	1.8	2.1
White	55.2	54.8	54.1
Two or more races	-	0.2	0.6
Unknown	1.8	1.3	1.7
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	335	867	817

6) Waiting children are children who have a goal of adoption and/or whose parentsÂ’ 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	3.1	3.5	3.4
1-5 years	38.4	41.2	39.4
6-10 years	38.8	30.8	27.1
11-15 years	17.1	20.4	24.6
16+ years	2.7	4.1	5.5
Unknown	-	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	258	318	325

 

Race/Ethnicity of Adopted Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Alaska Native/American Indian	1.2	0.3	0.6
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.4	0.3	-
Black	22.1	40.3	36.6
Hispanic	2.3	1.6	4.0
White	73.6	53.1	57.2
Two or more races	-	-	0.9
Unknown	0.4	4.4	0.6
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	258	318	325

 

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Arkansas [ 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	-	95.5	94.4
Children with one or more recurrences	-	4.5	5.6
Total %	-	100.0	100.0
Number	-	3,662	3,887

 

 

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	-	0.3	0.2
Children not maltreated while in foster care	-	99.7	99.8
Total %	-	100.0	100.0
Number	-	4,530	5,956

 

 

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

3.1 Exits from Foster Care (%)	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	1.8	11.4	10.7
Guardianship	-	-	-
Reunification	61.9	49.0	59.7
Other	7.5	4.4	5.3
Missing data	28.7	35.1	24.4
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	2,094	2,160	3,679

 

 

3.2 Exits of Disabled Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	4.2	16.5	15.8
Guardianship	-	-	-
Reunification	63.9	44.6	51.1
Other	9.6	4.7	8.9
Missing data	22.3	34.2	24.1
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	166	278	783

 

3.3 Exits of Children Over Age 12 at Entry (%)	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	0.1	1.3	2.0
Guardianship	-	-	-
Reunification	45.5	40.1	54.4
Other	18.3	11.9	14.3
Missing data	36.1	46.7	29.2
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	743	673	1,136

 

3.4 Exits to Emancipation (%)	1998	1999	2000
Children age 12 or younger at entry	10.2	9.4	14.5
Children older than 12 at entry	89.8	90.6	85.5
Missing data	-	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	49	32	172

 

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	18.8	9.1	6.7	-	14.3	-	1.5	15.7	10.9	-	4.0	13.5
Guardianship	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Reunification	62.5	36.4	40.0	100.0	28.6	72.7	61.5	48.4	61.5	63.0	66.0	55.1
Other	6.2	9.1	6.7	-	-	-	5.3	3.7	5.0	4.3	2.0	3.4
Missing data	12.5	45.5	46.7	-	57.1	27.3	31.8	32.2	22.5	32.6	28.0	28.1
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	16	11	15	7	7	11	620	645	1,180	46	50	89
	White			Unable to Determine			Two or More Races			Missing Data
	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	1.9	9.8	10.9	-	15.4	4.8	-	-	1.6	-	-	-
Guardianship	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Reunification	61.6	48.8	58.7	80.6	34.6	64.5	-	100.0	66.1	54.8	66.7	-
Other	8.9	4.9	5.8	5.6	3.8	3.2	-	-	-	3.2	3.7	-
Missing data	27.6	36.5	24.7	13.9	46.2	27.4	-	-	32.3	41.9	29.6	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	-	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	-
Number	1,338	1,392	2,260	36	26	62	-	2	62	31	27	-

 

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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.	83.4	83.4	86.2
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	12.4	10.9	9.4
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	2.2	3.8	2.4
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	1.1	0.6	0.8
48 or more mos.	0.5	1.3	0.7
Missing data	0.3	0.1	0.5
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	1,297	1,059	2,196

 

 

4.2 Children Who Entered Foster Care (%)	1998	1999	2000
Children entering care for the first time	89.7	78.7	85.8
Children re-entering care within 12 mos. of a prior episode	7.1	10.6	10.5
Children re-entering care more than 12 mos. after a prior episode	0.1	1.6	2.6
Missing data	3.0	9.2	1.1
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	2,737	2,489	3,542

 

 

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.	7.9	4.5	8.7
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	34.2	21.5	25.5
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	21.1	26.4	21.2
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	23.7	15.9	16.3
48 or more mos.	13.2	29.7	11.7
Missing data	-	2.0	16.6
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	38	246	392

 

 

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	71.0 68.6 73.8	28.7 31.2 18.3	0.3 0.2 8.0	100.0 100.0 100.0	3,112 2,808 4,048
At least 12 mos., but <24 mos.	1998 1999 2000	64.8 39.9 49.2	35.0 59.7 47.8	0.2 0.5 3.0	100.0 100.0 100.0	1,014 865 1,163
At least 24 mos., but <36 mos.	1998 1999 2000	72.2 49.6 39.0	27.8 50.1 57.1	- 0.3 4.0	100.0 100.0 100.0	432 617 580
At least 36 mos., but <48 mos.	1998 1999 2000	79.1 54.5 42.5	20.9 44.8 54.5	- 0.7 3.0	100.0 100.0 100.0	211 279 400
48 or more mos.	1998 1999 2000	83.9 67.8 53.7	16.1 31.6 44.0	- 0.6 2.3	100.0 100.0 100.0	440 475 441
Missing data	1998 1999 2000	72.2 82.4 75.0	22.2 14.7 -	5.6 2.9 25.0	100.0 100.0 100.0	18 34 92

 

 

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	-	-	-
Institutions	8.7	8.8	3.8
Other settings	88.9	90.7	96.0
Missing data	2.3	0.4	0.2
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	1,547	1,640	2,277

 

Arkansas [ State Comment ]

Roy Kindle, Director
Division of Children and Family Services
Arkansas Department of Human Services
501-682-8008

The Division of Children and Family Services has reviewed the State?s data for the Child Welfare Outcomes 2000: Annual Report and has the following comments:

There is a relatively high percentage of missing data pertaining to “Reason for Discharge” information reported for outcome measures 3.1, 3.2, and 3.3. We have been reviewing the problem and received technical assistance from the National Resource Center on Information Technology to assist with programming changes needed to reduce the percent of “missing” data. CHRIS, our State Information System, allowed workers a selection entitled "Court Order" and that has been changed. The programming changes began June 2001 and would not be fully reflected in FY 2000 data. However, a preliminary review of FY 2001 data indicates that only 12 percent of the files do not have a "Reason for Discharge."

The data in Section C, regarding the difference in the number of children from the last day of the FFY 1999 reporting period (3,182) to the first day of the FFY 2000 reporting period (2,919) is related to client merge and delays in entering data by our family service workers. We have reviewed the problem and received technical assistance from the National Resource Center on Information Technology and expect continued improvements in FY 2001 data as we continue the work of cleaning up the data.

Missing data for Outcome Measure 5.1, the time to adoption, has increased from the previous year. There have been a number of enhancements to the CHRIS system that affected the adoptions data. We are working with the National Resource Center on Information Technology to assist us with our data problems and a preliminary analysis of the data indicates a reduction in "Missing" data category for FY 2001 data.

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Arkansas [ Federal Comment ]

The following discussion focuses on Arkansas? 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. In using CFSR information to interpret performance, it is important to note that the Arkansas CFSR was conducted in 2001 and the national data used to assess performance regarding national standards during the CFSR was from 1999. However, the discussion of State performance relevant to the national standards in the Federal Comment section focuses on the data for the year 2000, as provided in the State Data Pages. 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 in meeting children?s educational and physical and mental health needs.

Outcome 1. Reduce recurrence of child abuse and/or neglect
In calendar year (CY) 2000, the rate of recurrence of maltreatment within 6 months was 5.6 percent, which is less than both the national standard of 6.1 percent and the national median of 7.9 percent. However, information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that the actual rate of maltreatment recurrence may be higher than the reported rate of recurrence because the agency does not routinely investigate maltreatment reports as new reports when they are received on families with open child welfare agency cases.

Outcome 2. Reduce the incidence of child abuse and/or neglect in foster care
In CY 2000, the incidence of maltreatment in foster care was 0.2 percent, which meets the national standard of .57 percent and is lower than the national median of .47 percent. Information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that performance on this outcome may be attributed in part to the following agency practices and policies: (1) random reviews of foster home records, (2) a requirement of annual recertification of foster homes by an external contractor, and (3) a requirement that caseworkers visit foster parents on a weekly basis.

Outcome 3. Increase permanency for children in foster care
The State?s performance relevant to this outcome as reported in the State Data Pages cannot be assessed because 24.4 percent of children who exited foster care in fiscal year fiscal year (FY) 2000 did not have “reason for discharge” information reported to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System. Consequently, there is no “permanency” information for almost 900 children who exited foster care in FY 2000.

Outcome 4. Reduce time to reunification without increasing re-entry
It is difficult to assess the State?s performance with regard to outcome 4 because of the missing data regarding reasons for discharge from foster care (24.4 percent of exits did not have “reason for discharge” information). For those reunifications that were reported in FY 2000, 86.2 percent occurred within 12 months of the child?s entry into foster care. This exceeds both the national standard of 76.2 percent and the national median of 68.0 percent. Information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that the State?s performance on this outcome may be attributed in part to diligent efforts on the part of the child welfare agency to facilitate visitation between parents and children, including providing transportation when needed and supporting weekend visits.

Arkansas? high 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 10.5, which does not meet the national standard of 8.6 and is slightly higher than the national median of 10.3. Information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that re-entries into foster care may be attributed in part to the following: (1) reunifying families without sufficient assessment of change in the risk factors; and (2) insufficient services to support family reintegration after reunification.

Outcome 5. Reduce time in foster care to adoption
Arkansas? performance on outcome 5 cannot be assessed for the Federal Comment section. As noted previously, there are over 900 children who exited care for whom no “reason for discharge” information was provided. In addition, 16.6 percent (65) of the 392 children who exited to adoption did not have “time in care” information. Taken together, the missing data for this outcome prohibit assessment of State performance.

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 73.8, which does not meet the national standard of 86.7 percent and is less than the national median of 84.3 percent. Information from the CFSR Final Report identifies the following as potential barriers to placement stability: (1) inconsistent agency efforts to assess children?s needs to ensure an appropriate foster care placement; (2) insufficient services for foster parents, such as respite care, to prevent placement disruptions; and (3) a lack of placement resources for children with multiple behavioral and mental health problems.

Outcome 7. Reduce placements of young children in group homes and institutions
In FY 2000, the percentage of children age 12 and younger who were placed in a group home or institution was 3.8, which is less than the national median of 9.0. Information in the CFSR Final Report suggests that performance on this outcome may be attributed to the fact that the agency does not rely on shelter care placements as the initial placement setting for young children entering foster care.

Child well-being outcomes
With regard to select child well-being indicators, the CFSR Final Report indicates that the State is not consistently effective in ensuring that children?s educational and physical and mental health needs are adequately addressed. The Final Report identifies the following as potential barriers to meeting these needs: (1) a lack of agency follow up in some cases to ensure that recommended services are actually provided; (2) insufficient assessment of children?s needs, particularly their needs for mental health services; and (3) a failure in some cases to provide the services recommended by professional assessments.

 

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