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

 

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

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

A. Key Context Statistics

General Population	1998	1999	2000
Total children under 18 years	790,715	828,260	841,688
Race/ethnicity (%)1
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.2	0.2	0.2
Asian/Pacific Islander	2.8	3.0	2.5
Black	10.7	10.8	11.1
Hispanic	12.4	12.8	13.7
White	73.9	73.3	69.6
Two or more races	N/A	N/A	2.5
Other	N/A	N/A	0.3
% Child population in poverty	10.8	8.8	9.9
% Child population living in metropolitan areas	95.5	96.4	95.8

 

Child Welfare	1998	1999	2000
Child maltreatment victims	16,923	14,514	14,462
Children in foster care on 9/30	6,683	7,487	6,996
Children adopted	229	403	499

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	40,905	40,714	45,111	51.7 per 1,000	49.2 per 1,000	53.6 per 1,000
Child maltreatment victims2	16,923	14,514	14,462	21.4 per 1,000	17.5 per 1,000	17.2 per 1,000
Child fatalities	6	3	4	0.8 per 100,000	0.4 per 100,000	0.5 per 100,000

 

Age of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000
Under 1 year	8.9	6.1	9.2
1-5 years	30.3	29.9	29.8
6-10 years	32.1	31.5	30.3
11-15 years	23.2	25.9	25.6
16+ years	4.3	6.6	4.3
Unknown	1.1	-	0.9
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	16,923	14,514	14,462

 

Race/Ethnicity of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.1	-	0.1
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.5	0.8	1.0
Black	19.3	23.1	23.9
Hispanic	16.2	32.9	24.7
White	31.0	37.8	43.7
Two or more races	N/A	N/A	2.1
Other/Unknown	49.1	38.4	4.5
Total %3	116.2	132.9	100.0
Number	16,923	14,514	14,462

 

Maltreatment Type of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000
Emotional abuse	52.8	49.8	33.9
Medical neglect	3.1	4.4	3.5
Neglect	86.2	90.2	60.2
Physical abuse	16.5	16.2	14.8
Sexual abuse	4.2	4.1	3.8
Other	7.8	4.9	2.7
Unknown	-	-	-
Total %4	170.7	169.7	119.0
Number	16,923	14,514	14,462

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)	5,143	5,222	3,682	6,683	10,365
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	6,612	3,098	2,169	7,487	9,710
FY2000 (10/1/99-9/30/00)	6,636	2,763	2,368	6,996	9,399
Median Length of Stay (Months)
FY1998 (10/1/97-9/30/98)	9.5	N/A	6.7	11.5	N/A
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	21.0	N/A	17.3	23.0	N/A
FY2000 (10/1/99-9/30/00)	25.1	N/A	18.0	24.6	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	5.0	3.3	3.2	10.5	13.8	13.6	5.6	5.7	4.8	4.0	3.2	2.9
1-5 years	30.5	27.1	24.2	26.2	25.3	24.1	27.1	32.2	30.6	28.5	23.6	20.9
6-10 years	27.2	27.0	27.5	23.7	24.2	21.0	23.5	27.2	27.2	27.6	26.0	24.9
11-15 years	26.2	28.8	31.0	30.7	31.6	35.8	25.6	18.3	19.7	28.0	29.7	32.5
16-18 years	10.3	12.3	12.6	8.5	4.9	5.4	16.7	13.1	14.7	11.0	15.5	16.7
19+ years	0.7	1.3	1.4	0.2	0.1	-	1.1	3.1	2.5	0.7	1.7	1.8
Unknown	0.0	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.1	0.3	0.3
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	5,143	6,612	6,636	5,222	3,098	2,763	3,682	2,169	2,368	6,683	7,487	6,996

 

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	0.2	0.1	0.0	0.4	0.1	0.3	0.4	0.4	0.1	0.2	0.0	0.1
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.1	0.7	0.5	0.1	0.7	0.6	0.1	0.3	0.3
Black	37.0	38.3	37.7	31.2	32.7	32.0	33.1	33.6	33.7	34.6	37.5	36.7
Hispanic	30.2	25.5	25.7	36.3	26.9	26.2	35.3	27.2	28.0	32.1	25.5	25.1
White	32.5	32.3	32.3	32.0	33.8	35.4	31.1	32.8	32.1	32.9	32.6	33.6
Two or more races	-	2.3	2.7	-	3.1	3.3	-	2.4	3.1	-	1.4	1.3
Unknown	-	1.3	1.3	-	2.8	2.4	-	3.0	2.4	-	1.4	1.3
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	5,143	6,612	6,636	5,222	3,098	2,763	3,682	2,169	2,368	6,683	7,487	6,996

 

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	728	173	257
Children whose parents' rights have been terminated (TPR)	728	115	151

 

Age of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Under 1 year	1.2	2.3	6.2
1-5 years	36.8	19.7	24.9
6-10 years	39.4	48.0	42.8
11-15 years	19.1	30.1	25.7
16+ years	2.7	-	0.4
Unknown	0.7	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	728	173	257

 

Race/Ethnicity of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Alaska Native/American Indian	-	-	-
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.3	-	-
`	38.6	42.8	36.6
Hispanic	25.3	30.6	36.2
White	35.9	22.0	22.2
Two or more races	-	2.9	3.1
Unknown	-	1.7	1.9
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	728	173	257

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	0.9	0.2	0.4
1-5 years	49.3	49.4	46.5
6-10 years	36.2	37.0	38.3
11-15 years	12.7	11.9	13.4
16+ years	0.9	1.5	1.4
Unknown	-	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	229	403	499

 

Race/Ethnicity of Adopted Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Alaska Native/American Indian	-	0.2	-
Asian/Pacific Islander	-	0.2	-
Black	31.0	29.8	30.9
Hispanic	12.2	12.2	18.4
White	43.7	34.0	38.3
Two or more races	-	-	-
Unknown	13.1	23.6	12.4
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	229	403	499

 

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Connecticut [ 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	86.4	87.0	88.6
Children with one or more recurrences	13.6	13.0	11.4
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	7,958	8,288	6,905

 

 

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	-	-	3.1
Children not maltreated while in foster care	-	-	96.9
Total %	-	-	100.0
Number	-	-	8,847

 

 

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

3.1 Exits from Foster Care (%)	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	8.7	18.3	20.1
Guardianship	5.6	5.8	5.9
Reunification	40.6	67.7	67.1
Other	3.1	8.1	6.9
Missing data	42.0	0.0	0.0
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	3,682	2,169	2,368

 

 

3.2 Exits of Disabled Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	-	13.1	25.8
Guardianship	-	5.1	2.2
Reunification	39.1	70.5	63.8
Other	6.4	11.4	8.2
Missing data	54.5	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	110	176	279

 

3.3 Exits of Children Over Age 12 at Entry (%)	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	1.1	1.1	0.2
Guardianship	1.3	1.3	3.4
Reunification	20.2	66.3	72.9
Other	8.6	31.1	23.4
Missing data	68.7	0.2	0.2
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	1,218	454	531

 

3.4 Exits to Emancipation (%)	1998	1999	2000
Children age 12 or younger at entry	5.6	6.2	26.4
Children older than 12 at entry	94.4	92.2	73.6
Missing data	-	1.6	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	36	64	53

 

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	-	12.5	-	-	-	-	12.3	17.4	19.9	4.9	15.6	18.8
Guardianship	7.1	-	-	-	-	-	6.4	5.9	6.8	6.1	5.9	5.3
Reunification	64.3	75.0	100.0	80.0	100.0	92.9	39.1	67.9	66.9	45.4	73.1	70.3
Other	-	12.5	-	-	-	7.1	3.4	8.7	6.3	2.2	5.4	5.6
Missing data	28.6	-	-	20.0	-	-	38.8	0.1	0.1	41.3	-	-
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	14	8	2	5	15	14	1,218	728	798	1,301	591	664
	White			Unable to Determine			Two or More Races			Missing Data
	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	9.4	22.5	21.6	-	14.1	15.8	-	17.6	24.7	-	-	-
Guardianship	4.0	5.9	5.3	-	3.1	7.0	-	5.9	8.2	-	-	-
Reunification	36.2	61.0	63.7	-	79.7	73.7	-	72.5	65.8	-	-	-
Other	3.9	10.7	9.5	-	3.1	3.5	-	3.9	1.4	-	-	-
Missing data	46.5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	-	100.0	100.0	-	100.0	100.0	-	-	-
Number	1,144	712	760	-	64	57	-	51	73	-	-	-

 

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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.	70.9	52.5	49.3
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	16.3	20.1	23.5
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	8.0	10.7	7.7
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	2.5	5.9	6.4
48 or more mos.	1.0	4.4	5.5
Missing data	1.2	6.4	7.7
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	1,494	1,469	1,590

 

 

4.2 Children Who Entered Foster Care (%)	1998	1999	2000
Children entering care for the first time	68.3	87.2	88.3
Children re-entering care within 12 mos. of a prior episode	25.6	8.7	6.7
Children re-entering care more than 12 mos. after a prior episode	5.5	3.6	4.7
Missing data	0.5	0.6	0.4
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	5,222	3,098	2,763

 

 

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.	55.1	0.5	0.6
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	34.0	10.6	5.9
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	2.2	30.9	15.8
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	0.6	30.2	32.8
48 or more mos.	3.1	27.6	44.6
Missing data	5.0	0.3	0.2
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	321	398	475

 

 

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	85.3 90.5 91.3	14.7 9.2 8.2	- 0.3 0.6	100.0 100.0 100.0	5,963 3.196 2,901
At least 12 mos., but <24 mos.	1998 1999 2000	76.1 76.4 70.9	23.9 22.7 26.3	- 1.0 2.8	100.0 100.0 100.0	2,273 1,858 1,871
At least 24 mos., but <36 mos.	1998 1999 2000	75.7 58.9 56.0	24.3 38.4 35.7	- 2.7 8.3	100.0 100.0 100.0	1,119 1,738 1,154
At least 36 mos., but <48 mos.	1998 1999 2000	79.1 63.4 44.5	20.9 34.5 46.4	- 2.1 9.1	100.0 100.0 100.0	488 1,235 1,291
48 or more mos.	1998 1999 2000	84.2 57.4 46.4	15.8 40.3 45.3	- 2.4 8.3	100.0 100.0 100.0	412 1,513 2,019
Missing data	1998 1999 2000	90.9 87.1 87.1	9.1 12.9 12.9	- - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	110 170 163

 

 

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	0.5	0.7	2.2
Institutions	7.4	6.3	14.6
Other settings	92.1	93.0	83.3
Missing data	-	-	-
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	3,374	2,180	1,807

 

Connecticut [ Federal Comment ]

The following discussion focuses on Connecticut?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 Connecticut CFSR was conducted in FY 2002). 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 maltreatment recurrence within 6 months was 11.4 percent, which does not meet the national standard of 6.1 percent and is higher than the national median of 7.9 percent. According to information provided in the CFSR Final Report, the State believes that the high incidence of maltreatment recurrence is due to a high substantiation rate and the fact that the threshold for substantiation is “reasonable cause to believe.” However, information in the Final Report also identifies the following as potential barriers to preventing maltreatment recurrence: (1) long waiting lists for services in many areas of the State, (2) the agency?s lack of legal authority to intervene with non-compliant families prior to a case being adjudicated by the court, and (3) the practice of closing cases or reunifying children with their families in some cases without an adequate assessment of change in risk factors.

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 3.1 percent, which does not meet the national standard of 0.57 percent and was the highest rate reported nationally. According to information provided in the CFSR Final Report, the State believes that the high incidence of child maltreatment in foster care is due to the fact that violations of licensing standards are investigated as if they are maltreatment reports. However, information in the Final Report also indicates that performance on this outcome may be attributed in part to the agency?s practice of placing additional children in foster homes that are already at capacity levels.

Outcome 3. Increase permanency for children in foster care
In fiscal year (FY) 2000, 93.1 percent of children leaving foster care were discharged to permanent homes (which is higher than the national median of 84.7 percent), 91.8 percent of children with a diagnosed disability who exited foster care were discharged to permanent homes (which is higher than the national median of 79.5 percent), and 76.5 percent of children who were older than age 12 at the time of entry into foster care were discharged to permanent homes (which is higher than the national median of 72.6). This suggests that the State is effective in achieving permanency for children in foster care. Information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that performance on these measures may be attributed in part to the State?s subsidized guardianship program. However, the data for FY 2000 also indicate that 26.4 percent of children exiting foster care through emancipation were age 12 or younger at the time of entry, which is higher than the national median of 24.2. This suggests that the State is not consistently effective in ensuring that children who enter foster care at a young age do not “grow up” in the system. As noted in the CFSR Final Report, 11 percent of children in foster care in 2000 had a goal of permanent foster care and an additional 11 percent had a goal of independent living.

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 49.3, 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 reunifications in a timely manner: (1) a failure in some cases to address the underlying family problems associated with child maltreatment, such as domestic violence and mental illness; (2) infrequent face-to-face contacts between caseworkers and parents (particularly fathers) to ensure ongoing assessment of risk factors and expedite permanency; and (3) failure to consistently involve parents in the case planning process.

Connecticut?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 6.7, which meets the national standard of 8.6 percent and is lower than the national median of 10.3 percent. Information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that performance on this outcome measure may be attributed in part to the agency practice of ongoing monitoring of families when children have been physically reunified and prior to an official discharge from foster care.

Outcome 5. Reduce time in foster care to adoption
In FY 2000, the percentage of all finalized adoptions that occurred within 24 months of the child?s entry into foster care was 6.5, which does not meet the national standard of 32.0 percent and is less than the national median of 19.7 percent. Information from the CFSR Final Report identifies the following as potential barriers to achieving adoptions in a timely manner: (1) court delays in holding permanency hearings, (2) agency delays in filing for termination of parental rights and in completing the paperwork necessary to move children to adoption; and (3) inconsistent use of concurrent planning among agency caseworkers.

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 91.3, which meets the national standard of 86.7 percent and is greater than the national median of 84.3 percent. Information from the CFSR Final Report cannot be used to interpret this finding because placement stability was identified as an area needing improvement for the State by stakeholders and by the findings of the case review process.

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 16.8, which is greater than the national median of 9.0 percent. Information from the CFSR Final Report identifies the following as potential explanations for performance on this measure: (1) the use of shelters as an initial placement for children between the ages of 3 and 12, or younger if they are part of a sibling group, and (2) the scarcity of therapeutic foster homes for young children with behavioral or emotional problems.

Child well-being outcomes
With respect to child well-being, information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that the State is effective in addressing children?s educational needs, but is not consistently effective in meeting children?s physical and mental health needs. The Final Report identifies the following as potential barriers to meeting these needs: (1) long waiting lists for mental health services in many areas of the State, particularly for Spanish-speaking families; (2) a lack of services for children with behavioral problems; and (3) a scarcity of dental providers who will accept Medicaid.

 

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