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Home > Statistics & Research > Child Welfare Outcomes 2000 > District of Columbia

 

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

Context Data | Outcomes Data | State Comment | Federal Comment
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District of Columbia [ Context Data ]

A. Key Context Statistics

General Population	1998	1999	2000
Total children under 18 years	102,959	95,290	114,992
Race/ethnicity (%)1
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.1	0.2	0.2
Asian/Pacific Islander	2.6	2.7	1.5
Black	75.8	74.3	74.3
Hispanic	9.0	9.7	9.9
White	12.5	13.2	11.9
Two or more races	N/A	N/A	1.9
Other	N/A	N/A	0.3
% Child population in poverty	40.2	24.5	21.4
% Child population living in metropolitan areas	100.0	100.0	100.0

 

Child Welfare	1998	1999	2000
Child maltreatment victims	4,916	2,308	2,911
Children in foster care on 9/30	3,397	3,466	3,045
3,054	139	166	319

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	9,862	5,014	7,578	95.8 per 1,000	52.6 per 1,000	65.9 per 1,000
Child maltreatment victims2	4,916	2,308	2,911	47.7 per 1,000	24.2 per 1,000	25.3 per 1,000
Child fatalities	3	5	5	2.9 per 100,000	5.2 per 100,000	4.3 per 100,000

 

Age of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000
Under 1 year	-	12.1	7.8
1-5 years	-	32.4	30.0
6-10 years	-	31.0	33.8
11-15 years	-	17.5	21.7
16+ years	-	6.8	6.7
Unknown	-	0.2	-
Total %	-	100.0	100.0
Number	-	2,308	2,911

 

Race/Ethnicity of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000
Alaska Native/American Indian	-	-	-
Asian/Pacific Islander	-	1.0	0.5
Black	-	63.3	68.3
Hispanic	-	3.3	3.6
White	-	1.6	1.4
Two or more races	N/A	N/A	-
Other/Unknown	-	34.5	27.6
Total %3	-	103.6	101.3
Number	-	2,308	2,911

 

Maltreatment Type of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000
Emotional abuse	-	3.8	14.7
Medical neglect	-	1.2	2.7
Neglect	75.9	71.8	68.0
Physical abuse	8.3	14.4	13.4
Sexual abuse	1.9	1.7	6.4
Other	13.9	19.2	25.8
Unknown	-	18.2	23.4
Total %4	100.0	130.3	154.5
Number	4,916	2,308	2,911

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)	2,966	1,408	979	3,397	4,374
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	2,894	1,231	659	3,466	4,125
FY2000 (10/1/99-9/30/00)	2,594	775	315	3,054	3,369
Median Length of Stay (Months)
FY1998 (10/1/97-9/30/98)	30.0	N/A	13.0	26.3	N/A
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	24.5	N/A	17.2	23.7	N/A
FY2000 (10/1/99-9/30/00)	22.4	N/A	15.8	27.4	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	2.7	2.0	1.3	12.0	8.9	12.3	5.2	3.5	2.9	2.6	1.8	1.5
1-5 years	27.7	27.4	21.2	34.3	27.3	29.9	33.2	31.1	25.7	26.1	23.3	20.1
6-10 years	26.1	28.6	28.7	21.7	27.8	31.5	23.4	30.5	27.0	27.1	29.4	29.6
11-15 years	22.7	23.3	27.4	20.7	20.8	20.4	16.8	14.3	20.3	23.1	23.7	26.7
16-18 years	15.3	13.6	15.9	10.2	12.5	5.8	10.9	7.3	14.0	15.5	15.2	15.3
19+ years	5.4	5.0	5.3	0.9	2.4	0.1	10.3	13.4	5.1	5.8	6.5	6.2
Unknown	0.1	-	0.1	0.1	0.3	-	0.2	-	5.1	-	0.1	0.6
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	2,966	2,894	2,594	1,408	1,231	775	979	659	315	3,397	3,466	3,054

 

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	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Asian/Pacific Islander	-	0.2	0.2	-	-	0.4	-	0.5	0.3	-	0.1	0.2
Black	96.9	97.1	96.7	96.9	95.0	83.9	97.0	95.1	88.6	96.9	96.7	94.3
Hispanic	0.3	0.8	0.8	0.8	1.9	3.4	0.7	3.0	2.2	0.4	0.8	1.3
White	0.8	-	0.3	0.4	0.2	0.3	0.1	-	0.6	0.9	0.1	0.2
Two or more races	-	-	0.5	-	0.3	0.5	-	-	0.6	-	0.1	0.5
Unknown	1.9	1.9	1.6	1.9	2.6	11.6	2.1	1.4	7.6	1.9	2.2	3.5
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	2,966	2,894	2,594	1,408	1,231	775	979	659	315	3,397	3,466	3,054

 

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	1,005	64	1,086
Children whose parents' rights have been terminated (TPR)	15	44	0

 

Age of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Under 1 year	1.5	-	1.0
1-5 years	39.8	18.8	26.9
6-10 years	43.2	57.8	47.6
11-15 years	14.4	17.2	23.4
16+ years	0.8	-	0.7
Unknown	0.3	6.2	0.4
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	1,005	64	1,086

 

Race/Ethnicity of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Alaska Native/American Indian	-	-	-
Asian/Pacific Islander	-	-	-
Black	97.3	98.4	96.8
Hispanic	-	-	1.0
White	1.3	1.6	0.4
Two or more races	-	-	0.2
Unknown	1.4	-	1.7
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	1,005	64	1,086

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	-	0.6	1.6
1-5 years	49.6	41.0	34.5
6-10 years	33.8	42.8	44.8
11-15 years	14.4	13.9	16.3
16+ years	2.2	1.8	2.8
Unknown	-	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	139	166	319

 

Race/Ethnicity of Adopted Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Alaska Native/American Indian	-	-	-
Asian/Pacific Islander	-	-	-
Black	98.6	97.6	96.9
Hispanic	0.7	-	1.6
White	0.7	-	0.6
Two or more races	-	-	0.3
Unknown	-	2.4	0.6
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	139	166	319

 

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District of Columbia [ 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	16.2	33.8	14.3
Guardianship	0.9	-	1.3
Reunification	42.6	44.9	53.0
Other	18.8	13.5	31.4
Missing data	21.5	7.7	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	979	659	315

 

 

3.2 Exits of Disabled Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	15.4	15.8	34.4
Guardianship	7.7	-	-
Reunification	15.4	21.1	37.5
Other	30.8	63.2	28.1
Missing data	30.8	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	13	19	32

 

3.3 Exits of Children Over Age 12 at Entry (%)	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	3.3	21.9	-
Guardianship	2.8	-	-
Reunification	22.0	34.9	17.6
Other	36.0	33.6	82.4
Missing data	36.0	9.6	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	214	146	91

 

3.4 Exits to Emancipation (%)	1998	1999	2000
Children age 12 or younger at entry	32.9	43.6	20.0
Children older than 12 at entry	65.9	56.4	80.0
Missing data	1.2	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	85	78	25

 

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	-	-	-	-	-	-	16.3	34.4	15.8	14.3	10.0	-
Guardianship	-	-	-	-	-	-	0.9	-	1.4	-	-	-
Reunification	-	-	-	-	33.3	-	43.5	45.0	51.6	-	55.0	71.4
Other	-	-	-	-	33.3	100.0	18.0	13.2	31.2	14.3	15.0	28.6
Missing data	-	-	-	-	33.3	-	21.3	7.3	-	71.4	20.0	-
Total %	-	-	-	-	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	-	-	-	-	3	1	950	627	279	7	20	7
	White			Unable to Determine			Two or More Races			Missing Data
	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	100.0	-	-	9.5	55.6	-	-	-	50.0	-	-	-
Guardianship	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Reunification	-	-	50.0	19.0	22.2	70.8	-	-	-	-	-	-
Other	-	-	50.0	57.1	22.2	29.2	-	-	50.0	-	-	-
Missing data	-	-	-	14.3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total %	100.0	-	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	-	-	100.0	-	-	-
Number	1	-	2	21	9	24	-	-	2	-	-	-

 

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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.	65.9	62.8	59.9
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	16.1	13.5	19.8
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	5.0	5.7	9.6
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	2.6	4.4	3.6
48 or more mos.	6.5	13.5	7.2
Missing data	3.8	-	-
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	417	296	167

 

 

4.2 Children Who Entered Foster Care (%)	1998	1999	2000
Children entering care for the first time	56.0	64.7	85.4
Children re-entering care within 12 mos. of a prior episode	11.8	22.3	3.7
Children re-entering care more than 12 mos. after a prior episode	5.0	12.8	6.2
Missing data	27.2	0.2	4.6
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	1,408	1,231	775

 

 

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.	17.6	22.9	2.2
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	13.8	16.1	13.3
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	5.7	12.1	35.6
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	10.1	10.8	17.8
48 or more mos.	52.8	37.2	31.1
Missing data	-	0.9	-
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	159	223	45

 

 

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	90.5 94.7 86.5	9.1 5.3 13.5	0.3 - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	1,510 1,310 820
At least 12 mos., but <24 mos.	1998 1999 2000	69.5 84.5 75.8	30.3 15.5 24.2	0.3 - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	704 826 748
At least 24 mos., but <36 mos.	1998 1999 2000	57.7 71.7 70.9	41.3 28.3 29.1	1.0 - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	496 537 609
At least 36 mos., but <48 mos.	1998 1999 2000	50.5 63.3 62.9	49.2 36.7 37.1	0.3 - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	390 371 337
48 or more mos.	1998 1999 2000	39.1 50.0 49.9	60.9 50.0 50.1	- - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	1,247 1,067 855
Missing data	1998 1999 2000	85.2 100.0 -	7.4 - -	7.4 - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	27 14 -

 

 

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	8.3	4.2	7.1
Institutions	11.0	12.5	16.5
Other settings	80.2	83.3	74.5
Missing data	0.5	-	2.0
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	1,017	814	595

 

District of Columbia [ State Comment ]

Olivia Golden, Director
Child and Family Services Agency
District of Columbia Department of Human Services
202-442-6001

The DC Child and Family Services Agency has experienced a substantial change in data collection and management that is probably responsible for most of the data anomalies. This change is the implementation of a new data management system that occurred in December 2000. At the break between fiscal years 1999 and 2000, the Agency shifted from the FOCUS database to the FACES case management system. Inconsistencies in data often follow the change to a new case management system, which has new accounting, tracking, reporting and documentation procedures. Users often need time to adapt to new case management systems, thereby adding to inaccuracies in data. More recently, the Agency has taken a number of steps to define, identify, and correct discrepancies in the historical data transferred from the previous system. In addition the Agency has provided training to all staff on the use of the new case management system.

One example of the inconsistencies from data conversion is evidenced by the data in Section C that indicates that there were 872 fewer children in care on October 1, 1999 (2,594) than on September 30, 1999 (3,466). This data anomaly coincides exactly with the implementation of the new case management system. The differences in the figures are likely artificial and the result of changing to the new system and the conversion of data from the previous system. Similar artificial differences are believed to be responsible for the trends seen in Outcome Measures 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 4.2, 5.1, and 7.1.

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District of Columbia [ Federal Comment ]

The following discussion focuses on the District of Columbia?s (DC) performance with regard to each of the outcomes assessed in the Child Welfare Outcomes Annual Reports to Congress. Information from DC?s Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) Final Report is used to provide a context for interpreting DC?s performance. In using CFSR information to interpret the data, it is important to note that the DC CFSR was conducted in 2001 and the national data used for the review to assess performance regarding national standards was from 1999. However, the discussion of DC?s performance relevant to the national standards in the Federal Comment section focuses on data from 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
DC?s attainment of outcome 1 cannot be assessed in the Federal Comment section because DC 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 DC?s CFSR Final Report.

Outcome 2. Reduce the incidence of child abuse and/or neglect in foster care
DC?s attainment of outcome 2 cannot be evaluated in 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, DC provided data for this outcome using an alternative source. These data are provided in DC?s CFSR Final Report.

Outcome 3. Increase permanency for children in foster care
In fiscal year (FY) 2000, 68.6 percent of children leaving foster care were discharged to a permanent home (which is less than the national median of 84.7 percent), 71.9 percent of children with a diagnosed disability who exited foster care exited to a permanent home (which is less than the national median of 79.5 percent), and 17.6 percent of children exiting foster care who were older than age 12 at the time of entry into care exited to a permanent home (which is the lowest percentage reported nationally). These data suggest that DC is not consistently effective in achieving permanency for children in foster care. Information from the CFSR Final Report identifies the following as potential barriers to achieving permanency for children in foster care: (1) inconsistencies in agency efforts to focus on permanency planning for children, (2) frequent use of independent living as a permanency goal without pursuing other goals after efforts to achieve reunification fail, (3) a lack of concurrent planning, and (4) infrequent coordination between the agency and private providers regarding children?s permanency goals.

The FY 2000 data for outcome 3 also indicate that 20.0 percent of children exiting foster care through emancipation were age 12 or younger at the time of entry, which is lower than the national median of 24.2 percent.

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 59.9 percent, which is lower than the national standard of 76.2 percent and 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) insufficient monitoring in some cases of parents? progress to determine if risk of harm has been reduced, (2) a lack of appropriate settings for parent-child visits that permit caseworkers to assess the quality of parent-child interactions, (3) inadequate assessments in some cases of the services needed to promote reunification and reduce risk factors, (4) insufficient face-to-face contact between caseworkers and parents to ensure ongoing assessment of risk factors and expedite permanency, and (5) inconsistent involvement of parents in the case planning process.

DC?s performance with regard to reunifications within 12 months of entry into foster care 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 3.7, which meets the national standard of 8.6 percent and is lower than the national median of 10.3 percent. However, information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that a primary reason for the low rate of re-entry into foster care may be that children remain in foster care for long periods of time without achieving permanency.

Outcome 5. Reduce time in foster care to adoption
DC?s performance on outcome 5 cannot be assessed for the Federal Comment section. The data in the State Data Pages indicate that DC reported 319 adoptions in FY 2000 to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) Adoption Database (Section E), but only 45 discharges to adoption (outcome measures 3.1 and 5.1) were reported to the AFCARS Foster Care Database. Consequently, the FY 2000 data pertaining to the percent of adoptions occurring within 24 months of a child?s entry into foster care applies to only 14 percent of the finalized adoptions. The State Comment section attributes this problem to a recent shift in DC?s management information system.

Outcome 6. Increase placement stability
In FY 2000, the percentage of children who were in foster care for less than 12 months and experienced no more than 2 placements was 86.5, which is close to the national standard of 86.7 percent, and is greater than the national median of 84.3. However, information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that placement stability is an area needing improvement for the State and identifies the following as potential barriers to placement stability: (1) a lack of ongoing assessment of the appropriateness of children?s placement settings, (2) a lack of appropriate placements for children with mental health and emotional/behavioral problems, and (3) insufficient services and agency support for foster parents when there is a problem with a placement. Information from the CFSR Final Report also indicates that DC has recently developed several new initiatives designed to promote placement stability, including a Kinship Care Program and a comprehensive therapeutic foster home program.

Outcome 7. Reduce placements of young children in group homes and institutions
In FY 2000, the percentage of children age 12 or younger at entry into foster care who were placed in a group home or institution was 23.6, which is considerably higher than the national median of 9.0 and close to the highest percentage reported nationally of 27.2. No information was available in the CFSR Final Report that is relevant to interpreting DC?s performance on this outcome.

Child well-being outcomes
With respect to child well-being, information from the CFSR Final Report indicates that DC is not consistently effective in meeting children?s educational and physical and mental health service needs. The Final Report identifies the following as potential barriers to meeting those needs: (1) lack of sufficient attention to children?s educational needs; (2) lack of follow-up to ensure that identified health needs are being addressed, particularly for children who are being served while they remain in their homes; (3) inadequate mental health assessment; and (4) a lack of adequate mental health services for children.

 

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