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

 

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

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

A. Key Context Statistics

General Population	1998	1999	2000
Total children under 18 years	3,539,932	3,569,878	3,646,340
Race/ethnicity (%)1
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.3	0.3	0.3
Asian/Pacific Islander	1.9	2.0	1.7
Black	21.1	21.2	20.6
Hispanic	17.0	17.5	19.3
White	59.7	59.0	55.4
Two or more races	N/A	N/A	2.4
Other	N/A	N/A	0.4
% Child population in poverty	22.1	18.4	16.0
% Child population living in metropolitan areas	95.0	95.0	93.2

 

Child Welfare	1998	1999	2000
Child maltreatment victims	82,119	67,530	95,849
Children in foster care on 9/30	26,320	34,292	35,656
Children adopted	1,549	1,355	1,609

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	186,967	160,105	205,179	52.8 per 1,000	44.8 per 1,000	56.3 per 1,000
Child maltreatment victims2	82,119	67,530	95,849	23.2 per 1,000	18.9 per 1,000	26.3 per 1,000
Child fatalities	54	57	65	1.5 per 100,000	1.6 per 100,000	1.8 per 100,000

 

Age of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000
Under 1 year	9.3	9.6	9.3
1-5 years	31.2	30.3	30.4
6-10 years	30.7	30.5	30.1
11-15 years	23.4	23.7	24.1
16+ years	5.4	5.9	6.0
Unknown	0.0	0.1	0.1
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	82,119	67,530	95,849

 

Race/Ethnicity of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.1	0.1	0.1
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.4	0.4	0.4
Black	31.8	31.9	29.9
Hispanic	7.6	8.1	7.2
White	67.0	66.6	61.4
Two or more races	N/A	N/A	-
Other/Unknown	0.7	1.0	0.9
Total %3	107.6	108.1	100.0
Number	82,119	67,530	95,849

 

Maltreatment Type of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000
Emotional abuse	3.0	3.0	3.4
Medical neglect	2.6	2.3	2.2
Neglect	41.5	39.8	35.9
Physical abuse	18.8	17.8	16.0
Sexual abuse	7.3	6.5	5.7
Other	50.8	54.7	61.6
Unknown	-	-	-
Total %4	124.0	124.1	124.8
Number	82,119	67,530	95,849

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)	20,274	13,980	7,934	26,320	34,254
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	21,291	21,118	8,117	34,292	42,409
FY2000 (10/1/99-9/30/00)	32,398	18,765	15,507	35,656	51,163
Median Length of Stay (Months)
FY1998 (10/1/97-9/30/98)	15.8	N/A	16.1	13.3	N/A
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	14.2	N/A	15.2	9.9	N/A
FY2000 (10/1/99-9/30/00)	14.3	N/A	14.7	14.5	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	4.3	5.2	6.0	14.0	14.7	17.8	2.3	2.6	3.8	4.9	6.1	5.9
1-5 years	30.9	30.7	32.1	33.6	33.3	31.3	32.3	32.4	33.7	31.3	32.7	32.4
6-10 years	29.9	29.3	28.9	26.9	27.8	26.4	30.3	30.9	29.5	29.6	28.9	28.1
11-15 years	23.8	24.1	23.3	20.4	19.6	20.0	20.1	20.3	20.4	23.5	22.6	23.4
16-18 years	9.9	9.7	8.9	4.8	4.5	4.4	12.9	12.0	11.6	9.7	9.0	9.3
19+ years	1.0	0.7	0.6	0.2	0.1	0.1	1.6	1.2	0.8	0.8	0.6	0.6
Unknown	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.4	0.5	0.3	0.2	0.1	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	20,274	21,291	32,398	13,980	21,118	18,765	7,934	8,117	15,507	26,320	34,292	35,656

 

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	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.1
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.1	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.1
Black	52.7	51.0	47.2	45.4	42.8	39.1	49.6	48.4	41.7	49.7	46.5	45.4
Hispanic	4.4	4.8	9.0	4.5	5.4	8.8	4.1	4.4	7.6	4.6	5.3	9.5
White	42.2	43.5	40.3	49.3	49.9	48.9	45.4	46.6	47.5	45.0	46.7	41.7
Two or more races	-	-	2.9	-	0.8	2.5	-	-	2.4	-	0.5	2.9
Unknown	0.4	0.4	0.2	0.5	0.8	0.4	0.5	0.4	0.3	0.4	0.6	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	20,274	21,291	32,398	13,980	21,118	18,765	7,934	8,117	15,507	26,320	34,292	35,656

 

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	4,203	4,610	5,318
Children whose parents' rights have been terminated (TPR)	0	0	0

 

Age of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Under 1 year	2.9	4.3	3.0
1-5 years	31.7	32.2	32.7
6-10 years	37.3	36.6	34.5
11-15 years	24.8	23.6	25.9
16+ years	3.0	2.8	3.5
Unknown	0.4	0.5	0.5
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	4,203	4,610	5,318

 

Race/Ethnicity of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.2	0.1	0.1
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.1	0.1	0.0
Black	50.3	49.7	48.3
Hispanic	4.4	4.5	10.8
White	44.5	44.4	36.4
Two or more races	-	0.3	4.0
Unknown	0.5	0.9	0.4
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	4,203	4,610	5,318

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	0.8	1.3	1.4
1-5 years	46.8	46.7	49.1
6-10 years	35.4	34.5	33.9
11-15 years	15.0	15.9	13.8
16+ years	1.9	1.7	1.7
Unknown	-	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	1,549	1,355	1,609

 

Race/Ethnicity of Adopted Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Alaska Native/American Indian	-	0.1	-
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.4	-	0.1
Black	40.1	39.6	35.0
Hispanic	10.3	11.4	15.4
White	48.7	48.2	45.0
Two or more races	-	-	3.7
Unknown	0.5	0.7	0.9
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	1,549	1,355	1,609

 

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Florida [ 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	91.8	93.8	93.3
Children with one or more recurrences	8.2	6.2	6.7
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	38,823	37,374	42,749

 

 

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	1.0	0.9	0.1
Children not maltreated while in foster care	99.0	99.1	99.9
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	32,587	40,268	48,223

 

 

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

3.1 Exits from Foster Care (%)	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	15.6	12.5	10.3
Guardianship	-	-	1.7
Reunification	71.5	73.6	78.1
Other	12.8	13.8	9.9
Missing data	-	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	7,934	8,117	15,507

 

 

3.2 Exits of Disabled Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	-	66.7	21.3
Guardianship	-	-	1.9
Reunification	-	-	61.4
Other	-	33.3	15.5
Missing data	-	-	-
Total %	-	100.0	100.0
Number	-	3	1,782

 

3.3 Exits of Children Over Age 12 at Entry (%)	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	3.0	2.1	0.6
Guardianship	-	-	2.8
Reunification	53.8	54.4	63.0
Other	43.2	43.5	33.5
Missing data	-	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	1,406	1,347	2,386

 

3.4 Exits to Emancipation (%)	1998	1999	2000
Children age 12 or younger at entry	27.8	28.0	32.6
Children older than 12 at entry	71.8	71.6	67.3
Missing data	0.4	0.3	0.1
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	684	649	900

 

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	6.7	22.2	11.8	11.1	9.1	5.7	12.8	10.0	8.4	11.0	12.7	17.4
Guardianship	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1.6	-	-	0.9
Reunification	86.7	55.6	82.4	77.8	63.6	88.6	74.6	76.3	79.2	76.8	72.6	69.0
Other	6.7	22.2	5.9	11.1	27.3	5.7	12.6	13.7	10.8	12.2	14.7	12.6
Missing data	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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	15	9	17	18	11	35	3,937	3,932	6,469	327	354	1,182
	White			Unable to Determine			Two or More Races			Missing Data
	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	19.1	15.0	10.1	25.0	22.6	9.6	-	-	24.5	-	-	-
Guardianship	-	-	1.8	-	-	1.9	-	-	69.7	-	-	-
Reunification	67.6	71.2	79.1	66.7	58.1	75.0	-	-	69.7	-	-	-
Other	13.2	13.8	9.0	8.3	19.4	13.5	-	-	4.2	-	-	-
Missing data	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	-	-	100.0	-	-	-
Number	3,601	3,780	7,373	36	31	52	-	-	379	-	-	-

 

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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.	44.3	44.6	48.0
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	28.1	30.1	28.5
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	12.7	12.2	10.4
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	6.4	5.1	4.7
48 or more mos.	8.3	7.6	7.7
Missing data	0.2	0.4	0.8
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	5,674	5,978	12,117

 

 

4.2 Children Who Entered Foster Care (%)	1998	1999	2000
Children entering care for the first time	87.7	87.6	88.2
Children re-entering care within 12 mos. of a prior episode	4.7	5.4	7.6
Children re-entering care more than 12 mos. after a prior episode	7.6	6.4	4.2
Missing data	-	0.7	-
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	13,980	21,118	18,765

 

 

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.	27.6	25.0	4.1
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	13.9	18.5	17.6
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	19.3	17.9	25.1
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	14.4	16.4	18.3
48 or more mos.	22.9	21.6	34.8
Missing data	1.9	0.6	0.1
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	1,241	1,017	1,593

 

 

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	- - 82.9	- - 7.9	- - 9.3	- - 100.0	- - 21,640
At least 12 mos., but <24 mos.	1998 1999 2000	- - 76.0	- - 18.5	- - 5.5	- - 100.0	- - 13,121
At least 24 mos., but <36 mos.	1998 1999 2000	- - 65.7	- - 4.6	- - 4.6	- - 100.0	- - 5,906
At least 36 mos., but <48 mos.	1998 1999 2000	- - 58.9	- - 3.7	- - 3.7	- - 100.0	- - 3,353
48 or more mos.	1998 1999 2000	- - 53.4	- - 3.7	- - 3.7	- - 100.0	- - 7,017
Missing data	1998 1999 2000	- - 76.2	- - 2.4	- - 21.4	- - 100.0	- - 126

 

 

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	-	1.3	0.9
Institutions	-	0.1	0.3
Other settings	-	95.3	75.0
Missing data	-	3.3	23.7
Total (%)	-	100.0	100.0
Number	-	4,093	13,744

 

Florida [ State Comment ]

Mike Watkins, Director
Office of Family Safety
Florida Department of Children & Families
850-922-2195

Florida's Comments to be included in the Report to Congress are the following:

1. Florida's high percentage of "Other" maltreatments noted in Section B reflects the state category Threatened Harm. Almost a quarter of these relate to domestic violence.

2. The number and rate of child victims, as shown in Section B, increased in the State due to increased reporting and a higher volume of reports closed in the computer system in 2000.

3. Beginning FFY 2000, Florida reported data on Hispanic ethnicity, guardianship, placement date and number of placements. Data on termination of parental rights and all short-term emergency placements were first reported during FFY 2001. (Prior exclusion of many short-term placements artificially increased length of stay.) The discrepancy between discharges to adoption in the foster care file and the number of records in the adoption file is being addressed during FFY 2002.

Based on the ACF method of creating the annual foster care file and the limitations of the State's legacy system data, children entering care during the report year, but not recorded in the computer until later were included, but late discharges were not. Due to this, the federal data show higher entrants than discharges and a higher end count. This also explains why the number in care the first day of one fiscal year is less than the last day of the prior fiscal year. Because the State increased its efforts to enter discharges in a timely manner, the number of discharges improved in FFY 2000. FFY 2001 submissions from HomeSafenet will correct this problem.

Variations in law, rule and practice among states have been shown to have significant impact on the context and outcome data presented in this report. The reader is cautioned against assuming that differences in Florida data compared to other states reflect performance variances. This same issue calls to question the national standards, which do not take practice variations into account.

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Florida [ Federal Comment ]

The following discussion focuses on Florida?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. In using CFSR information to interpret performance, it is important to note that the Florida 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 State performance relevant to the national standards in this 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
In calendar year (CY) 2000, the rate of maltreatment recurrence within 6 months was 6.7 percent, which does not quite meet the national standard of 6.1 percent, but is less than the national median of 7.9 percent. Information from the CFSR Final Report identifies the following as potential barriers to preventing maltreatment recurrence: (1) inadequate risk assessments that often do not capture the underlying issues related to child maltreatment, (2) a lack of ongoing risk assessments in many of the cases in which children remain in their homes, and (3) insufficient face-to-face contact between agency caseworkers and children who are being served while remaining at home.

Outcome 2. Reduce incidence of maltreatment in foster care
In CY 2000, the incidence of maltreatment in foster care was 0.1, which meets the national standard of 0.57 and is lower than the national median of 0.47 percent. Florida?s 1999 data did not meet the national standard for this outcome measure. However, the percent change between 1999 and 2000 (-83 percent) suggests that there may be issues regarding data quality for this measure. Information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that the State engages in the following practices in an effort to reduce the incidence of maltreatment in foster care: (1) specialized training for foster parents that focuses on parenting children with behavioral problems, including how to effectively discipline these children; and (2) requiring re-approvals of foster homes on an annual basis.

Outcome 3. Increase permanency for children in foster care
In fiscal year (FY) 2000, 90.1 percent of children leaving foster care were discharged to permanent homes (which is higher than the national median of 84.7 percent) and 84.6 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). However, 66.4 percent of children who were older than age 12 at the time of entry into foster care were discharged to permanent homes (which is less than the national median of 72.6 percent), and 32.6 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 percent). These findings suggest that although the State is generally effective in achieving permanency for children in foster care, it is less consistent in attaining permanency for children who enter foster care at older ages. The data also indicate that approximately one-third of the children who are emancipated from foster care may be said to have “grown up” in the system (i.e., they were age 12 or younger when they entered 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 goal of long-term foster care when reunification efforts fail, without full consideration of permanency options such as guardianship or adoption.

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 48.0, which is less 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) a lack of mental health services for children, (2) infrequent parent-child visitation particularly when children are placed in a different county from their parents, (3) needs assessments that are not sufficiently comprehensive, (4) delays in providing services to families due to waiting lists, and (5) provision of inappropriate or inadequate services when recommended services are not available.

Florida?s performance with regard to reunifications occurring 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 7.6, which meets the national standard of 8.6 percent and is less than the national median of 10.3 percent. Information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that the low rate of re-entries into foster care may be attributed to the following: (1) a policy requiring an administrative review and approval for any recommendation to the court for reunification, and (2) a practice of providing post-reunification supervision to families and maintaining frequent contact with families after reunification.

Outcome 5. Reduce time in foster care to adoption
In FY 2000, the percentage of all finalized adoptions occurring within 24 months of a child?s entry into foster care was 21.7, which does not meet the national standard of 32.0 percent, but is higher than national median of 19.7 percent. Florida?s performance on this measure in 1999 (43.5 percent) did meet the national standard. However, the percent change in performance on this measure from FY 1999 to FY 2000 (-50 percent change) indicates that there may be data quality issues relevant to the measure. Information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that the primary barrier to achieving adoptions within 24 months of entry into foster care is the delay in filing termination of parental rights petitions.

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 82.9, 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 achieving placement stability: (1) insufficient placement facilities for youth, (2) a lack of respite services for foster parents, (3) difficulty retaining foster parents, and (4) the frequent use of shelter care as placements for children due to an insufficient number of foster family homes.

Outcome 7. Reduce placements of young children in group homes and institutions
The State?s performance on outcome 7 cannot be assessed. In FY 2000, the State did not report placement setting information to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System for 23.7 percent of the children who entered foster care during the fiscal year and were age 12 or younger at the time of their placement.

Child well-being outcomes
With respect to child well-being, information from the CFSR Final Report indicates that the State is not consistently effective in meeting children?s educational and physical and mental health needs. The Final Report identifies the following as potential barriers to meeting these needs: (1) insufficient agency attention to assessing and addressing children?s educational needs, (2) a lack of documentation in case files regarding services provided to meet children?s health care and dental needs, (3) a scarcity of mental health services for children, and (4) a scarcity of services for children who have been sexually abused.

 

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