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

 

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

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

A. Key Context Statistics

General Population	1998	1999	2000
Total children under 18 years	224,403	223,819	230,062
Race/ethnicity (%)1
Alaska Native/American Indian	10.1	10.4	9.2
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.8	0.8	0.6
Black	0.4	0.3	0.4
Hispanic	2.6	2.7	3.2
White	86.2	85.7	83.9
Two or more races	N/A	N/A	2.6
Other	N/A	N/A	0.1
% Child population in poverty	20.5	21.8	24.6
% Child population living in metropolitan areas	19.8	23.3	32.9

 

Child Welfare	1998	1999	2000
Child maltreatment victims	3,292	3,414	3,347
Children in foster care on 9/30	1,991	2,156	2,180
Children adopted	149	187	236

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	19,004	20,315	21,127	84.7 per 1,000	90.8 per 1,000	91.8 per 1,000
Child maltreatment victims2	3,292	3,414	3,347	14.7 per 1,000	15.3 per 1,000	14.5 per 1,000
Child fatalities	3	4	2	1.3 per 100,000	1.8 per 100,000	0.9 per 100,000

 

Age of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000
Under 1 year	7.3	7.0	7.8
1-5 years	33.7	31.9	32.3
6-10 years	31.1	32.0	31.2
11-15 years	23.2	24.8	25.0
16+ years	4.7	4.2	3.7
Unknown	-	0.0	0.1
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	3,292	3,414	3,347

 

Race/Ethnicity of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000
Alaska Native/American Indian	25.0	24.9	25.6
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.1	0.3	0.4
Black	1.2	0.8	1.2
Hispanic	2.8	1.9	2.5
White	56.5	57.1	55.0
Two or more races	N/A	N/A	-
Other/Unknown	17.2	16.8	15.3
Total %3	102.8	101.9	100.0
Number	3,292	3,414	3,347

 

Maltreatment Type of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000
Emotional abuse	15.9	12.2	13.4
Medical neglect	2.5	2.5	2.1
Neglect	54.3	62.0	60.6
Physical abuse	13.0	9.2	9.0
Sexual abuse	9.7	9.2	10.8
Other	4.7	4.9	4.1
Unknown	-	-	-
Total %4	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	3,292	3,414	3,347

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)	1,711	1,503	1,223	1,991	3,214
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	1,891	1,596	1,331	2,156	3,487
FY2000 (10/1/99-9/30/00)	1,918	1,588	1,327	2,180	3,506
Median Length of Stay (Months)
FY1998 (10/1/97-9/30/98)	16.8	N/A	3.4	17.0	N/A
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	18.6	N/A	4.5	15.6	N/A
FY2000 (10/1/99-9/30/00)	15.9	N/A	5.1	16.0	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	4.1	5.0	4.7	14.0	13.1	13.7	7.2	7.4	7.0	4.9	4.6	4.7
1-5 years	24.9	24.1	24.9	29.4	27.2	29.0	30.1	27.0	30.4	25.4	24.3	25.9
6-10 years	28.0	27.2	27.7	23.7	26.7	25.8	25.3	26.1	24.0	26.3	26.9	26.7
11-15 years	30.2	28.8	29.7	25.7	25.8	23.7	24.4	22.7	23.4	28.7	29.7	28.9
16-18 years	12.7	14.8	12.9	7.2	7.1	7.9	12.4	15.7	14.5	14.4	14.4	13.6
19+ years	0.1	0.2	0.1	-	0.1	0.1	0.7	1.1	0.7	0.3	0.1	0.3
Unknown	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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	1,711	1,891	1,918	1,503	1,596	1,588	1,223	1,331	1,327	1,991	2,156	2,180

 

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	27.7	26.3	29.5	28.7	31.0	32.4	30.3	25.8	27.5	26.9	30.1	32.8
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.4	0.4	0.3	0.2	0.6	0.4	0.1	0.7	0.6	0.4	0.4	0.2
Black	1.3	1.8	1.6	1.8	1.2	1.3	1.0	1.4	1.6	1.9	1.6	1.4
Hispanic	1.8	3.1	3.3	3.9	2.9	4.3	2.9	2.9	3.6	2.8	3.1	3.9
White	66.3	64.5	61.9	58.7	59.0	55.7	60.7	64.2	61.0	64.0	60.6	58.0
Two or more races	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Unknown	2.6	3.9	3.4	6.7	5.2	5.9	5.1	5.0	5.7	4.1	4.1	3.8
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	1,711	1,891	1,918	1,503	1,596	1,588	1,223	1,331	1,327	1,991	2,156	2,180

 

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	709	780	854
Children whose parents' rights have been terminated (TPR)	626	690	717

 

Age of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Under 1 year	2.0	2.4	3.4
1-5 years	26.8	24.9	24.7
6-10 years	27.9	27.8	29.3
11-15 years	33.3	32.6	31.1
16+ years	9.2	10.9	10.0
Unknown	0.8	1.4	1.5
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	709	780	854

 

Race/Ethnicity of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Alaska Native/American Indian	18.9	19.0	23.4
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.7	0.5	0.2
Black	1.4	2.1	2.6
Hispanic	2.8	3.8	4.4
White	72.2	70.3	65.9
Two or more races	-	-	-
Unknown	3.9	4.4	3.4
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	709	780	854

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	-	1.6	1.3
1-5 years	44.3	46.5	52.5
6-10 years	36.9	30.5	28.4
11-15 years	16.8	18.7	15.7
16+ years	2.0	2.7	2.1
Unknown	-	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	149	187	236

 

Race/Ethnicity of Adopted Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Alaska Native/American Indian	10.7	18.7	14.4
Asian/Pacific Islander	-	1.1	0.4
Black	1.3	1.1	0.4
Hispanic	3.4	2.1	6.8
White	83.9	73.3	71.6
Two or more races	-	-	-
Unknown	0.7	3.7	6.4
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	149	187	236

 

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Montana [ 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	-	-	86.9
Children with one or more recurrences	-	-	13.1
Total %	-	-	100.0
Number	-	-	1,112

 

 

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	-	-	0.2
Children not maltreated while in foster care	-	-	99.8
Total %	-	-	100.0
Number	-	-	3,221

 

 

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

3.1 Exits from Foster Care (%)	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	13.7	15.4	19.3
Guardianship	1.2	1.5	2.0
Reunification	62.9	60.8	57.5
Other	8.1	10.4	8.8
Missing data	14.1	11.9	12.4
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	1,223	1,331	1,327

 

 

3.2 Exits of Disabled Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	22.7	28.2	38.5
Guardianship	-	5.1	1.5
Reunification	40.9	25.6	29.2
Other	27.3	23.1	15.4
Missing data	9.1	17.9	15.4
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	22	39	65

 

3.3 Exits of Children Over Age 12 at Entry (%)	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	0.3	0.3	2.2
Guardianship	2.7	1.6	1.9
Reunification	51.0	52.5	47.4
Other	27.2	34.0	29.9
Missing data	18.8	11.6	18.7
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	298	318	321

 

3.4 Exits to Emancipation (%)	1998	1999	2000
Children age 12 or younger at entry	20.8	27.3	18.9
Children older than 12 at entry	79.2	72.7	81.1
Missing data	-	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	53	99	90

 

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	5.1	11.4	9.9	-	22.2	12.5	16.7	11.1	9.5	17.1	10.3	35.4
Guardianship	1.6	1.7	1.4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2.6	2.1
Reunification	65.0	61.8	64.9	-	66.7	25.0	41.7	72.2	66.7	65.7	66.7	52.1
Other	5.1	4.7	5.2	-	11.1	25.0	8.3	16.7	9.5	5.7	-	2.1
Missing data	23.2	20.4	18.6	100.0	-	37.5	33.3	-	14.3	11.4	20.5	8.3
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	371	343	365	1	9	8	12	18	21	35	39	48
	White			Unable to Determine			Two or More Races			Missing Data
	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	18.1	17.0	22.9	10.5	20.0	19.7	-	-	-	-	-	-
Guardianship	0.8	1.4	2.2	5.3	1.5	2.6	-	-	-	-	-	-
Reunification	61.5	59.2	54.1	70.2	67.7	61.8	-	-	-	80.0	100.0	-
Other	10.1	13.7	11.0	1.8	3.1	5.3	-	-	-	20.0	-	-
Missing data	9.6	8.8	9.8	12.3	7.7	10.5	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	-	-	-	100.0	100.0	-
Number	742	855	809	57	65	76	-	-	-	5	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.	85.6	83.4	87.0
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	11.2	10.8	9.8
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	2.6	2.8	1.4
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	0.4	1.0	0.8
48 or more mos.	0.3	2.0	0.9
Missing data	-	-	-
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	769	809	763

 

 

4.2 Children Who Entered Foster Care (%)	1998	1999	2000
Children entering care for the first time	69.2	72.0	68.5
Children re-entering care within 12 mos. of a prior episode	23.2	16.8	20.2
Children re-entering care more than 12 mos. after a prior episode	5.0	8.3	8.9
Missing data	2.6	2.9	2.4
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	1,503	1,596	1,588

 

 

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.	15.6	14.1	10.9
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	27.5	19.0	31.2
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	22.8	32.2	30.5
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	11.4	19.5	13.3
48 or more mos.	22.8	15.1	13.3
Missing data	-	-	0.8
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	167	205	256

 

 

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	81.9 81.0 80.8	18.1 19.0 19.2	- - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	1,668 1,770 1,779
At least 12 mos., but <24 mos.	1998 1999 2000	61.6 50.4 57.5	38.4 49.6 42.5	- - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	560 607 669
At least 24 mos., but <36 mos.	1998 1999 2000	47.8 50.3 41.7	52.2 49.7 58.3	- - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	362 366 391
At least 36 mos., but <48 mos.	1998 1999 2000	49.4 40.1 42.9	50.6 59.9 57.1	- - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	241 252 212
48 or more mos.	1998 1999 2000	36.3 37.0 34.5	63.7 63.0 65.5	- - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	380 487 452
Missing data	1998 1999 2000	100.0 100.0 100.0	- - -	- - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	3 5 3

 

 

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	10.8	8.6	11.9
Institutions	0.4	0.2	1.0
Other settings	88.7	91.2	87.1
Missing data	-	-	-
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	1,145	1,204	1,220

 

Montana [ Federal Comment ]

The following discussion focuses on Montana?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 Montana 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, Montana?s rate of maltreatment recurrence was 13.1 percent, which is higher than the national standard of 6.1 percent and the national median of 7.9 percent. Information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that the actual rate of maltreatment recurrence may be higher than the reported rate because in some areas of the State new maltreatment reports on open child welfare cases were not fully investigated to the point of substantiation and in other areas, maltreatment reports on open cases were not recorded as new reports. Information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that the State?s rate of maltreatment recurrence may be attributed in part to the following: (1) families being reunified without parents having made the necessary changes to reduce risk of harm, (2) a failure in some cases to provide services necessary to target the problems contributing to the risk of harm to children, and (3) inadequate monitoring of parent?s participation in services in cases in which children remain in their homes.

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 .2 percent, which is lower than both the national standard of .57 percent and the national median of .47 percent. Information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that the rate of maltreatment in foster care may be attributed in part to the State?s licensing requirements for foster care families and group homes, although it was noted that some foster homes have placements that are beyond their original licensing capacity.

Outcome 3. Increase permanency for children in foster care
In fiscal year (FY) 2000, 78.8 percent of children exiting foster care were discharged to permanent homes (which is lower than the national median of 84.7), 69.2 percent of children with a diagnosed disability exiting foster care were discharged to permanent homes (which is lower than the national median of 79.5 percent), and 51.5 percent of children exiting foster care who were older than age 12 at entry into foster care were discharged to permanent homes (which is lower than the national median of 72.6). Although these data suggest that the State has not been effective in achieving permanency for children in foster care, they are difficult to interpret because “reason for discharge” information was not reported to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) for 12.4 percent of the children exiting foster care in FY 2000, and 18.7 percent of the children exiting foster care who were older than age 12 at the time of entry into foster care. Information from the CFSR Final Report identifies the following as potential barriers to attaining permanency: (1) the frequent agency practice of establishing long- term foster care as a “permanency” goal without exploring adoption and guardianship as possible alternatives, and (2) agency delays in changing the case goal of reunification even when reunification efforts have not been successful.

Outcome 4. Reduce time to reunification without increasing re-entry
In FY 2000, the percentage of all reported reunifications occurring within 12 months of children?s entry into foster care was 87.0, which is higher than both the national standard of 76.2 percent and the national median of 68.6 percent. However, information from the CFSR Final Report indicates that timely reunification is an area needing improvement for the State based on the findings from some case reviews that the agency did not make diligent efforts to achieve the goal of reunification. The CFSR Final Report does not provide information that might explain the discrepancy between the case review findings and the State data as reported to AFCARS.

Also in FY 2000, the percentage of children re-entering foster care within 12 months of discharge from a prior foster care episode was 20.2, which is considerably higher than both the national standard of 8.6 percent and the national median of 10.3 percent. According to information from the CFSR Final Report, the State believes that the rate of foster care re-entry is due to the way the State?s management information system records exits and entries. Because the management information system is a payment system, many workers believe that they have to close the case as a foster care case if the child runs away or leaves a foster family to enter respite care for the weekend, go home for a trial visit, or enter a hospital. The worker then re-opens the case as a foster care case when the child returns to the foster family. However, cases are not to be reported as exits from foster care to AFCARS unless the State is no longer responsible for the care and supervision of the child. As noted in the CFSR Final Report a system change is planned to address this problem.

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 42.1, which is higher than the national standard of 32.0 percent and the national median of 19.7 percent. However, information from the CFSR Final Report indicates that timely adoption is an area needing improvement for the State based on findings from the case reviews. The CFSR Final Report does not provide information that might explain the discrepancy between the case review findings and the State data as reported to AFCARS.\

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 80.8, which is lower than both the national standard of 86.7 percent and the national median of 84.3 percent. Information from the CFSR Final Report identifies the following as potential barriers to achieving placement stability for children in foster care: (1) the frequent use of shelter care when there is a placement disruption, and (2) a lack of placement options for children requiring therapeutic settings.

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 12.9, which is higher than the national median of 9.0. According to information in the CFSR Final Report, the high percentage of children who are placed in group homes when they are age 12 or younger may be attributed to the use of shelter care at entry into foster care and when placements disrupt.

Child well-being outcomes
With respect to child well-being, information in the CSFR Final Report indicates that the State is generally effective in meeting children?s educational needs, but is less effective in meeting children?s physical and mental health needs. The following were identified in the Final Report as potential barriers to meeting these needs: (1) inadequate assessments of children?s health needs, (2) a lack of dental providers in the State who will accept Medicaid, (3) failure in some cases to assess mental health needs when there is a need for such an assessment, and (4) the reduction in mental health services due to budget cuts. As noted in the Final Report, Medicaid eligible children are no longer able to access mental health services unless they are diagnosed as severely emotionally disturbed.

 

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