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

 

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

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

A. Key Context Statistics

General Population	1998	1999	2000
Total children under 18 years	445,642	443,800	450,242
Race/ethnicity (%)1
Alaska Native/American Indian	1.3	1.3	1.2
Asian/Pacific Islander	1.7	1.7	1.3
Black	5.0	5.0	5.3
Hispanic	6.5	6.9	8.3
White	85.6	85.0	81.8
Two or more races	N/A	N/A	2.1
Other	N/A	N/A	0.2
% Child population in poverty	12.9	11.5	11.4
% Child population living in metropolitan areas	55.6	53.4	52.7

 

Child Welfare	1998	1999	2000
Child maltreatment victims	4,219	3,474	3,701
Children in foster care on 9/30	-	5,146	5,674
Children adopted	-	279	300

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	14,641	13,582	9,940	32.9 per 1,000	30.6 per 1,000	22.1 per 1,000
Child maltreatment victims2	4,219	3,474	3,701	9.5 per 1,000	7.8 per 1,000	8.2 per 1,000
Child fatalities	-	1	-	- per 100,000	0.2 per 100,000	- per 100,000

 

Age of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000
Under 1 year	6.2	8.4	9.5
1-5 years	33.1	31.3	31.0
6-10 years	31.1	31.0	29.7
11-15 years	24.5	22.3	22.7
16+ years	5.0	4.3	4.8
Unknown	-	2.7	2.3
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	4,219	3,474	3,701

 

Race/Ethnicity of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000
Alaska Native/American Indian	-	4.6	6.1
Asian/Pacific Islander	-	0.8	0.6
Black	-	12.4	12.9
Hispanic	-	-	6.8
White	-	66.1	66.6
Two or more races	N/A	N/A	0.0
Other/Unknown	-	16.1	7.0
Total %3	-	100.0	100.0
Number	-	3,474	3,701

 

Maltreatment Type of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000
Emotional abuse	-	3.9	4.9
Medical neglect	-	0.2	0.1
Neglect	66.4	64.5	70.9
Physical abuse	29.2	21.6	23.3
Sexual abuse	11.4	9.8	10.9
Other	-	-	-
Unknown	-	-	-
Total %4	106.9	100.0	110.1
Number	4,219	3,474	3,701

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)	-	-	-	-	-
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	4,440	2,806	2,100	5,146	7,246
FY2000 (10/1/99-9/30/00)	5,054	3,134	2,514	5,674	8,188
Median Length of Stay (Months)
FY1998 (10/1/97-9/30/98)	-	N/A	-	-	N/A
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	9.2	N/A	11.0	14.8	N/A
FY2000 (10/1/99-9/30/00)	14.6	N/A	14.3	14.4	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	-	2.3	2.5	-	7.6	7.6	-	2.4	1.8	-	2.4	2.6
1-5 years	-	20.2	17.5	-	17.0	19.4	-	21.6	18.2	-	16.8	17.8
6-10 years	-	22.8	19.4	-	16.1	17.1	-	23.6	19.2	-	18.7	18.1
11-15 years	-	33.7	34.7	-	37.3	35.0	-	22.9	23.6	-	33.8	31.9
16-18 years	-	20.9	25.9	-	21.9	21.0	-	29.5	37.2	-	28.3	29.6
19+ years	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Unknown	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total %	-	100.0	100.0	-	100.0	100.0	-	100.0	100.0	-	100.0	100.0
Number	-	4,440	5,054	-	2,806	3,134	-	2,100	2,514	-	5,146	5,674

 

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	-	7.5	7.8	-	8.1	7.1	-	8.3	7.2	-	7.5	7.7
Asian/Pacific Islander	-	0.2	0.3	-	0.6	0.8	-	0.5	0.6	-	0.3	0.4
Black	-	16.8	16.5	-	13.0	14.4	-	13.2	13.5	-	16.2	16.6
Hispanic	-	7.2	7.6	-	9.5	8.6	-	9.5	8.9	-	7.5	7.5
White	-	66.3	66.0	-	67.4	67.8	-	66.8	67.9	-	66.7	66.1
Two or more races	-	0.2	0.2	-	0.1	0.1	-	0.1	0.1	-	0.2	0.1
Unknown	-	1.8	1.6	-	1.3	1.3	-	1.6	1.8	-	1.7	1.4
Total %	-	100.0	100.0	-	100.0	100.0	-	100.0	100.0	-	100.0	100.0
Number	-	4,400	5,054	-	2,806	3,134	-	2,100	2,514	-	5,146	5,674

 

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	-	437	488
Children whose parents' rights have been terminated (TPR)	-	231	258

 

Age of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Under 1 year	-	3.9	4.1
1-5 years	-	38.9	35.0
6-10 years	-	35.2	36.5
11-15 years	-	19.0	20.5
16+ years	-	2.7	2.3
Unknown	-	0.2	1.6
Total %	-	100.0	100.0
Number	-	437	488

 

Race/Ethnicity of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Alaska Native/American Indian	-	5.3	7.8
Asian/Pacific Islander	-	0.2	0.2
Black	-	17.4	19.7
Hispanic	-	10.8	10.0
White	-	64.1	60.5
Two or more races	-	0.2	0.2
Unknown	-	2.1	1.6
Total %	-	100.0	100.0
Number	-	437	488

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	-	1.1	-
1-5 years	-	43.4	41.7
6-10 years	-	40.9	40.7
11-15 years	-	12.5	15.7
16+ years	-	2.2	2.0
Unknown	-	-	-
Total %	-	100.0	100.0
Number	-	279	300

 

Race/Ethnicity of Adopted Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Alaska Native/American Indian	-	2.2	4.3
Asian/Pacific Islander	-	-	-
Black	-	19.4	22.0
Hispanic	-	6.8	4.3
White	-	70.3	67.7
Two or more races	-	-	-
Unknown	-	1.4	1.7
Total %	-	100.0	100.0
Number	-	279	300

 

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Nebraska [ 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	93.8	95.2	92.4
Children with one or more recurrences	6.2	4.8	7.6
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	613	1,118	1,425

 

 

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	-	-	0.0
Children not maltreated while in foster care	-	-	100.0
Total %	-	-	100.0
Number	-	-	7,605

 

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

3.1 Exits from Foster Care (%)	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	-	6.6	7.1
Guardianship	-	3.3	2.9
Reunification	-	65.9	62.6
Other	-	0.6	0.8
Missing data	-	23.6	26.6
Total %	-	100.0	100.0
Number	-	2,100	2,514

 

 

3.2 Exits of Disabled Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	-	6.7	10.3
Guardianship	-	-	-
Reunification	-	66.7	65.5
Other	-	-	-
Missing data	-	26.7	24.1
Total %	-	100.0	100.0
Number	-	15	29

 

3.3 Exits of Children Over Age 12 at Entry (%)	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	-	-	0.1
Guardianship	-	1.8	1.3
Reunification	-	76.7	72.8
Other	-	0.2	0.7
Missing data	-	21.2	25.1
Total %	-	100.0	100.0
Number	-	825	1,191

 

3.4 Exits to Emancipation (%)	1998	1999	2000
Children age 12 or younger at entry	-	50.0	50.0
Children older than 12 at entry	-	50.0	50.0
Missing data	-	-	-
Total %	-	100.0	100.0
Number	-	2	2

 

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	-	1.7	2.8	-	-	-	-	5.4	10.6	-	7.5	2.7
Guardianship	-	1.1	1.7	-	-	-	-	4.0	5.3	-	2.5	3.1
Reunification	-	55.4	56.4	-	81.8	71.4	-	61.7	56.2	-	58.3	61.8
Other	-	-	2.8	-	-	-	-	1.4	0.9	-	0.5	-
Missing data	-	41.7	36.5	-	18.2	28.6	-	27.4	27.1	-	31.2	32.4
Total %	-	100.0	100.0	-	100.0	100.0	-	100.0	100.0	-	100.0	100.0
Number	-	175	181	-	11	14	-	277	340	-	199	225
	White			Unable to Determine			Two or More Races			Missing Data
	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	-	7.4	7.5	-	3.0	9.1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Guardianship	-	3.7	2.5	-	-	2.3	-	-	-	-	-	-
Reunification	-	68.6	64.6	-	78.8	65.9	-	100.0	50.0	-	-	-
Other	-	0.5	0.6	-	-	2.3	-	-	-	-	-	-
Missing data	-	19.7	24.8	-	18.2	20.5	-	-	50.0	-	-	-
Total %	-	100.0	100.0	-	100.0	100.0	-	100.0	100.0	-	-	-
Number	-	1,403	1,708	-	33	44	-	2	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.	-	52.6	44.4
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	-	26.4	30.7
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	-	9.2	12.4
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	-	5.3	5.8
48 or more mos.	-	6.5	6.7
Missing data	-	-	-
Total (%)	-	100.0	100.0
Number	-	1,384	1,575

 

 

4.2 Children Who Entered Foster Care (%)	1998	1999	2000
Children entering care for the first time	-	91.8	92.9
Children re-entering care within 12 mos. of a prior episode	-	3.1	3.5
Children re-entering care more than 12 mos. after a prior episode	-	0.2	2.1
Missing data	-	4.9	1.5
Total (%)	-	100.0	100.0
Number	-	2,806	3,134

 

 

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.	-	18.1	-
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	-	24.6	17.9
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	-	10.9	26.3
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	-	21.7	21.8
48 or more mos.	-	24.6	34.1
Missing data	-	-	-
Total (%)	-	100.0	100.0
Number	-	138	179

 

 

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	- 87.4 83.4	- 12.6 16.6	- - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	- 3,321 3,575
At least 12 mos., but <24 mos.	1998 1999 2000	- 72.7 56.8	- 27.3 43.2	- - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	- 2,111 2,097
At least 24 mos., but <36 mos.	1998 1999 2000	- 77.1 52.3	- 22.9 47.7	- - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	- 699 1,347
At least 36 mos., but <48 mos.	1998 1999 2000	- 81.4 59.8	- 18.6 40.2	- - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	- 414 440
48 or more mos.	1998 1999 2000	- 81.9 62.1	- 18.1 37.9	- - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	- 691 728
Missing data	1998 1999 2000	- 100.0 100.0	- - -	- - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	- 10 1

 

 

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	-	2.8	3.0
Institutions	-	8.3	6.6
Other settings	-	89.0	90.4
Missing data	-	-	-
Total (%)	-	100.0	100.0
Number	-	1,307	1,586

 

Nebraska [ Federal Comment ]

The following discussion focuses on Nebraska?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 Nebraska 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 State?s rate of maltreatment recurrence within 6 months was 7.6 percent, which does not meet the national standard of 6.1 but is lower than the national median of 7.9 percent. Information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that the reported rate of maltreatment recurrence may be less than the actual rate because maltreatment reports on families with open child welfare cases are not always investigated as new reports and therefore are not always entered into the State?s automated information system. The Final Report also identifies the following as potential barriers to preventing maltreatment recurrence: (1) a scarcity of services, (2) delays in service provision to families whose children remain at home, and (3) insufficient face-to-face contact between caseworkers and children to ensure adequate monitoring of children?s safety.

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 0.0 percent (it was actually .04 percent), which is lower than both the national standard of 0.57 percent and the national median of 0.47 percent. Information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that the State?s performance on this outcome measure may be attributed in part to a State requirement that foster parents obtain at least 21 hours of pre-service training and 12 hours of in-service training per year using the PRIDE curriculum.

Outcome 3. Increase permanency for children in foster care
The State?s performance relevant to this outcome cannot be assessed because 26.6 percent of children who exited foster care in fiscal year fiscal year (FY) 2000 did not report “reason for discharge” information to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS). Consequently, the percentage of children achieving permanency at exit from foster care cannot be determined.

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 44.4, which is lower than the national standard of 76.2 percent and the national median of 68.0 percent. However, because reason for discharge information was not reported to AFCARS for almost 27 percent of children exiting foster care in FY 2000, the current data pertaining to the time to reunification cannot be meaningfully interpreted. Information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that the State is not consistent in reunifying children in a timely manner and identifies the following as potential barriers to reunification: (1) inconsistent efforts to provide families with services that address the necessary risk factors, (2) inconsistent efforts to involve parents in the case planning process, and (3) insufficient contacts between caseworkers and parents.

Nebraska?s data regarding re-entries into foster care indicate that in FY 2000, the percentage of children re-entering foster care within 12 months of discharge from a prior foster care episode was 3.5, which is lower than both the national standard of 8.6 and the national median of 10.3. Information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that the State?s performance on this outcome measure may be attributed in part to the following: (1) the provision of post-reunification services, (2) ensuring that families have completed necessary treatments before children are returned home, and (3) providing monitoring after reunification to ensure children?s safety.

Outcome 5. Reduce time in foster care to adoption
In FY 2000, the percentage of all reported finalized adoptions occurring within 24 months of the child?s entry into foster care was 17.9, which is lower than the national standard of 32.0 percent and the national median of 19.7 percent. However, Nebraska?s data pertaining to time in foster care to finalized adoption cannot be meaningfully interpreted because of the following data quality issues: (1) reason for discharge information was not reported to AFCARS for almost 27 percent of the children exiting foster care in FY 2000, and (2) the State reported 300 finalized adoptions to the AFCARS Adoption Database (Section E), but only 179 exits to a finalized adoption to the AFCARS Foster Care Database (Outcome measure 3.1 and 5.1). Consequently, the time to adoption data pertains to only 60 percent of the finalized adoptions. Information from the CFSR Report indicates that the State is not consistently effective in its efforts to achieve adoptions in a timely manner and identifies the following as potential barriers: (1) delays in filing termination of parental rights petitions, (2) lack of concurrent planning in many cases, and (3) agency delays in conducting home studies and completing the paperwork necessary to finalize adoptions.

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 83.4, 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: (1) a scarcity of foster homes, resulting in an inability to appropriately match children with foster care placements; (2) a lack of sufficient support services to assist foster parents in parenting children with behavioral and emotional problems; and (3) the frequent practice of placing children in emergency shelters at the time of the initial removal from the home.

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 9.6, which is higher than the national median of 9.0. Information in the CFSR Final Report suggests that the State?s performance on this outcome may be attributed to the following: (1) placing children in emergency shelters when they are initially removed from the home, and (2) the scarcity of family foster homes.

Child well-being outcomes
With respect to child well-being, information from the CSFR 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) educational assessments are not conducted on a routine basis; (2) educational services are not always provided when a need is identified; (3) children are not consistently receiving needed medical and dental services; and (4) children are not consistently receiving mental health services to address identified concerns.

 

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