Questions?   Privacy   Site Index   Contact Us
			Home   |   Services   |   Working with ACF   |   Policy/Planning   |   About ACF   |   ACF News		Search

Enter Search term hereGo Button  Advanced  Search

Home > Statistics & Research > Child Welfare Outcomes 2000 > New Mexico

 

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

Context Data | Outcomes Data | State Comment | Federal Comment
Return to Table of Contents

New Mexico [ Context Data ]

A. Key Context Statistics

General Population	1998	1999	2000
Total children under 18 years	504,210	495,612	508,574
Race/ethnicity (%)1
Alaska Native/American Indian	11.8	11.9	11.7
Asian/Pacific Islander	1.2	1.2	0.9
Black	1.7	1.7	1.7
Hispanic	48.4	49.2	50.9
White	36.9	36.0	32.5
Two or more races	N/A	N/A	2.1
Other	N/A	N/A	0.2
% Child population in poverty	30.7	29.7	24.9
% Child population living in metropolitan areas	49.6	56.4	54.1

 

Child Welfare	1998	1999	2000
Child maltreatment victims	4,241	3,730	6,288
Children in foster care on 9/30	821	1,941	1,912
Children adopted	197	258	347

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	13,403	12,084	20,956	26.6 per 1,000	24.4 per 1,000	41.2 per 1,000
Child maltreatment victims2	4,241	3,730	6,288	8.4 per 1,000	7.5 per 1,000	12.4 per 1,000
Child fatalities	5	7	6	1.0 per 100,000	1.4 per 100,000	1.2 per 100,000

 

Age of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000
Under 1 year	-	5.5	7.5
1-5 years	-	23.0	25.6
6-10 years	-	31.1	30.4
11-15 years	-	27.1	25.5
16+ years	-	9.0	4.8
Unknown	-	4.3	6.1
Total %	-	100.0	100.0
Number	-	3,730	6,288

 

Race/Ethnicity of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000
Alaska Native/American Indian	-	8.6	10.4
Asian/Pacific Islander	-	0.7	0.3
Black	-	3.7	3.0
Hispanic	-	45.9	48.2
White	-	75.7	30.4
Two or more races	N/A	N/A	1.5
Other/Unknown	-	11.2	6.2
Total %3	-	145.9	100.0
Number	-	3,730	6,288

 

Maltreatment Type of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000
Emotional abuse	13.7	16.5	6.6
Medical neglect	2.7	2.8	2.3
Neglect	52.3	52.4	63.4
Physical abuse	24.9	22.3	33.5
Sexual abuse	6.3	6.0	6.0
Other	0.1	0.0	0.1
Unknown	-	-	-
Total %4	100.0	100.0	112.0
Number	4,241	3,730	6,288

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)	470	1,480	1,137	821	1,950
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	1,761	1,829	1,691	1,941	3,590
FY2000 (10/1/99-9/30/00)	1,731	1,780	1,716	1,912	3,511
Median Length of Stay (Months)
FY1998 (10/1/97-9/30/98)	2.1	N/A	0.3	6.9	N/A
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	14.0	N/A	1.0	18.4	N/A
FY2000 (10/1/99-9/30/00)	18.2	N/A	1.2	17.5	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	5.3	4.3	4.2	11.4	11.8	11.5	8.6	6.6	6.9	6.7	4.1	4.0
1-5 years	29.6	31.4	27.7	32.9	33.7	31.0	31.9	35.8	33.4	32.9	28.1	25.1
6-10 years	33.8	30.6	31.5	26.8	28.1	28.2	27.4	30.0	29.5	30.5	30.9	30.1
11-15 years	23.8	26.3	28.2	23.2	21.3	24.0	24.1	20.7	23.4	23.1	26.5	28.2
16-18 years	7.2	7.4	8.4	5.7	5.1	5.3	7.9	6.9	6.8	6.7	10.4	12.6
19+ years	0.2	-	-	-	-	-	0.1	-	-	-	-	-
Unknown	-	-	-	0.1	-	0.1	-	-	-	0.1	-	-
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	470	1,761	1,731	1,480	1,829	1,780	1,137	1,691	1,716	821	1,941	1,912

 

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	7.2	5.7	6.5	12.0	13.5	9.7	14.6	14.8	10.8	5.5	6.5	6.6
Asian/Pacific Islander	-	0.3	0.3	0.2	0.4	0.2	0.3	0.4	0.2	-	0.3	0.4
Black	6.2	8.0	7.7	5.9	4.2	4.8	4.3	4.4	5.5	8.2	7.4	6.5
Hispanic	55.1	56.3	55.2	44.9	48.3	49.3	41.0	46.4	48.7	56.4	56.6	54.7
White	31.3	29.4	28.9	28.4	31.3	32.6	30.0	32.3	31.4	28.0	28.1	30.2
Two or more races	-	0.3	1.0	-	1.0	2.2	-	0.5	1.8	-	0.8	1.5
Unknown	0.2	-	0.3	8.6	1.3	1.1	9.9	1.1	1.6	1.9	0.3	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	470	1,761	1,731	1,480	1,829	1,780	1,137	1,691	1,716	821	1,941	1,912

 

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

Back to Top

Return to Table of Contents

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	120	878	822
Children whose parents' rights have been terminated (TPR)	18	53	22

 

Age of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Under 1 year	5.0	1.7	1.8
1-5 years	33.3	32.0	30.7
6-10 years	36.7	41.8	37.1
11-15 years	23.3	23.2	28.8
16+ years	1.7	1.3	1.6
Unknown	-	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	120	878	822

 

Race/Ethnicity of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Alaska Native/American Indian	2.5	5.9	6.1
Asian/Pacific Islander	-	0.2	0.2
Black	5.0	8.5	7.9
Hispanic	69.2	58.5	56.2
White	23.3	26.2	28.0
Two or more races	-	0.6	1.6
Unknown	-	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	120	878	822

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	2.0	1.2	1.4
1-5 years	41.1	32.9	46.7
6-10 years	36.0	46.1	38.0
11-15 years	17.8	17.1	13.5
16+ years	2.5	2.7	0.3
Unknown	0.5	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	197	258	347

 

Race/Ethnicity of Adopted Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Alaska Native/American Indian	3.0	-	0.6
Asian/Pacific Islander	-	-	4.0
Black	4.1	-	4.3
Hispanic	47.7	54.3	59.1
White	42.1	45.7	30.3
Two or more races	-	-	1.7
Unknown	3.0	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	197	258	347

 

Back to Top

Return to Table of Contents

 

New Mexico [ 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	-	91.7	91.5
Children with one or more recurrences	-	8.3	8.5
Total %	-	100.0	100.0
Number	-	915	2,986

 

 

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	0.2	13.7	14.1
Guardianship	3.0	3.5	4.2
Reunification	54.6	73.5	74.7
Other	4.4	8.9	6.0
Missing data	37.8	0.4	1.0
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	1,137	1,691	1,716

 

 

3.2 Exits of Disabled Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	-	21.0	21.1
Guardianship	1.3	1.0	3.0
Reunification	30.8	67.6	69.9
Other	11.5	9.5	6.0
Missing data	56.4	1.0	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	78	105	133

 

3.3 Exits of Children Over Age 12 at Entry (%)	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	-	5.2	1.8
Guardianship	1.7	1.4	3.5
Reunification	48.0	69.2	77.1
Other	7.4	23.5	16.9
Missing data	42.8	0.7	0.7
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	229	289	284

 

3.4 Exits to Emancipation (%)	1998	1999	2000
Children age 12 or younger at entry	-	-	-
Children older than 12 at entry	100.0	100.0	100.0
Missing data	-	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	6	22	26

 

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	-	3.2	8.6	-	-	-	-	28.4	18.9	0.4	18.2	16.0
Guardianship	3.6	4.4	3.8	-	14.3	-	-	1.4	4.2	5.4	3.7	4.7
Reunification	51.2	66.0	65.9	100.0	85.7	66.7	51.0	66.2	68.4	50.6	71.8	74.6
Other	12.7	26.0	21.1	-	-	33.3	2.0	4.1	8.4	2.4	5.6	3.9
Missing data	32.5	0.4	0.5	-	-	-	46.9	-	-	41.2	0.6	0.7
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	166	250	185	3	7	3	49	74	95	466	785	836
	White			Unable to Determine			Two or More Races			Missing Data
	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	-	11.0	13.8	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Guardianship	0.9	3.1	4.1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Reunification	57.8	79.0	77.0	60.0	92.9	100.0	-	100.0	87.1	76.6	100.0	100.0
Other	5.0	6.9	3.3	-	7.1	-	-	-	12.9	-	-	-
Missing data	36.4	-	1.9	40.0	-	-	-	-	-	23.4	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	-	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	341	547	538	65	14	25	-	9	31	47	5	3

 

Back to Top

Return to Table of Contents

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.	94.0	86.4	81.8
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	0.2	9.5	5.5
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	0.2	0.2	2.0
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	-	-	0.2
48 or more mos.	-	-	0.1
Missing data	5.6	3.9	10.4
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	621	1,243	1,282

 

 

4.2 Children Who Entered Foster Care (%)	1998	1999	2000
Children entering care for the first time	90.8	88.6	86.9
Children re-entering care within 12 mos. of a prior episode	4.4	8.9	8.7
Children re-entering care more than 12 mos. after a prior episode	0.1	1.0	2.2
Missing data	4.7	1.5	2.2
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	1,480	1,829	1,780

 

 

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.	-	2.2	2.9
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	100.0	68.5	16.9
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	-	26.7	67.4
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	-	-	6.6
48 or more mos.	-	-	-
Missing data	-	2.6	6.2
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	2	232	242

 

 

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	97.7 95.4 95.6	2.3 4.6 4.4	- - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	1,589 1,958 1,946
At least 12 mos., but <24 mos.	1998 1999 2000	96.7 99.7 99.6	3.3 0.3 0.4	- - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	305 744 478
At least 24 mos., but <36 mos.	1998 1999 2000	100.0 99.5 99.8	- 0.5 0.2	- - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	1 842 522
At least 36 mos., but <48 mos.	1998 1999 2000	- - 99.8	- - 0.2	- - -	- - 100.0	- - 513
48 or more mos.	1998 1999 2000	- 100.0 100.0	- - -	- - -	- 100.0 100.0	- 1 1
Missing data	1998 1999 2000	100.0 100.0 100.0	- - -	- - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	55 45 51

 

 

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	13.3	14.2	12.2
Institutions	2.3	1.7	2.1
Other settings	84.3	84.1	85.8
Missing data	-	-	-
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	1,193	1,481	1,411

 

New Mexico [ State Comment ]

Deborah Hartz, Cabinet Secretary
New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department
505-827-7602

New Mexico has unique practices to harmonize the requirements of State law and federal mandates, while serving diverse communities that are not only rural, but involve urban settings, as well. New Mexico's population requires us to address needs specific to multicultural populations, as well as sovereignty issues with Tribal governments. Some of the specific data discrepancies can be explained as follows.

Section B: Child Maltreatment Data
The 1998 and 1999 numbers reflect "accepted reports." The 2000 numbers accurately capture the number of children who are the subject of an investigated report. The trend has remained stable over time when the same measure is calculated.

Section C: Children in Foster Care
The difference of 210 children between 9/30/99 and 10/1/99 results from the six-month period of time staff have to enter data for one AFCARS submission and not the other. Internal monthly data shows no significant change in the number of children in care from any given day to the next.

Section D: Children Waiting to be Adopted
New Mexico experiences some AFCARS mapping issues which accounts for the inaccurate number of 22 terminations of parental rights. For the 2000 reporting year, of the 822 children waiting for adoption, 484 parental rights had been terminated.

Section E: Children Adopted (AFCARS Annual Adoption Database)
As is the case with the majority of AFCARS reporting states (source: Child Welfare Outcomes: 1992), the AFCARS adoption file is the more accurate file because of the design of the flow in the NM SACWIS and field use of the system. In 1998, 197 children finalized to adoption; in 1999, 258 children finalized to adoption; and in 2000, 347 children finalized to adoption. An online modification has been implemented to resolve the discrepancy between the two fields.

Measure 2.1: Maltreatment in Foster Care (%)
For the three reporting years, New Mexico law required investigation of reports of maltreatment in foster care to be completed by law enforcement outside of the agency. The reports were routed directly to law enforcement and not included in the agency's database. Beginning in 2001, reports of maltreatment by foster care providers are being entered in the SACWIS system and data are currently being collected.

Back to Top

Return to Table of Contents

New Mexico [ Federal Comment ]

The following discussion focuses on New Mexico?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 New Mexico 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 on State 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
In calendar year (CY) 2000, the rate of maltreatment recurrence within 6 months was 8.5 percent, which is higher than both the national standard of 6.1 percent and the national median of 7.9 percent. In CY 1999, the State?s rate of maltreatment recurrence (8.3 percent) also was higher than the national standard. 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 case are not always investigated as new reports. Information from the CFSR Final Report also identifies the following as potential barriers to preventing maltreatment recurrence: (1) the practice of providing families with services that may not be of sufficient intensity and duration to address risk factors, and (2) inconsistent monitoring of parent?s progress to ensure that risk factors are being addressed.

Outcome 2. Reduce incidence of maltreatment in foster care
New Mexico?s attainment of outcome 2 cannot be evaluated as part of the Federal Comment section because the State does not provide data to NCANDS for calculating this outcome. As noted in the State?s Comment section, reports of maltreatment by foster care providers were not included in the agency?s data base until 2001.

Outcome 3. Increase permanency for children in foster care
In fiscal year (FY) 2000, 93.0 percent of children exiting foster care were discharged to permanent homes (which is higher than the national median of 84.7 percent), 94.0 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 82.4 percent of children exiting foster care who were older than age 12 when they entered care were discharged to permanency homes (which is higher than the national median of 72.6 percent). Information from the CFSR Final Report identifies the following as potential reasons for New Mexico?s performance on this outcome: (1) the agency practice of not assigning a goal of long-term foster care without careful consideration of all other permanency options, and (2) the existence of a State subsidized guardianship program.

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 81.8, which exceeds both the national standard of 76.2 percent and the national median of 68.0 percent. Information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that the State?s performance with regard to achieving reunifications in a timely manner may be attributed to the following: (1) the availability of community-based services and extensive family preservation services that are accessible to families after reunification, (2) the ability to individualize services to meet the unique needs of families, and (3) the regularity of periodic reviews and permanency hearings.

In FY 2000, the percentage of children re-entering foster care within 12 months of discharge from a prior foster care episode was 8.7, which does not meet the national standard of 8.6 percent but is lower than the national median of 10.3 percent. The CFSR Final Report indicates that for FY 1999, the percentage of children re-entering foster care within 12 months of discharge was 7.2 percent which does meet the national standard. However, the data reported to AFCARS for FY 1999 demonstrate that the rate of re-entry into foster care for that year was 8.9 percent. The reason for this data inconsistency is not clear. It may be that the State used an alternative source to calculate the foster care re-entry rate or that the State revised its data for FY 1999. Information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that the key reasons for foster care re-entries in the State may be (1) a lack of consistency in providing families with post-reunification services, and (2) insufficient resolution of a family?s substance abuse issues prior to reunification.

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 19.8, which does not meet the national standard of 32.0 percent, but is about equal to the national median of 19.7 percent. There was a decrease in performance on this measure with regard to data reported to AFCARS of 50.9 percentage points between FY 1999 and FY 2000, suggesting a dramatic change in practice with regard to entering and reporting data to AFCARS. In fact, the State provided revised 1999 data (23.4 percent) for this measure from an alternative data source for the CFSR (which still does not meet the national standard). In addition, the State reported 347 finalized adoptions to the AFCARS Adoption Data Base for FY 2000, but only 242 exits to finalized adoptions. Information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that delays in achieving finalized adoptions may be attributed in part to delays in home studies and in filing and attaining termination of parental rights.

Outcome 6. Increase placement stability
In FY 2000, the percentage of children experiencing no more than 2 placements during their first 12 months in foster care was 95.6, which exceeds the national standard of 86.7 percent and the national median of 84.3 percent. Information from the CFSR suggests that the State?s performance on this measure may be attributed to the following: (1) appropriately matching children with families that meet their needs, and (2) making diligent efforts to seek relatives as potential placement resources.

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 14.3, which is higher than the national median of 9.0 percent. Information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that the State?s performance in this area may be related to the frequent use of emergency shelters as initial placements for children of all ages and the general shortage of family foster home placement resources.

Child well-being outcomes
With regard to child well-being outcomes, 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) a failure in some cases to provide services to address identified educational needs; (2) a scarcity of dentists in the State who are willing to accept Medicaid; and (3) lack of mental health resources to meet children?s treatment needs.

 

Back to Top

Return to Table of Contents