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

 

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

Context Data | Outcomes Data | State Comment | Federal Comment
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New York [ Context Data ]

A. Key Context Statistics

General Population	1998	1999	2000
Total children under 18 years	4,502,611	4,440,924	4,690,107
Race/ethnicity (%)1
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.3	0.3	0.4
Asian/Pacific Islander	5.6	5.8	5.0
Black	16.8	16.7	17.8
Hispanic	19.2	19.5	19.0
White	58.2	57.8	54.6
Two or more races	N/A	N/A	2.6
Other	N/A	N/A	0.5
% Child population in poverty	26.2	21.8	19.5
% Child population living in metropolitan areas	90.7	92.2	92.3

 

Child Welfare	1998	1999	2000
Child maltreatment victims	83,537	64,045	74,064
Children in foster care on 9/30	53,555	51,159	47,208
Children adopted	4,819	4,864	4,234

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	240,655	186,002	230,449	53.4 per 1,000	41.9 per 1,000	49.1 per 1,000
Child maltreatment victims2	83,537	64,045	74,065	18.6 per 1,000	14.4 per 1,000	15.8 per 1,000
Child fatalities	61	79	79	1.4 per 100,000	1.8 per 100,000	1.7 per 100,000

 

Age of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000
Under 1 year	-	5.1	9.1
1-5 years	-	26.2	27.4
6-10 years	-	29.7	30.6
11-15 years	-	25.3	27.0
16+ years	-	9.2	5.8
Unknown	-	4.5	0.1
Total %	-	100.0	100.0
Number	-	64,045	74,065

 

Race/Ethnicity of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000
Alaska Native/American Indian	-	0.2	0.3
Asian/Pacific Islander	-	0.1	0.8
Black	-	31.0	32.3
Hispanic	-	18.4	18.0
White	-	38.0	41.5
Two or more races	N/A	N/A	-
Other/Unknown	-	30.7	7.1
Total %3	-	118.4	100.0
Number	-	64,045	74,065

 

Maltreatment Type of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000
Emotional abuse	1.5	1.7	1.1
Medical neglect	5.0	6.2	3.7
Neglect	19.0	23.3	89.5
Physical abuse	21.9	24.8	13.9
Sexual abuse	5.3	5.6	4.1
Other	148.2	182.9	22.8
Unknown	-	-	-
Total %4	200.9	244.6	135.2
Number	83,537	64,045	74,065

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)	54,102	19,749	20,324	53,555	73,851
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	53,483	18,172	20,497	51,159	71,655
FY2000 (10/1/99-9/30/00)	50,847	16,601	20,243	47,208	67,448
Median Length of Stay (Months)
FY1998 (10/1/97-9/30/98)	32.1	N/A	20.9	28.6	N/A
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	28.7	N/A	22.5	28.3	N/A
FY2000 (10/1/99-9/30/00)	28.6	N/A	22.4	29.8	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	3.5	3.6	3.4	15.5	15.4	14.8	3.3	3.2	3.0	3.6	3.4	3.2
1-5 years	27.5	26.7	26.1	23.9	22.9	22.2	22.8	21.6	22.1	26.6	26.1	25.4
6-10 years	28.2	27.8	27.1	21.1	21.2	20.0	24.0	24.6	24.0	27.8	27.2	26.1
11-15 years	25.3	25.8	26.6	32.7	33.7	35.9	25.8	26.3	26.7	26.4	27.1	28.1
16-18 years	12.6	13.1	13.5	6.7	6.7	7.1	18.3	18.3	18.2	12.8	13.2	13.7
19+ years	2.8	3.0	3.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	5.4	5.6	4.8	2.7	2.9	3.4
Unknown	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.5	0.4	1.2	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	54,102	53,483	50,847	19,749	18,172	16,601	20,324	20,497	20,243	53,555	51,159	47,208

 

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	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.4	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.1	0.2	0.2
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.3	0.2	0.3	0.4	0.4	0.6	0.4	0.3	0.5	0.2	0.3	0.3
Black	48.8	46.6	44.9	34.1	33.8	38.8	41.3	40.1	40.3	46.2	44.7	44.7
Hispanic	14.8	15.0	15.3	13.5	13.6	15.8	13.6	13.5	14.7	14.8	15.1	15.7
White	13.2	13.5	13.9	21.5	23.2	25.0	19.7	20.5	20.3	13.8	14.1	15.1
Two or more races	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Unknown	22.9	24.5	25.4	30.2	28.6	19.4	24.7	25.3	23.9	24.9	25.7	24.0
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	54,102	53,483	50,847	19,749	18,172	16,601	20,324	20,497	20,243	53,555	51,159	47,208

 

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	17,818	18,762	17,327
Children whose parents' rights have been terminated (TPR)	13,596	14,707	12,520

 

Age of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Under 1 year	0.9	2.4	1.6
1-5 years	29.6	31.9	31.6
6-10 years	37.8	35.5	35.3
11-15 years	27.4	26.4	27.8
16+ years	3.3	2.8	2.8
Unknown	1.0	1.0	1.0
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	17,818	18,762	17,327

 

Race/Ethnicity of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.0	0.1	0.1
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.1	0.2	0.2
Black	51.1	48.7	47.9
Hispanic	14.0	14.3	14.8
White	9.9	11.5	11.8
Two or more races	-	-	-
Unknown	24.9	25.3	25.1
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	17,818	18,762	17,327

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	0.4	0.1	0.4
1-5 years	31.7	28.4	31.6
6-10 years	42.0	41.4	38.1
11-15 years	21.4	25.3	25.6
16+ years	4.4	4.7	4.3
Unknown	-	0.0	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	4,819	4,864	4,234

 

Race/Ethnicity of Adopted Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.0	0.1	0.1
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.1	0.1	0.2
Black	52.1	50.3	46.5
Hispanic	14.1	13.6	12.5
White	10.4	10.5	11.8
Two or more races	-	-	-
Unknown	23.2	25.4	28.9
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	4,819	4,864	4,234

 

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New York [ 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	86.1	86.5	87.1
Children with one or more recurrences	13.9	13.5	12.9
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	33,579	33,687	32,876

 

 

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	0.7	1.1	0.8
Children not maltreated while in foster care	99.3	98.9	99.2
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	69,304	66,252	62,090

 

 

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

3.1 Exits from Foster Care (%)	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	23.7	23.7	20.9
Guardianship	-	-	-
Reunification	59.0	60.7	63.4
Other	13.4	12.7	13.4
Missing data	4.0	2.9	2.2
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	20,324	20,497	20,243

 

 

3.2 Exits of Disabled Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	-	-	-
Guardianship	-	-	-
Reunification	-	-	-
Other	-	-	-
Missing data	-	-	-
Total %	-	-	-
Number	-	-	-

 

3.3 Exits of Children Over Age 12 at Entry (%)	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	0.6	0.4	0.5
Guardianship	-	-	-
Reunification	64.9	68.5	66.5
Other	28.1	27.2	29.5
Missing data	6.4	4.0	3.4
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	5,890	5,773	5,697

 

3.4 Exits to Emancipation (%)	1998	1999	2000
Children age 12 or younger at entry	47.5	46.7	46.0
Children older than 12 at entry	51.9	53.2	53.8
Missing data	0.6	0.1	0.1
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	1,491	1,543	1,566

 

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	2.0	6.1	6.6	11.2	9.2	8.6	30.6	29.8	24.1	25.4	23.8	17.9
Guardianship	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Reunification	87.8	79.6	86.9	57.3	73.8	74.2	51.4	53.3	60.0	58.1	60.0	67.5
Other	10.2	8.2	6.6	28.1	15.4	16.1	14.4	14.0	13.7	12.6	12.8	12.0
Missing data	-	6.1	-	3.4	1.5	1.1	3.6	2.9	2.2	3.9	3.4	2.6
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	49	49	61	89	65	93	8,388	8,212	8,162	2,767	2,777	2,973
	White			Unable to Determine			Two or More Races			Missing Data
	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	12.3	12.1	12.1	20.6	23.8	25.2	-	-	-	-	-	-
Guardianship	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Reunification	70.5	75.5	74.5	62.7	60.4	56.8	-	-	-	-	-	-
Other	12.5	10.1	11.1	12.7	12.9	15.8	-	-	-	-	-	-
Missing data	4.8	2.2	2.3	4.0	3.0	2.2	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	-	-	-	-	-	-
Number	4,005	4,203	4,108	5,026	5,191	4,846	-	-	-	-	-	-

 

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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.	56.7	54.7	49.9
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	19.1	19.9	20.6
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	8.0	10.7	11.2
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	4.5	4.5	6.6
48 or more mos.	9.9	9.7	10.5
Missing data	1.9	0.5	1.1
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	11,990	12,439	12,839

 

 

4.2 Children Who Entered Foster Care (%)	1998	1999	2000
Children entering care for the first time	78.8	78.8	78.5
Children re-entering care within 12 mos. of a prior episode	8.9	8.7	9.3
Children re-entering care more than 12 mos. after a prior episode	12.0	12.5	12.2
Missing data	0.3	0.0	0.0
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	19,749	18,172	16,601

 

 

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.	0.7	0.5	0.7
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	2.3	2.5	3.9
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	8.7	10.1	11.4
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	12.9	11.7	15.8
48 or more mos.	75.3	75.2	68.2
Missing data	0.1	0.0	0.0
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	4,808	4,860	4,230

 

 

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	- 88.9 90.8	- 9.7 9.2	- 1.4 -	- 100.0 100.0	- 20,348 18,750
At least 12 mos., but <24 mos.	1998 1999 2000	- 74.5 75.5	- 25.5 24.0	- - 0.5	- 100.0 100.0	- 12,833 11,607
At least 24 mos., but <36 mos.	1998 1999 2000	- 65.5 65.3	- 34.5 33.5	- - 1.2	- 100.0 100.0	- 9,435 9,426
At least 36 mos., but <48 mos.	1998 1999 2000	- 57.9 58.5	- 42.1 40.1	- - 1.4	- 100.0 100.0	- 6,697 7,071
48 or more mos.	1998 1999 2000	- 44.0 44.0	- 56.0 55.1	- - 0.9	- 100.0 100.0	- 22,197 20,419
Missing data	1998 1999 2000	- 93.1 96.6	- 6.9 3.4	- - -	- 100.0 100.0	- 145 175

 

 

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	1.5	1.6	1.5
Institutions	5.5	5.8	6.3
Other settings	93.0	92.5	92.2
Missing data	0.0	0.0	0.0
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	13,456	12,251	10,791

 

New York [ State Comment ]

William F. Baccaglini, Director
Strategic Planning and Policy Development
New York State Office of Children and Family Services
518-473-1776

New York?s SACWIS system, CONNECTIONS, is partly implemented. Child protective data and facility and resource information are operational. Currently, NCANDS data are being submitted through the SACWIS system; AFCARS data continue to be reported through the legacy systems, which are unable to meet some reporting requirements. Significant efforts are being made to support the production of outcome measures until full SACWIS implementation. Data to support the reporting of the outcomes will be enhanced in future submissions. For Outcome Measure 3.2, the SACWIS functionality that supports this reporting is not yet operational.

New York State objects to the use of outcome measures presented in this report to construct national standards for the Child and Family Services Review, against which State performance is judged. Comparisons across states on these outcome measures are invalidated by extensive inter-state variation in the way events and populations are defined and counted, in case volume and composition, and in data quality. For example: a State rate of recurrence of reported abuse/neglect may be exaggerated due to statutory definitions and subsequent reports on the same incident being treated as a new report where there are minor differences in the reported information. In the areas of reunification and adoption, the use of exit cohorts to track progress is unlikely to represent accurately changes in length of stay caused by improvements in State policies and practices. Efforts to reduce a backlog of cases in foster care for an extended period can actually increase time to reunification or adoption among exit cohorts because the cohorts discharged after this programmatic shift contain a higher concentration of children who had been in foster care a long time.

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New York [ Federal Comment ]

The following discussion focuses on New York?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 York CFSR was conducted in 2001 and the national data used at that time to assess performance regarding national standards was from 1999. However, the discussion of State performance in the Federal Comment section focuses on data from the year 2000, as provided in the State Data Pages. 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 in 6 months was 12.9 percent, which is higher than the national standard of 6.1 percent and the national median of 7.9 percent. According to information provided in the CFSR Final Report, the State believes that the actual maltreatment recurrence rate is lower than the reported rate because the State?s information system records all maltreatment reports as new reports, even if they involve the same incident. Information from the CFSR Final Report also indicates that the State?s performance on this outcome measure may be attributed in part to the agency practice in some cases of focusing on the specific child maltreatment incident in responding to a maltreatment report rather than conducting a comprehensive assessment of the family that takes all risk factors into consideration.

Outcome 2. Reduce incidence of maltreatment in foster care
In CY 2000, the incidence of maltreatment in foster care was 0.8 percent, which is higher than the national standard of 0.57 percent and the national median of .47 percent. Information from the CFSR Final Report identifies the following as potential reasons for the State?s performance on this outcome measure: (1) the poor quality of some foster homes, (2) inadequate screening of foster homes in some instances, and (3) inadequate supports for foster parents to assist them in parenting children with behavioral and emotional problems.

Outcome 3. Increase permanency for children in foster care
In fiscal year (FY) 2000, 84.3 percent of children exiting foster care were discharged to permanent homes, which is about equal to the national median of 84.7 percent. However, only 67.0 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 percent. In addition, 46.0 percent of the children exiting foster care through emancipation were age 12 or younger at the time of entry into care, which is higher than the national median of 24.2 percent. Information from the CFSR Final Report identifies the following as potential barriers to attaining permanency for some children: (1) inconsistent implementation of concurrent planning, (2) lack of effective coordination between the child welfare agency and the court systems, and (3) failure in some cases to revise permanency goals when reunification is unlikely to occur.

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 49.9, 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) inconsistent involvement of parents in the case planning process, (2) the establishment of visitation plans in some cases that are not consistent with a permanency goal of reunification, (3) a failure in some cases to provide services that target the risk factors that are barriers to reunification, and (4) frequent delays in service provision to parents.

Also in FY 2000, the percentage of children re-entering foster care within 12 months of discharge from a prior foster care episode was 9.3, which is higher than the national standard of 8.6 percent but lower than the national median of 10.3 percent. Although the State met the national standard for this measure for the 2001 CFSR, based on revised 1999 data from a source other than the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), the data reported to AFCARS for both FY 1999 and FY 2000 do not meet the national standard. Information in the CFSR Final Report suggests that one barrier to preventing foster care re-entries is the scarcity of post-reunification services.

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 4.6, which does not meet the national standard of 32.0 percent and was the lowest rate reported nationally. Information from the CFSR Final Report identifies the following as potential barriers to achieving adoptions in a timely manner: (1) agency delays in filing for termination of parental rights (TPR), searching for absent parents, and recruiting adoptive families; (2) court delays in holding permanency and TPR hearings; (3) inconsistent implementation of concurrent planning; (4) an inadequate number of attorneys; and (5) the existence of New York State laws and regulations regarding time lines for termination of parental rights and adoption finalization that do not facilitate achieving finalized adoptions within 24 months of entry into foster care.

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 90.8, which exceeds both the national median of 84.3 percent and the national standard of 86.7 percent. However, information from the CFSR Final Report indicates that placement stability was a concern in a number of cases reviewed due to a lack of appropriate matching with foster parents and incomplete assessments of children?s placement needs at the time of entry into foster care.

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 7.8, which is lower than the national median of 9.0. Information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that the State?s performance on this measure may be attributed to the practice of placing young children in the least restrictive environments, based on their needs.

Child well-being outcomes
With respect to child well-being, information from the CFSR Final Report indicates that the State is effective in meeting children?s educational and physical health needs but is not effective in meeting children?s mental health needs. The Final Report identifies the following as potential barriers to meeting mental health needs: (1) a scarcity of available mental health services, resulting in long waits for services; and (2) a lack of specialized services to assist children who exhibit complex mental health problems.

 

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