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

 

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

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

A. Key Context Statistics

General Population	1998	1999	2000
Total children under 18 years	5,629,200	5,719,234	5,886,759
Race/ethnicity (%)1
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.2	0.2	0.3
Asian/Pacific Islander	2.6	2.7	2.4
Black	12.4	12.3	12.4
Hispanic	38.5	39.1	40.5
White	46.4	45.7	42.6
Two or more races	N/A	N/A	1.6
Other	N/A	N/A	0.1
% Child population in poverty	24.4	22.1	22.9
% Child population living in metropolitan areas	82.9	91.4	85.7

 

Child Welfare	1998	1999	2000
Child maltreatment victims	39,925	39,488	45,800
Children in foster care on 9/30	15,182	16,326	18,236
Children adopted	1,602	2,054	2,029

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	172,718	170,834	193,966	30.7 per 1,000	29.9 per 1,000	32.9 per 1,000
Child maltreatment victims2	39,925	39,488	45,800	7.1 per 1,000	6.9 per 1,000	7.8 per 1,000
Child fatalities	176	143	177	3.1 per 100,000	2.5 per 100,000	3.0 per 100,000

 

Age of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000
Under 1 year	11.2	10.7	11.3
1-5 years	33.2	33.0	30.3
6-10 years	31.0	31.3	26.2
11-15 years	21.3	21.1	18.5
16+ years	3.3	3.9	3.0
Unknown	0.1	0.0	10.8
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	39,925	39,488	45,800

 

Race/Ethnicity of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.3	0.3	0.2
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.6	0.7	0.5
Black	24.8	24.5	20.4
Hispanic	34.9	33.7	36.6
White	69.6	73.2	38.7
Two or more races	N/A	N/A	2.0
Other/Unknown	4.7	1.4	1.7
Total %3	134.9	133.7	100.0
Number	39,925	39,488	45,800

 

Maltreatment Type of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000
Emotional abuse	3.9	3.5	3.4
Medical neglect	4.8	5.1	4.7
Neglect	57.3	59.6	59.3
Physical abuse	29.9	29.3	28.2
Sexual abuse	15.7	14.9	14.6
Other	3.4	3.5	1.4
Unknown	-	-	-
Total %4	115.0	115.9	111.5
Number	39,925	39,488	45,800

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)	15,818	7,025	7,665	15,182	22,843
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	15,582	8,938	8,200	16,326	24,520
FY2000 (10/1/99-9/30/00)	16,571	9,939	8,283	18,236	26,510
Median Length of Stay (Months)
FY1998 (10/1/97-9/30/98)	22.4	N/A	17.2	18.8	N/A
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	20.1	N/A	15.8	14.5	N/A
FY2000 (10/1/99-9/30/00)	15.7	N/A	13.6	13.5	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	5.0	5.2	6.9	18.7	20.1	20.7	4.8	5.2	5.6	5.3	7.0	7.4
1-5 years	27.8	26.3	26.5	30.1	31.4	32.6	33.2	34.1	36.1	26.7	26.8	28.4
6-10 years	25.6	26.1	25.3	22.8	22.8	22.6	23.0	22.6	23.4	26.3	25.5	24.7
11-15 years	27.7	28.9	28.8	22.8	20.3	20.2	17.2	17.5	17.3	29.1	28.5	27.9
16-18 years	13.6	13.5	12.5	5.6	5.4	3.9	20.8	20.0	17.4	12.5	12.1	11.6
19+ years	0.2	0.1	0.0	0.0	-	-	0.9	0.5	0.2	0.0	0.0	0.0
Unknown	0.0	-	-	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.0	-	0.0	-	0.0
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	15,818	15,582	16,571	7,025	8,938	9,939	7,665	8,200	8,283	15,182	16,326	18,236

 

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	0.4	0.3	0.4	0.3	0.4	0.4	0.3	0.4	0.4	0.3	0.4	0.4
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.3	0.5	0.5	0.2	0.3	0.4	0.1	0.2	0.3
Black	32.9	31.8	30.1	27.6	26.8	25.3	31.0	30.1	27.4	31.4	29.9	28.6
Hispanic	31.4	32.4	33.5	35.1	35.9	35.3	32.9	33.3	34.3	32.4	33.8	34.1
White	32.0	32.5	32.7	33.3	33.0	34.4	31.6	32.7	33.8	32.8	32.7	33.2
Two or more races	1.8	1.8	2.4	2.4	2.8	3.3	2.2	1.8	2.7	1.9	2.4	2.7
Unknown	1.4	1.0	0.7	1.1	0.7	0.9	2.0	1.4	0.9	1.0	0.7	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	15,818	15,582	16,571	7,025	8,938	9,939	7,665	8,200	8,283	15,182	16,326	18,236

 

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	6,389	6,616	7,214
Children whose parents' rights have been terminated (TPR)	4,467	5,067	5,492

 

Age of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Under 1 year	3.5	4.3	4.7
1-5 years	32.0	29.7	30.5
6-10 years	34.3	33.1	31.3
11-15 years	26.8	29.1	29.4
16+ years	3.2	3.8	4.1
Unknown	0.1	-	0.0
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	6,389	6,616	7,214

 

Race/Ethnicity of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.3	0.4	0.2
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.0	0.2	0.2
Black	33.4	32.6	30.9
Hispanic	32.4	32.8	34.0
White	30.4	30.4	30.9
Two or more races	2.2	2.7	2.9
Unknown	1.2	0.9	0.8
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	6,389	6,616	7,214

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	2.8	2.9	3.2
1-5 years	51.7	49.2	52.5
6-10 years	33.3	32.1	30.3
11-15 years	11.4	14.6	12.8
16+ years	0.7	1.2	1.3
Unknown	-	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	1,602	2,054	2,029

 

Race/Ethnicity of Adopted Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.2	0.2	0.5
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.3	0.2	0.1
Black	34.0	30.0	25.8
Hispanic	31.0	35.4	36.9
White	29.0	30.5	31.6
Two or more races	-	-	3.4
Unknown	5.5	3.7	1.6
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	1,602	2,054	2,029

 

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Texas [ 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	96.3	95.7	95.8
Children with one or more recurrences	3.7	4.3	4.2
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	20,794	20,929	22,290

 

 

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	0.3	0.3	0.3
Children not maltreated while in foster care	99.7	99.7	99.7
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	19,915	22,791	24,433

 

 

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

3.1 Exits from Foster Care (%)	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	22.9	27.0	25.6
Guardianship	-	-	-
Reunification	51.8	48.0	51.3
Other	8.8	8.5	6.1
Missing data	16.5	16.5	17.0
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	7,665	8,200	8,283

 

 

3.2 Exits of Disabled Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	22.9	31.4	32.1
Guardianship	-	-	-
Reunification	52.1	40.7	39.8
Other	11.0	12.8	9.8
Missing data	14.0	15.2	18.3
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	1,504	1,936	2,186

 

3.3 Exits of Children Over Age 12 at Entry (%)	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	0.4	1.3	2.0
Guardianship	-	-	-
Reunification	30.1	28.8	33.6
Other	23.4	20.9	17.6
Missing data	46.1	49.0	46.8
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	1,570	1,489	1,473

 

3.4 Exits to Emancipation (%)	1998	1999	2000
Children age 12 or younger at entry	48.7	56.4	53.1
Children older than 12 at entry	51.3	43.6	46.9
Missing data	-	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	556	569	377

 

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	16.0	13.8	36.7	8.3	4.0	8.6	23.5	24.5	23.2	22.6	30.4	28.1
Guardianship	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Reunification	52.0	48.3	50.0	50.0	92.0	85.7	49.0	49.5	50.2	52.9	45.6	49.6
Other	4.0	20.7	3.3	8.3	-	-	8.6	7.9	6.3	7.5	8.1	5.7
Missing data	28.0	17.2	10.0	33.3	4.0	5.7	18.9	18.1	20.4	17.0	15.9	16.6
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	25	29	30	12	25	35	2,373	2,470	2,272	2,521	2,730	2,843
	White			Unable to Determine			Two or More Races			Missing Data
	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	22.0	25.6	24.7	33.8	43.2	35.7	26.1	27.7	28.6	11.8	14.3	-
Guardianship	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Reunification	53.4	48.8	53.6	45.1	38.9	35.7	61.2	57.4	56.8	29.4	9.5	-
Other	10.9	10.0	7.0	5.3	5.3	2.9	2.4	3.4	2.6	-	-	-
Missing data	13.7	15.7	14.7	15.8	12.6	25.7	10.3	11.5	11.9	58.8	76.2	100.0
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	2,419	2,682	2,798	133	95	70	165	148	227	17	21	8

 

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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.	50.8	60.6	64.4
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	27.4	25.1	26.7
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	8.7	5.6	3.4
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	4.8	3.3	1.1
48 or more mos.	8.0	5.3	4.2
Missing data	0.3	0.1	0.2
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	3,972	3,938	4,251

 

 

4.2 Children Who Entered Foster Care (%)	1998	1999	2000
Children entering care for the first time	96.7	96.4	95.9
Children re-entering care within 12 mos. of a prior episode	1.3	1.3	1.5
Children re-entering care more than 12 mos. after a prior episode	0.6	1.1	1.5
Missing data	1.4	1.2	1.1
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	7,025	8,938	9,939

 

 

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.	5.5	7.1	7.7
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	22.7	29.2	36.0
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	21.4	20.8	23.7
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	19.1	16.0	13.1
48 or more mos.	31.3	26.9	19.5
Missing data	-	-	-
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	1,754	2,211	2,120

 

 

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	74.3 73.3 71.2	25.7 26.7 28.8	0.0 0.0 -	100.0 100.0 100.0	8,521 10,684 12,019
At least 12 mos., but <24 mos.	1998 1999 2000	44.4 42.7 44.5	55.6 57.3 55.5	- - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	4,657 4,593 5,890
At least 24 mos., but <36 mos.	1998 1999 2000	30.6 27.2 22.9	69.4 72.8 77.1	- - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	2,445 2,491 2,373
At least 36 mos., but <48 mos.	1998 1999 2000	23.0 22.4 18.6	77.0 77.6 81.4	- - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	1,790 1,537 1,518
48 or more mos.	1998 1999 2000	11.5 10.6 9.7	88.5 89.4 90.3	- - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	5,370 5,175 4,673
Missing data	1998 1999 2000	68.3 77.5 59.5	31.7 22.5 40.5	- - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	60 40 37

 

 

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	2.2	3.0	3.5
Institutions	9.7	9.0	9.1
Other settings	83.4	83.8	83.9
Missing data	4.8	4.1	3.5
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	5,474	7,122	8,043

 

Texas [ State Comment ]

Sarah Webster, Director
Child Protection Services
Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services
512-438-4800

An analysis of the 2000 Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) data to be published in the Child Welfare Outcomes 2000 Annual Report clearly demonstrates improved accuracy for most of the data. While the percent of discharges with a missing reason remains too high, the count of discharges has dramatically improved. One of the issues contributing to missing discharge reasons is related to data on youth who age out of our legal responsibility. These youth may continue to reside in foster care through their 20th birthday if they will graduate from a high school or technical school by their 20th birthday. These youth have been represented in the AFCARS dataset with a discharge date, but with a current foster care placement, resulting in a missing discharge reason.

The Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services (PRS) is currently building and testing a data warehouse for creation and submission of AFCARS data. We anticipate that the warehouse will first be used for the May 15, 2002 submission of the FFY 2002 A data set, and will improve the accuracy of our AFCARS reporting. Ensuring that data published in the Annual Report accurately reflects Texas' performance continues to be a high priority for PRS.

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Texas [ Federal Comment ]

The following discussion focuses on Texas? 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 Texas 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 rate of maltreatment recurrence within 6 months was 4.2 percent, which is lower than both the national standard of 6.1 percent and the national median of 7.9. Information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that the State?s performance in preventing maltreatment recurrence may be attributed to the following: (1) the use of a comprehensive risk assessment model that shifts the focus of the child maltreatment investigation from the specific incident to the general risk factors in the family, and (2) the practice of re-assessing potential risk factors on an ongoing basis.

Outcome 2. Reduce incidence of maltreatment in foster care
In CY 2000, the incidence of maltreatment in foster care was 0.3 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 measure may be attributed in part to the following: (1) an effective foster parent training program, (2) consistent application of licensing standards for foster homes, and (3) stringent requirements in conducting criminal background checks on all potential and licensed foster parents.

Outcome 3. Increase permanency for children in foster care
Although in fiscal year (FY) 2000, 76.0 percent of children exiting foster care were discharged to permanent homes, which is less than the national median of 84.7 percent, it is not possible to assess State performance on this outcome because “reason for discharge” information was not provided to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System for 17 percent of the children exiting foster care during FY 2000. In addition, discharge reasons were not provided for 18.3 percent of the children with a diagnosed disability who exited from foster care, or for 46.8 percent of children who exited from foster care who were older than age 12 at the time of entry into foster care. However, 53.1 percent of the children exiting foster care to emancipation were younger than age 12 at the time of entry into foster care, which is considerably higher than the national median of 24.2 percent. This suggests that the State is not consistently effective in ensuring that children do not “grow up” in the foster care system.

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 64.4, which is lower than both the national standard of 76.2 percent and the national median of 68.0 percent. According to information provided in the CFSR Final Report, the State believes that performance on this measure is due to the agency?s practice of maintaining legal custody of a child for 3 to 6 months after physical reunification to continue monitoring the family and support children?s safety. Information from the Final Report also identifies the following as potential barriers to achieving reunifications in a timely manner: (1) inconsistencies with regard to involving parents in the case planning process, (2) a scarcity of substance abuse and mental health services to address family safety issues and facilitate reunification, and (3) the high rate of caseworker turnover, which results in families not always receiving the level of case management necessary to expedite reunification.

The State?s performance with regard to reunification 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 1.5, which is considerably lower than both the national standard of 8.6 percent and the national median of 10.3 percent. Information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that prevention of foster care re-entries may be attributed in large part to the agency practice of maintaining custody and continued monitoring of the child for 3 to 6 months after physical reunification takes place.

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 43.7, which is higher than the national standard of 32.0 percent and the national median of 19.7 percent. 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 implementation of an expedited decision-making process regarding termination of parental rights (TPR) and (2) the practice of “dual licensing” of foster/adoptive homes. However, information from the CFSR Final Report identifies timely adoptions as an area needing improvement for the State. The Report notes that there often are delays in attaining adoptions due to a practice of not referring a child to adoption recruiters until after TPR had been finalized and to the fact that because the number of TPRs is increasing, it is difficult for adoption recruiters to keep up with the demand.

Outcome 6. Increase placement stability
In FY 2000, the percentage of children in foster care for less than 12 months who experienced no more than 2 placements was 71.2, which is lower than 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) insufficient placement resources, especially for children requiring high levels of care; (2) the use of shelter care and emergency foster family care for initial placements or when existing placements disrupt; (3) inadequate supports for foster parents, particularly relative caregivers, to assist them in parenting children with behavioral or emotional problems; and (4) the lack of substantive financial assistance to relative caregivers.

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 12.6, which is higher than the national median of 9.0. Information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that the State?s performance on this measure may be due in part to the use of shelter care for children at their initial placement into foster care regardless of age.

Child well-being outcomes
With respect to child well-being, information from the CFSR Final Report suggests 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) frequent placement changes that result in children experiencing multiple school changes; (2) a lack of training of caseworkers to be effective advocates for children with the school system and to accurately assess the need for mental health services; (3) a failure in some cases to provide health assessments at the child?s entry into foster care or to address identified mental health needs; (4) a scarcity of medical, dental, and mental health service providers willing to accept Medicaid; and (5) the fact that funds for contracted services often are depleted before the end of the fiscal year so that few services are available during the last 2 months of a fiscal year.

 

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