California

Administration for Children and Families

	Search:

	Questions? \| Privacy \| Site Index \| Contact Us \| Download Reader™ \| Print �

Context Data | Outcomes Data | State Comment | Federal Comment

California [ Context Data ]

A. Key Context Statistics

General Population	1998	1999	2000	2001
Total children under 18 years	8,911,372	8,923,423	9,249,829	9,377,970
Race/ethnicity (%)¹
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5
Asian	N/A	N/A	N/A	9.5
Asian/Pacific Islander	11.2	11.3	9.6	N/A
Black	6.9	6.8	7.1	7.2
Hawaiian Native/Other Pacific Islander	N/A	N/A	N/A	0.4
Hispanic	41.2	41.9	43.8	44.3
White	40.2	39.5	34.8	35.2
Two or more races	N/A	N/A	3.9	3.0
Other	N/A	N/A	0.3	N/A
% Child population in poverty	26.4	20.3	21.7	16.4
% Child population living in metropolitan areas	99.4	99.5	96.9	99.2

Child Welfare	1998	1999	2000	2001
Child maltreatment victims	157,683	130,510	129,678	128,251
Children in foster care on 9/30	112,767	117,937	112,807	107,168
Children adopted	4,418	6,337	8,693	9,859

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	2001	1998	1999	2000	2001
Children subject of an investigated report alleging child maltreatment	413,372	452,887	486,127	485,911	46.4 per 1,000	50.8 per 1,000	52.6 per 1,000	51.7 per 1000
Child maltreatment victims²	157,683	130,510	129,678	128,251	17.7 per 1,000	14.6 per 1,000	14.0 per 1,000	13.6 per 1000
Child fatalities	26	33	30		0.3 per 100,000	0.4 per 100,000	0.3 per 100,000

Age of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000	2001
Under 1 year	6.0	9.7	9.5	9.6
1-5 years	29.0	29.3	29.1	28.4
6-10 years	31.4	31.1	30.8	30.9
11-15 years	25.4	24.0	24.5	25.0
16+ years	8.2	6.0	6.2	6.1
Unknown	0.0	0.0	0.0	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	157,683	130,510	129,678	128,251

Race/Ethnicity of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000	2001
Alaska Native/American Indian	1.1	1.0	1.0	0.8
Asian/Pacific Islander	3.2	4.0	3.8	3.5
Black	16.0	18.0	15.6	14.6
Hispanic	32.8	37.0	39.6	41.3
White	37.8	33.0	32.9	32.0
Two or more races	N/A	N/A	-	2.5
Other/Unknown	41.9	44.0	7.1	5.3
Total %³	132.8	137.0	100.0	100.0
Number	157,683	130,510	129,678	128,251

Maltreatment Type of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000	2001
Emotional abuse	8.1	17.8	18.7	18.2
Medical neglect	-	-	-	-
Neglect	51.9	56.3	56.7	42.2
Physical abuse	26.2	17.5	16.1	14.5
Sexual abuse	13.4	9.1	8.3	8.3
Other	0.4	9.8	10.5	31.2
Unknown	-	0.0	-	-
Total %⁴	100.0	110.4	110.3	114.4
Number	157,683	130,510	129,678	128,251

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)	109,819	52,997	50,049	112,767	162,816
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	113,506	43,587	39,156	117,937	157,093
FY2000 (10/1/99-9/30/00)	117,234	45,685	50,112	112,807	162,919
FY2001 (10/1/00-9/30/01)	106,088	45,176	44,096	107,168	151,264
Median Length of Stay (Months)
FY1998 (10/1/97-9/30/98)	19.8	N/A	12.6	21.6	N/A
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	20.8	N/A	14.9	25.2	N/A
FY2000 (10/1/99-9/30/00)	24.5	N/A	18.2	26.6	N/A
FY2001 (10/1/00-9/30/01)	26.2	N/A	17.0	25.3	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	In Care on 10/1/00	Entered Care During FY 1998	Entered Care During FY 1999	Entered Care During FY 2000	Entered Care During FY 2001	Exited Care During FY 1998	Exited Care During FY 1999	Exited Care During FY 2000	Entered Care During FY 2001	In Care on 9/30/98	In Care on 9/30/99	In Care on 9/30/00	In Care on 9/30/01
Under 1 year	4.2	3.7	3.5	3.5	13.6	14.7	14.0	13.9	4.0	4.0	3.6	3.8	3.8	3.5	3.4	3.6
1-5 years	29.8	26.7	24.8	23.3	28.5	27.2	26.6	26.1	30.8	30.5	29.0	28.2	27.8	24.5	22.9	22.0
6-10 years	29.0	27.5	27.2	26.2	22.5	23.7	23.6	23.1	23.5	23.7	25.8	24.7	29.1	27.5	25.9	24.9
11-15 years	24.2	26.5	27.5	29.3	24.5	24.6	25.9	26.1	18.8	19.2	20.7	20.9	26.7	27.3	28.8	29.7
16-18 years	12.2	15.0	16.1	16.5	10.7	9.7	9.9	10.7	20.2	20.5	19.1	20.7	12.2	16.0	17.1	17.5
19+ years	0.5	0.6	0.7	1.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.4	2.1	1.7	1.7	0.4	1.2	1.8	2.0
Unknown	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.1	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.1	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	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	109,819	113,506	117,234	106,088	52,997	43,587	45,685	45,176	50,049	39,156	50,112	44,096	112,767	117,937	112,807	107,168

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	In Care on 10/1/00	Entered Care During FY 1998	Entered Care During FY 1999	Entered Care During FY 2000	Entered Care During FY 2001	Exited Care During FY 1998	Exited Care During FY 1999	Exited Care During FY 2000	Entered Care During FY 2001	In Care on 9/30/98	In Care on 9/30/99	In Care on 9/30/00	In Care on 9/30/01
Alaska Native/American Indian	1.1	1.2	1.1	1.1	1.3	1.3	1.3	1.1	1.3	1.4	1.1	1.1	1.2	1.2	1.2	1.1
Asian	-	-	1.8	1.3	-	-	3.1	2.1	-	-	2.7	2.0	-	-	1.9	1.4
Asian/Pacific Islander	1.7	1.9	-	-	3.0	3.6	-	-	3.0	3.2	-	-	1.7	2.1	-	-
Black	36.6	35.5	34.3	32.3	22.6	22.4	21.5	19.7	24.3	23.7	24.7	21.9	35.4	34.6	33.3	31.3
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander	-	-	0.3	0.3	-	-	0.3	0.5	-	-	0.4	0.5	-	-	0.3	0.3
Hispanic	29.3	31.3	32.9	35.6	35.3	36.0	38.2	39.4	32.3	33.5	35.3	38.3	30.8	32.3	33.9	36.1
White	30.9	29.9	29.3	26.6	36.5	35.2	33.6	32.5	38.0	37.1	34.1	32.0	30.4	29.5	28.9	26.8
Two or more races	-	-	0.1	2.5	-	-	0.1	2.9	-	-	0.3	2.6	-	-	0.0	2.6
Unknown	0.4	0.2	0.2	0.5	1.3	1.5	1.9	2.0	1.1	1.2	1.3	1.7	0.5	0.4	0.4	0.6
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	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	109,819	113,506	117,234	106,088	52,997	43,587	45,685	45,176	50,049	39,156	50,112	44,096	112,767	117,937	112,807	107,168

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

D. Children Waiting to Be Adopted
(AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database)⁶

Overview	9/30/98	9/30/99	9/30/00	9/30/01
Children waiting to be adopted	4,455	9,894	12,632	7,714
Children whose parents' rights have been terminated (TPR)	1,915	6,911	9,791	999

Age of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999	2000	2001
Under 1 year	8.0	4.2	3.7	6.0
1-5 years	55.2	51.6	46.5	40.0
6-10 years	26.2	30.0	32.3	34.3
11-15 years	9.0	12.4	14.8	17.2
16+ years	1.5	1.7	2.2	2.1
Unknown	0.2	0.1	0.4	0.4
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	4,455	9,894	12,632	7,714

Race/Ethnicity of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999	2000	2001
Alaska Native/American Indian	1.1	1.0	0.7	0.6
Asian	-	-	1.7	0.9
Asian/Pacific Islander	1.5	1.6	-	-
Black	27.2	31.2	30.7	34.0
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander	-	-	0.2	0.3
Hispanic	29.9	33.6	35.8	37.5
White	40.2	32.4	30.8	23.3
Two or more races	-	-	-	3.2
Unknown	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.2
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	4,455	9,894	12,632	7,714

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	2001
Under 1 year	3.1	2.2	2.3	2.6
1-5 years	61.2	63.8	56.8	51.7
6-10 years	28.1	25.7	29.0	30.9
11-15 years	6.8	7.1	10.1	12.4
16+ years	0.7	1.2	1.7	2.2
Unknown	-	-	0.0	0.1
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	4,418	6,337	8,693	9,859

Race/Ethnicity of Adopted Children (%)	1998	1999	2000	2001
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.6	0.9	0.5	0.3
Asian	-	-	1.2	1.0
Asian/Pacific Islander	2.5	2.2	-	-
Black	24.2	19.5	21.9	16.7
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander	-	-	0.2	0.3
Hispanic	33.5	31.7	34.0	37.3
White	38.0	42.9	34.7	31.0
Two or more races	-	0.1	0.3	1.2
Unknown	1.2	2.7	7.2	12.1
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	4,418	6,337	8,693	9,859

California [ Outcomes Data ]

1. Reduce Recurrence of Child Abuse and/or Neglect
(NCANDS)

1.1 Recurrence of Maltreatment Within 6 Months (%)	1998	1999	2000	2001
Children without a recurrence	-	88.9	89.3	88.8
Children with one or more recurrences	-	11.1	10.7	11.2
Total %	-	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	-	60,893	60,886	59,715

Bar chart describing Percentage of Children With One or More Recurrences of Maltreatment within 6 months data from Table 1.1 above.

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	2001
Children maltreated while in foster care	-	-	-	0.34
Children not maltreated while in foster care	-	-	-	99.66
Total %	-	-	-	100.0
Number	-	-	-	140,134

Bar chart describing Percentage of Children Maltreated While in Foster Care data from Table 2.1 above.

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

3.1 Exits from Foster Care (%)	1998	1999	2000	2001
Adoption	6.2	12.3	15.4	17.7
Guardianship	2.6	3.2	7.1	5.4
Reunification	47.0	68.2	61.7	59.2
Other	8.9	15.3	14.4	15.6
Missing data	35.3	1.0	1.5	2.1
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	50,049	39,156	50,112	44,096

Pie Charts describing data from Table 3.1 above.

3.2 Exits of Disabled Children (%)	1998	1999	2000	2001
Adoption	6.6	17.1	24.7	27.5
Guardianship	2.7	1.8	6.0	5.1
Reunification	46.1	63.1	56.1	51.6
Other	9.0	17.4	12.4	13.8
Missing data	35.6	0.7	0.8	1.9
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	988	2,228	4,441	6,587

3.3 Exits of Children Over Age 12 at Entry (%)	1998	1999	2000	2001
Adoption	0.4	0.7	0.6	0.7
Guardianship	0.9	1.5	2.2	2.1
Reunification	48.3	58.3	56.0	54.1
Other	21.5	38.7	39.9	41.3
Missing data	29.0	0.8	1.3	1.8
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	13,265	10,278	11,795	11,150

3.4 Exits to Emancipation (%)	1998	1999	2000	2001
Children age 12 or younger at entry	36.2	32.9	34.7	36.2
Children older than 12 at entry	63.7	67.1	65.3	63.8
Missing data	0.1	0.1	-	0.0
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	2,739	3,728	4,489	4,046

3.5 Exits by Race/Ethnicity (%)	Alaska Native/A.I.				Asian				Asian/Pacific Islander				Black				Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander
	1998	1999	2000	2001	1998	1999	2000	2001	1998	1999	2000	2001	1998	1999	2000	2001	1998	1999	2000	2001
Adoption	7.0	9.2	10.0	7.8	-	-	8.5	10.1	3.1	7.4	-	-	5.7	12.0	15.9	17.6	-	-	9.3	11.8
Guardianship	6.9	5.6	13.5	13.6	-	-	3.6	1.6	2.1	1.3	-	-	2.9	3.1	9.2	6.8	-	-	2.1	4.4
Reunification	43.4	69.0	58.0	58.3	-	-	76.5	75.5	52.9	78.7	-	-	44.8	62.6	54.9	52.0	-	-	71.1	69.1
Other	8.0	14.8	17.3	18.9	-	-	10.2	10.4	7.4	11.9	-	-	12.5	21.6	19.0	21.9	-	-	15.5	11.3
Missing data	34.8	1.3	1.2	1.4	-	-	1.1	2.4	34.6	0.8	-	-	34.1	0.7	1.1	1.6	-	-	2.1	3.4
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	-	-	100.0	100.0
Number	627	533	572	434	-	-	1,359	887	1,504	1,237	-	-	12,166	9,269	12,385	9,647	-	-	194	204
	Hispanic				White				Unable to Determine				Two or More Races				Missing Data
	1998	1999	2000	2001	1998	1999	2000	2001	1998	1999	2000	2001	1998	1999	2000	2001	1998	1999	2000	2001
Adoption	5.3	11.4	14.9	17.8	7.6	14.1	16.6	18.7	3.7	2.3	2.0	3.5	-	-	35.6	23.7	-	-	-	-
Guardianship	2.0	2.4	7.0	4.9	3.0	4.2	5.9	5.2	1.6	2.5	3.3	3.4	-	-	6.8	5.6	-	-	-	-
Reunification	50.0	71.9	63.8	61.2	45.5	66.9	62.4	59.4	45.6	86.1	86.0	81.2	-	-	47.0	59.0	-	-	-	-
Other	7.3	13.2	12.6	13.8	8.1	13.7	13.5	14.5	5.4	7.4	5.6	9.1	-	-	10.6	9.7	-	-	-	-
Missing data	35.3	1.1	1.7	2.3	35.9	1.1	1.5	2.1	43.8	1.7	3.2	2.7	-	-	-	2.1	-	-	-	-
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	-	-	100.0	100.0	-	-	-	-
Number	16,168	13,108	17,696	16,897	19,009	14,533	17,110	14,126	575	476	664	733	-	-	132	1,168	-	-	-	-

4. Reduce Time to Reunification Without Increasing Re-entry
(AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database)

4.1 Time to Reunification (%)	1998	1999	2000	2001
Less than 12 mos.	54.9	54.0	53.2	56.0
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	26.0	27.0	24.2	25.3
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	7.9	9.8	10.3	8.1
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	3.4	2.9	4.0	3.4
48 or more mos.	6.3	4.4	6.5	4.8
Missing data	1.5	1.9	1.8	2.3
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	23,519	26,707	30,908	26,091

Bar chart describing reunification percentages data in Table 4.1 above.

4.2 Children Who Entered Foster Care (%)	1998	1999	2000	2001
Children entering care for the first time	78.2	81.1	80.1	78.6
Children re-entering care within 12 mos. of a prior episode	13.9	10.2	10.7	11.3
Children re-entering care more than 12 mos. after a prior episode	6.9	8.4	9.0	10.1
Missing data	1.0	0.3	0.2	0.0
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	52,997	43,587	45,685	45,176

Bar chart describing re-entries into Foster Care within 12 months from data in Table 4.2 above.

5. Reduce Time in Foster Care to Adoption
(AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database)

5.1 Time to Adoption (%)	1998	1999	2000	2001
Less than 12 mos.	12.2	5.8	2.4	2.2
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	23.9	25.7	15.7	15.7
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	25.7	29.9	30.4	25.1
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	19.5	17.9	23.5	23.4
48 or more mos.	18.6	20.6	27.9	33.3
Missing data	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.3
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	3,105	4,815	7,693	7,801

Bar Chart describing Percentage of Adoptions Occurring in Less Than 24 or greater than 48 Months of Entry data from Table 5.1 above

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 2001	84.7 76.9 77.7 80.8	15.3 23.1 22.2 19.2	0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1	100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0	59,548 47,401 49,747 48,882
At least 12 mos., but <24 mos.	1998 1999 2000 2001	69.8 62.3 59.0 59.8	30.1 37.7 41.0 40.1	0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0	100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0	36,159 36,004 32,324 29,988
At least 24 mos., but <36 mos.	1998 1999 2000 2001	61.6 56.8 53.9 48.7	38.4 43.2 46.1 51.3	0.0 - 0.0 0.0	100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0	18,868 23,460 23,964 18,328
At least 36 mos., but <48 mos.	1998 1999 2000 2001	59.4 53.0 50.7 45.9	40.6 47.0 49.3 54.0	- 0.0 0.0 0.1	100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0	11,927 13,239 16,439 14,044
48 or more mos.	1998 1999 2000 2001	61.4 55.6 51.4 45.8	38.5 44.4 48.6 54.2	0.0 - 0.0 0.0	100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0	35,355 36,243 39,691 39,182
Missing data	1998 1999 2000 2001	99.5 94.8 94.6 94.6	0.5 5.2 5.4 5.4	- - - -	100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0	959 746 754 840

Bar chart describing foster care placements over time percentages data from Table 6.1 above.

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	2001
Group homes	4.6	4.3	3.8	3.9
Institutions	11.1	12.9	9.8	10.0
Other settings	84.3	82.8	86.4	86.0
Missing data	-	0.0	0.1	0.1
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	37,818	31,671	32,668	32,040

California [ State Comment ]

Text to California?s comments on the State data presented in Child Welfare Outcomes 2001: Report to Congress are the following:

With regard to Section B—Maltreatment Information Overview, the Department does not have 2001 child abuse and neglect fatality data available. The data are derived from three distinct Statewide data systems and are based on the number of unique cases identified in any one of these systems. The final estimates for 2001 have not yet been completed.

The data in Section B—Maltreatment Type indicate a considerable increase in the percentage of children who fall into the category of ‘Other? from 2000 (10.5 percent) to 2001 (31.2 percent). This increase most likely results from the creation of a new abuse type ("Substantial Risk") that has grown tremendously since it was added to the Department?s Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS).

With regard to the data in Section E—Race/Ethnicity of Adopted Children—the data indicate that the race/ethnicity of almost 13 percent of the children adopted was unknown.This issue reflects some State confusion with federal requirements regarding multiplerace children. The Department is working to resolve the inaccurate reporting.

With regard to the data for outcome measure 1.1, which exceeds the national standard, the Department is researching the issue of redundancy in "recurrence of child abuse reports" to our SACWIS system. We believe this recurrence data to be seriously inflated due to county worker input of multiple referrals for the same instance of abuse.

With regard to the data for outcome measure 3.3, these data indicate that in 2001, 41.3 percent of the children who exited foster care who were older than 12 when they entered foster care did not exit to permanency (i.e. adoption, guardianship, or reunification). This is almost 13 percentage points higher than the national median. Exits of children over 12 (at entry) into non-permanency goals is consistent with the Department program statistics for prior years. A certain percentage of this cohort exited into a State program in which the children live with relatives and continue to receive subsidies.

California [ Federal Comment ]

The following discussion focuses on California?s performance with regard to each of the outcomes assessed in the Child Welfare Outcomes Annual Reports to Congress. The California Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) was completed in fiscal year (FY) 2002, and compliance with the national standards was based on data from 2000. The final report for that review is available from [Put CB WEBSITE information here]. A discussion of the implications of CFSR findings for California?s performance on the Report to Congress Outcomes is provided in Child Welfare Outcomes 2000.

The State?s performance is assessed by examining the percent change in the data for each outcome measure from 1999 to 2001. The percent change was calculated using data carried out to the second decimal point. However, with the exception of outcome measure 2.1, the data presented in the Report to Congress are rounded to one decimal for ease of reading the tables (measure 2.1 must be presented as two decimals because the national standard is less than one percent).

Outcome 1. Reduce recurrence of child abuse and/or neglect
In calendar year (CY) 2001, California?s rate of maltreatment recurrence within 6 months was 11.2 percent, which is higher than both the national standard of 6.1 percent or less and the national median of 8.0 percent. Performance on this outcome did not change substantively from 1999 to 2001. The State believes that this rate is inflated due to redundancy in recurrence of child abuse reports in the State?s automated system.

Outcome 2. Reduce the incidence of child abuse and/or neglect in foster care
In CY 2001, the percentage of children in foster care who were maltreated by foster parents or facility staff was .34, which meets the national standard of .57 percent or less and is lower than the national median of .47 percent. Change in performance on this measure over time cannot be assessed because 2001 was the first year that sufficient data were reported to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System to permit calculation of this measure.

Outcome 3. Increase permanency for children in foster care
In FY 2001, 82.3 percent of children exiting foster care were discharged to permanent homes (which is slightly less than the national median of 85.3), and 84.2 percent of children with a diagnosed disability who exited foster care were discharged to permanent homes (which is higher than the national median of 78.4 percent). However, only 56.9 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 72.3. These data suggest that although the State is effective in achieving permanency for children in general and for children with a diagnosed disability, it is less consistently effective in achieving permanency for children who are older than age 12 when they enter foster care. Performance related to the percent of children over age 12 at entry into foster care who were discharged to permanent homes declined from FY 1999 to FY 2001 (-6.1 percent change), while the other indicators of permanency exhibited no substantive change from FY 1999 to FY 2001.

In FY 2001, 36.2 percent of the children who were emancipated from foster care during FY 2001 were age 12 or younger when they entered care, which is higher than the national median of 28.0 percent. This suggests that a number of children exiting foster care in FY 2001 may be said to have "grown up" in the system. In addition, performance on this measure has declined from FY 1999 to FY 2001 (+10.2 percent change).

Outcome 4. Reduce time to reunification without increasing re-entry
In FY 2001, the percentage of all reported reunifications occurring within 12 months of children?s entry into foster care was 56.0, which is lower than both the national standard of 76.2 percent or more and the national median of 69.2 percent. The State?s performance on this measure did not change substantively from FY 1999 to FY 2001.

Also in FY 2001, the percentage of children re-entering foster care within 12 months of discharge from a prior foster care episode was 11.3, which exceeds both the national standard of 8.6 percent or less and the national median of 10.4 percent. The State?s performance on this measure has declined from FY 1999 to FY 2001 (+11.1 percent change).

Outcome 5. Reduce time in foster care to adoption
In FY 2001, the percentage of all finalized adoptions occurring within 24 months of a child?s entry into foster care was 17.9 percent, which is lower than both the national standard of 32.0 percent or more and the national median of 21.0 percent. Performance on this outcome measure declined from FY 1999 to FY 2001 (-43.2 percent change).

Outcome 6. Increase placement stability
In FY 2001, 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 or more and the national median of 83.3. Performance on this measure exhibited a slight improvement from FY 1999 to FY 2001 (+5.1 percent change).

Outcome 7. Reduce placements of young children in group homes and institutions
In FY 2001, the percentage of children age 12 or younger placed in a group home or institution was 13.9 percent, which is higher than the national median of 8.7. The State?s performance on this measure improved from FY 1999 to FY 2001 (-19.0 percent change).

Return to Chapter IV State Data Pages

Return to Table of Contents

California

California [ Context Data ]

A. Key Context Statistics

B. Child Maltreatment Data (NCANDS)

C. Children in Foster Care (AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database)

D. Children Waiting to Be Adopted (AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database)6

E. Children Adopted (AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database)

California [ Outcomes Data ]

1. Reduce Recurrence of Child Abuse and/or Neglect (NCANDS)

2. Reduce the Incidence of Child Abuse and/or Neglect in Foster Care (NCANDS, AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database Jan —Sept)

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

4. Reduce Time to Reunification Without Increasing Re-entry (AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database)

5. Reduce Time in Foster Care to Adoption (AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database)

6. Increase Placement Stability (AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database)

7. Reduce Placements of Young Children in Group Homes or Institutions (AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database)