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Home > Statistics & Research > Child Welfare Outcomes 2001 > Chapter Four > Kentucky

 

Kentucky

Context Data | Outcomes Data | State Comment | Federal Comment

Kentucky [ Context Data ]

A. Key Context Statistics

General Population 1998 1999 2000 2001
Total children under 18 years 988,293 965,528 994,818 956,596
Race/ethnicity (%)1
 Alaska Native/American Indian 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2
 Asian N/A N/A N/A 0.8
 Asian/Pacific Islander 0.8 0.8 0.7 N/A
 Black 8.7 8.7 8.9 9.2
Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander N/A N/A N/A 0.0
 Hispanic 1.1 1.2 1.9 2.0
 White 89.3 89.2 86.3 86.2
 Two or more races N/A N/A 1.7 1.7
 Other N/A N/A 0.3 N/A
% Child population in poverty 24.7 16.7 15.3 17.2
% Child population living in metropolitan areas 44.5 46.6 49.0 52.3
Child Welfare 1998 1999 2000 2001
Child maltreatment victims 22,875 18.650 18.600 16,544
Children in foster care on 9/30 — 5,942 6,017 6,141
Children adopted 208 360 398 573

1 The 2000 Census of the United States includes two new race categories: (1) Persons of two or more races and (2) Other. Back

B. Child Maltreatment Data (NCANDS)

blank cell Number Rate
Maltreatment Information Overview 1998 1999 2000 2001 1998 1999 2000 2001
Children subject of an investigated report alleging child maltreatment 63,439 63,384 63,967 56,478 64.2 per 1,000 65.6 per 1,000 64.3 per 1,000 56.6 per 1,000
Child maltreatment victims2 22,875 18,650 18,600 16,544 23.1 per 1,000 19.3 per 1,000 18.7 per 1,000 16.6 per 1,000
Child fatalities 18 5 21 31 1.8 per 100,000 0.5 per 100,000 2.1 per 100,000 3.1 per 100,000
Age of Child Victims (%) 1998 1999 2000 2001
Under 1 year 7.0 7.3 7.9 8.2
1-5 years 32.6 32.0 32.3 32.4
6-10 years 30.9 32.0 30.7 30.3
11-15 years 23.9 23.1 23.9 23.8
16+ years 5.6 5.6 5.3 5.3
Unknown 0.0 0.0 — —
Total % 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number 22,875 18,650 18,600 16,544
Race/Ethnicity of Child Victims (%) 1998 1999 2000 2001
Alaska Native/American Indian 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0
Asian/Pacific Islander 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1
Black 12.7 13.9 13.0 13.1
Hispanic 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.2
White 80.4 78.3 76.6 75.2
Two or more races — — 1.5 1.8
Other/Unknown 6.7 7.5 8.4 9.6
Total %3 100.1 100.1 100.0 100.0
Number 22,875 18,650 18,600 16,544
Maltreatment Type of Child Victims (%) 1998 1999 2000 2001
Emotional 10.8 4.1 2.5 2.1
Medical neglect — — — —
Neglect 61.4 63.7 67.5 71.4
Physical abuse 26.8 27.6 27.2 23.9
Sexual abuse 7.7 7.7 7.8 7.0
Other — — — —
Unknown — — — —
Total %4 106.7 103.2 105.0 104.3
Number 22,875 18,650 18,600 16,544

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) 5,122 4,170 3,350 5,942 9,292
FY2000 (10/1/99-9/30/00) 5,253 4,128 3,364 6,017 9,381
FY2001 (10/1/00-9/30/01) 5,284 4,456 3,599 6,141 9,740
Median Length of Stay (Months)          
FY1998 (10/1/97-9/30/98) — N/A — — N/A
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99) 13.4 N/A 5.1 15.5 N/A
FY2000 (10/1/99-9/30/00) 16.9 N/A 5.4 16.6 N/A
FY2001 (10/1/00-9/30/01) 19.3 N/A 4.7 15.6 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 Exited 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 — 4.0 3.9 3.6 — 11.8 10.7 11.9 — 6.0 5.3 5.7 — 4.2 3.6 4.3
1-5 years — 23.6 22.2 22.0 — 24.7 24.8 25.1 — 26.5 25.9 26.0 — 22.5 22.2 22.5
6-10 years — 24.2 23.9 23.0 — 22.5 21.0 21.2 — 21.6 22.1 22.6 — 24.2 22.6 21.0
11-15 years — 29.9 31.0 31.1 — 29.5 31.4 28.8 — 22.1 23.9 22.9 — 31.0 31.4 30.6
16-18 years — 16.9 17.6 18.6 — 11.4 12.1 12.9 — 21.7 21.1 21.3 — 16.8 18.6 19.4
19+ years — 1.3 1.4 1.7 — 0.1 0.1 0.0 — 1.8 1.1 1.3 — 1.3 1.6 2.1
Unknown — 0.0 0.1 — — 0.1 — — — 0.2 0.5 0.4 — 0.1 — 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 — 5,122 5,253 5,284 — 4,170 4,128 4,456 — 3,350 3,364 3,599 — 5,942 6,017 6,141
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 Exited 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 — 0.2 0.1 0.1 — 0.1 0.3 0.1 — 0.2 0.3 0.1 — 0.1 0.1 0.1
Asian — — 0.1 0.1 — — 0.2 0.0 — — 0.2 0.1 — — 0.1 0.0
Asian/Pacific Islander — 0.1 — — — 0.3 — — — 0.3 — — — 0.1 — —
Black — 24.4 23.9 20.7 — 17.6 14.7 14.7 — 17.2 18.2 16.1 — 23.6 20.8 19.0
Native Hawaiian/ Other Pacific Islander — — — 0.0 — — 0.0 — — — 0.0 — — — 0.0 0.0
Hispanic — 0.4 0.7 0.9 — 0.7 0.7 0.5 — 0.3 0.4 0.4 — 0.6 0.8 0.9
White — 69.0 69.0 72.0 — 74.2 76.4 76.8 — 74.9 72.8 75.7 — 69.3 72.0 73.4
Two or more races — 2.1 2.8 3.6 — 1.8 2.7 2.2 — 0.3 1.5 2.9 — 2.9 3.5 3.0
Unknown — 3.9 3.4 2.6 — 5.3 5.0 5.8 — 6.8 6.6 4.9 — 3.3 2.7 3.5
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 — 5,122 5,253 5,284 — 4,170 4,128 4,456 — 3,350 3,364 3,599 — 5,942 6,017 6,141

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 — 1,789 2,018 1,935
Children whose parents' rights have been terminated (TPR) — 196 121 52
Age of Waiting Children (%) 1998 1999 2000 2001
Under 1 year — 2.4 1.7 1.7
1-5 years — 31.7 27.8 25.7
6-10 years — 36.1 34.6 31.4
11-15 years — 26.5 31.3 35.5
16+ years — 3.1 4.3 5.6
Unknown — 0.3 0.4 0.2
Total % — 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number — 1,789 2,018 1,935
Race/Ethnicity of Waiting Children (%) 1998 1999 2000 2001
Alaska Native/American Indian — 0.1 0.1 0.1
Asian — — — —
Asian/Pacific Islander — — — —
Black — 28.5 24.4 21.7
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander — — — —
Hispanic — 0.2 0.9 1.4
White — 64.6 68.2 70.7
Two or more races — 4.1 4.1 3.7
Unknown — 2.5 2.4 2.4
Total % — 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number — 1,789 2,018 1,935

6 Waiting children are children who have a goal of adoption and/or whose parentsÂ’ 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 0.5 1.7 1.8 0.9
1-5 years 47.1 41.4 45.5 38.6
6-10 years 40.4 36.7 32.4 37.0
11-15 years 10.1 18.1 16.8 19.5
16+ years 1.4 2.2 3.5 4.0
Unknown 0.5 — — —
Total % 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number 208 360 398 573
Race/Ethnicity of Adopted Children (%) 1998 1999 2000 2001
Alaska Native/American Indian — — 0.3 —
Asian — — 0.5 0.2
Asian/Pacific Islander 1.0 — — —
Black 19.2 28.1 36.4 33.7
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander — — — —
Hispanic 2.9 — 1.8 3.1
White 58.2 59.4 57.8 58.8
Two or more races — — — —
Unknown 18.8 12.5 3.3 4.2
Total % 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number 208 360 398 573

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Kentucky [ 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 90.5 91.7 91.4 91.4
Children with one or more recurrences 9.5 8.3 8.6 8.6
Total % 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number 8,714 7,245 7,994 8,345

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 — 0.27 0.47 0.65
Children not maltreated while in foster care — 99.73 99.53 99.35
Total % — 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number — 8,566 8,575 8,955

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 — 10.1 12.3 14.3
Guardianship — 0.7 0.5 0.6
Reunification — 77.9 74.0 70.4
Other — 8.9 8.5 8.5
Missing data — 2.4 4.6 6.2
Total % — 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number — 3,350 3,364 3,599

Pie Charts describing data from Table 3.1 above.

3.2 Exits of Disabled Children (%) 1998 1999 2000 2001
Adoption — 24.4 25.6 34.0
Guardianship — 2.4 — 5.7
Reunification — 51.2 43.6 41.5
Other — 19.5 28.2 15.1
Missing data — 2.4 2.6 3.8
Total % — 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number — 41 39 53
3.3 Exits of Children Over Age 12 at Entry (%) 1998 1999 2000 2001
Adoption — 0.8 1.0 0.9
Guardianship — 0.7 0.9 0.7
Reunification — 72.1 72.0 70.0
Other — 21.5 20.2 21.9
Missing data — 4.9 5.8 6.6
Total % — 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number — 1,179 1,168 1,165
3.4 Exits to Emancipation (%) 1998 1999 2000 2001
Children age 12 or younger at entry — 11.7 13.8 13.0
Children older than 12 at entry — 88.3 86.2 87.0
Missing data — — — —
Total % — 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number — 222 232 247
3.5 Exits by Race/Ethnicity (%)
blank cell 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 — 12.5 10.0 50.0 — — — — — 10.0 — — — 15.0 22.3 22.7 — — — —
Guardianship — — — — — — — — — — — — — 1.4 0.2 0.5 — — — —
Reunification — 62.5 90.0 50.0 — — 87.5 66.7 — 50.0 — — — 73.4 62.8 58.1 — — — —
Other — — — — — — 12.5 33.3 — 40.0 — — — 8.7 8.0 8.7 — — — —
Missing data — 25.0 — — — — — — — — — — — 1.6 6.7 10.0 — — 100.0 —
Total % — 100.0 100.0 100.0 — — 100.0 100.0 — 100.0 — — — 100.0 100.0 100.0 — — 100.0 —
Number — 8 10 2 — — 8 3 — 10 — — — 575 611 578 — — 1 —
blank cell 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 — — 16.7 15.4 — 8.8 9.8 12.5 — 12.3 8.1 9.6 — 9.1 33.3 22.3 — — — —
Guardianship — — — 7.7 — 0.6 0.7 0.6 — 0.4 — — — — — — — — — —
Reunification — 80.0 83.3 69.2 — 79.0 76.6 72.5 — 78.4 79.4 80.8 — 81.8 58.8 68.0 — — — —
Other — 20.0 — 7.7 — 8.9 8.7 8.9 — 7.5 9.4 4.5 — — 3.9 3.9 — — — —
Missing data — — — — — 2.6 4.2 5.5 — 1.3 3.1 5.1 — 9.1 3.9 5.8 — — — —
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 — 10 12 13 — 2,509 2,448 2,723 — 227 223 177 — 11 51 103 — — — —

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. — 81.1 79.3 82.5
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos. — 11.7 13.3 10.5
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos. — 4.7 3.9 3.9
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos. — 1.3 1.6 1.5
48 or more mos. — 0.9 1.1 1.2
Missing data — 0.4 0.8 0.3
Total (%) — 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number — 2,610 2,491 2,535

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 — 87.6 87.5 82.9
Children re-entering care within 12 mos. of a prior episode — 10.2 8.9 10.8
Children re-entering care more than 12 mos. after a prior episode — 2.0 3.6 6.1
Missing data — 0.2 0.0 0.2
Total (%) — 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number — 4,170 4,128 4,456

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. — 9.7 5.6 1.7
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos. — 24.8 18.1 14.2
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos. — 26.5 27.5 27.0
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos. — 21.5 22.5 23.7
48 or more mos. — 17.4 26.3 33.4
Missing data — — — —
Total (%) — 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number — 339 414 515

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		 —
73.5
75.5
80.3		 —
26.5
24.5
19.8		 —
—
—
—		 —
100.0
100.0
100.0		 —
4,799
4,667
4,992
At least 12 mos., but <24 mos. 1998
1999
2000
2001		 —
50.2
49.7
52.3		 —
49.8
50.3
47.7		 —
—
—
—		 —
100.0
100.0
100.0		 —
1,888
1,681
1,559
At least 24 mos., but <36 mos. 1998
1999
2000
2001		 —
47.6
39.0
43.0		 —
52.4
61.0
57.0		 —
—
—
—		 —
100.0
100.0
100.0		 —
1,287
1,209
1,065
At least 36 mos., but <48 mos. 1998
1999
2000
2001		 —
52.7
38.8
31.5		 —
47.3
61.2
68.5		 —
—
—
—		 —
100.0
100.0
100.0		 —
601
886
839
48 or more mos. 1998
1999
2000
2001		 —
61.6
54.3
42.4		 —
38.4
45.7
57.6		 —
—
—
—		 —
100.0
100.0
100.0		 —
690
915
1,272
Missing data 1998
1999
2000
2001		 —
81.5
91.3
100.0		 —
18.5
8.7
—		 —
—
—
—		 —
100.0
100.0
100.0		 —
27
23
13

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 — — — —
Institutions — 17.3 15.3 14.3
Other settings — 82.7 84.7 85.7
Missing data — — — —
Total (%) — 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number — 2,782 2,681 2,984

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Kentucky [ State Comment ]

April Vandeventer, Psy.D., Director
Division of Protection and Permanency
Kentucky Department for Community Based Services
502-564-6852

Kentucky's comments on the State data provided in Child Welfare Outcomes 2001: Report to Congress are the following:

In analyzing the data we have found a number of inaccuracies, due to data entry errors and lack of functionality in our SACWIS system with regard to entering adoptions data. Specifically, we have noted a significant number of children exited to adoption in 1999, 2000, and 2001, but they either were not exited from the system or the exit reason was entered as "other" or was missing. The data for the number of children waiting to be adopted, who have had parental rights terminated, is incorrect because of the difficulty in entering information in our court hearing screens. Information on child fatalities for the three years is also incorrect because of data entry errors and design flaws in our SACWIS system.

We are currently in the process of comparing our NCANDS data and AFCARS data with alternative sources of data to improve the accuracy of these reports. We are also making changes to our SACWIS system to correct some of the causes of our faulty reporting. Once these corrections have been made, we will be resubmitting our NCANDS and AFCARS reports. Based on preliminary work, we have 493 children in 1999, 510 children in 2000 and 380 children in 2001, who had parental rights terminated. The correct number of child fatalities, due to maltreatment in 1999, was 20, in 2000 we had 27 fatalities, and in 2001 we had 29. The difference in the number of last day children and first day children in Section C was due to a flaw in our extraction query. The children were exited from the system after our AFCARS submission, but were not included in the subsequent AFCARS submission. We are in the process of analyzing the data for outcome measure 6.1.

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Kentucky [ Federal Comment ]

The following discussion focuses on Kentucky's performance with regard to each of the outcomes assessed in the Child Welfare Outcomes Annual Reports to Congress. The Kentucky Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) was completed in fiscal year (FY) 2003, and compliance with the national standards was based on data from 2001. The final report for that review is available from Reports and Results of the Child and Family Service Reviews (CFSRs) . A discussion of the implications of CFSR findings for Kentucky's performance on the Report to Congress Outcomes is provided below.

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, the rate of maltreatment recurrence in less than 6 months was 8.6 percent, which does not meet the national standard of 6.1 percent or less and is higher than the national median of 8.0 percent. Performance on this measure did not change substantively from 1999 to 2001. Information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that the actual rate of maltreatment recurrence may be higher than the reported rate of recurrence, because the child welfare agency does not routinely investigate maltreatment reports as new reports when they are received on families with open child welfare agency cases. The CFSR Final Report indicates that the State believes that the incidence of repeat maltreatment may be due in part to data errors in the State's reporting system in which the same report is counted twice. CFSR Final Report information identified the following as potential barriers to preventing maltreatment recurrence: (1) inadequate needs assessments in some cases, particularly some in-home services cases, and (2) inconsistent caseworker contacts with parents and children in cases in which children remain in their homes while the family receives services.

Outcome 2. Reduce incidence of maltreatment in foster care
In CY 2001, the incidence of maltreatment in foster care was 0.65 percent, which does not meet the national standard of 0.57 percent or less and is higher than the national median of 0.47 percent. Performance on this measure declined substantially from 1999 to 2001 (+141.2 percent change). Information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that performance on this measure may be attributed in part to: (1) a lack of appropriate placement resources and services for children in foster care, and (2) differing licensing standards and training requirements for child welfare agency foster homes and foster homes supervised by private agencies.

Outcome 3. Increase permanency for children in foster care
In FY 2001, 85.3 percent of children leaving foster care were discharged to permanent homes (which is equal to the national median), and 71.6 percent of children exiting foster care who were older than age 12 at the time of entry into foster care were discharged to permanent homes (which is less than the national median of 72.3 percent). (Only 53 of 3,599 children exiting foster care were reported to have a diagnosed disability.) There were no substantive changes in performance from FY 1999 to FY 2001 related to the percent of children discharged to permanent homes.

Also in FY 2001, 13.0 percent of the children who were emancipated from foster care were 12 years old or younger at the time they entered foster care, which is less than the national median of 28.0 percent. However, performance on this measure declined from FY 1999 to FY 2001 (+10.6 percent change).

These data suggest that Kentucky is not consistently effective in achieving permanency for children in foster care, particularly for children who were older than age 12 at the time of entry into foster care. However, the State is effective at ensuring that children who enter foster care at a young age do not "grow up" in foster care. Information from the CFSR Final Report identifies the following potential barriers to promoting permanency for children in foster care: (1) delays in some cases in establishing appropriate permanency goals, and (2) inconsistent efforts to locate adoptive homes for children.

Outcome 4. Reduce time to reunification without increasing re-entry
In FY 2001, the percentage of all reunifications occurring within 12 months of children's entry into foster care was 82.5, which exceeds the national standard of 76.2 percent or more and is greater than the national median of 69.2 percent. Performance on this measure did not change substantively from FY 1999 to FY 2001. Information from the CFSR Final Report identifies the following as supporting timely reunification: (1) the use of family preservation services; (2) the use of Family Group Decision Making meetings in the case-planning process; and (3) the implementation of specialized initiatives to help expedite reunification, including Family to Family, Comprehensive Family Services (CATS), and Comprehensive Assessment and Training Services (CATS).

Kentucky's performance with regard to reunifications within 12 months must be balanced by the finding that in FY 2001, the percentage of children re-entering foster care within 12 months of discharge from a prior foster care episode was 10.8. This exceeds the national standard of 8.6 percent or less and is just above the national median of 10.4 percent. Performance on this measure declined slightly from FY 1999 to FY 2001 (+6.2 percent change). CFSR Final Report information identifies the following barriers to preventing re-entry into foster care: (1) inconsistent aftercare planning and services; (2) premature reunifications in some cases; and (3) lack of consistent comprehensive assessments to capture underlying family service needs.

Outcome 5. Reduce time in foster care to adoption
In FY 2001, the percentage of all adoptions finalized within 24 months of a child's entry into foster care was 15.9, which does not meet the national standard of 32.0 percent or more and is less than the national median of 21.0 percent. Performance on this measure declined from FY 1999 to FY 2001 (-53.9 percent change). Information from the CFSR Final Report identifies the following as potential barriers to timely adoptions: (1) inconsistency with regard to seeking termination of parental rights in a timely manner; (2) lack of concurrent planning; and (3) an insufficient number of adoptive families.

Outcome 6. Increase placement stability
In FY 2001, the percentage of children who were in foster care for less than 12 months and experienced no more than 2 placements was 80.3, which does not meet the national standard of 86.7 percent or more and is less than the national median of 83.3 percent. However, performance on this measure improved from FY 1999 to FY 2001 (+9.2 percent change). Information from the CFSR Final Report identifies the following potential barriers to placement stability: (1) inadequate matching of children with foster care providers due to insufficient needs assessments and lack of placement resources, and (2) insufficient services to support foster parents.

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 14.3, which is higher than the national median of 8.7 percent. Kentucky's performance on this measure improved from FY 1999 to FY 2001 (-17.0 percent). Information from the CFSR Final Report notes that the use of emergency shelter care has decreased.

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