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

 

Louisiana

Context Data | Outcomes Data | State Comment | Federal Comment

Louisiana [ Context Data ]

A. Key Context Statistics

General Population 1998 1999 2000 2001
Total children under 18 years 1,191,412 1,190,001 1,219,799 1,201,111
Race/ethnicity (%)1
   Alaska Native/American Indian 0.5 0.4 0.6 0.6
   Asian N/A N/A N/A 1.2
   Asian/Pacific Islander 1.4 1.4 1.2 N/A
   Black 39.2 39.4 39.7 39.7
   Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander N/A N/A N/A 0.0
   Hispanic 2.8 2.9 2.5 2.6
   White 56.1 55.8 54.6 54.6
   Two or more races N/A N/A 1.2 1.3
   Other N/A N/A 0.2 N/A
% Child population in poverty 24.2 26.6 23.7 23.1
% Child population living in metropolitan areas 77.6 72.3 75.3 80.5
Child Welfare 1998 1999 2000 2001
Child maltreatment victims 13,773 12,614 10,618 11,158
Children in foster care on 9/30 6,301 5,581 5,406 5,024
Children adopted 237 356 476 470

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 45,318 46,230 36,355 38,085 38.0 per 1,000 38.8 per 1,000 29.8 per 1,000 31.3 per 1,000
Child maltreatment victims2 13,773 12,614 10,618 11,158 11.6 per 1,000 10.6 per 1,000 8.7 per 1,000 9.2 per 1,000
Child fatalities 27 21 30 33 2.3 per 100,000 1.8 per 100,000 2.5 per 100,000 2.7 per 100,000
Age of Child Victims (%) 1998 1999 2000 2001
Under 1 year 7.3 7.8 8.2 8.5
1-5 years 30.6 29.6 30.4 30.8
6-10 years 30.3 29.8 31.7 30.4
11-15 years 24.6 25.7 25.0 25.3
16+ years 7.2 7.0 4.7 4.9
Unknown 0.1 0.2 — —
Total % 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number 13,773 12,614 10,618 11,158
Race/Ethnicity of Child Victims (%) 1998 1999 2000 2001
Alaska Native/American Indian 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2
Asian/Pacific Islander 0.3 0.4 0.3 0.3
Black 53.9 51.9 51.1 49.6
Hispanic 0.5 0.8 1.0 0.8
White 44.7 46.6 46.0 48.0
Two or more races — — 0.7 0.4
Other/Unknown 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7
Total %3 100.5 100.8 100.0 100.0
Number 13,773 12,614 10,618 11,158
Maltreatment Type of Child Victims (%) 1998 1999 2000 2001
Emotional 4.0 4.2 4.3 4.2
Medical neglect — — — —
Neglect 69.5 68.1 76.5 76.7
Physical abuse 19.5 20.9 23.0 22.4
Sexual abuse 6.6 6.5 6.7 7.8
Other 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.0
Unknown — — — —
Total %4 100.0 100.0 110.8 111.1
Number 13,773 12,614 10,618 11,158

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) 5,649 3,051 2,399 6,301 8,700
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99) 5,523 2,912 2,854 5,581 8,435
FY2000 (10/1/99-9/30/00) 5,395 3,157 3,146 5,406 8,552
FY2001 (10/1/00-9/30/01) 5,194 3,014 3,184 5,024 8,208
Median Length of Stay (Months)          
FY1998 (10/1/97-9/30/98) 23.0 N/A 15.8 19.6 N/A
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99) 22.9 N/A 13.5 19.5 N/A
FY2000 (10/1/99-9/30/00) 19.8 N/A 11.8 16.3 N/A
FY2001 (10/1/00-9/30/01) 17.1 N/A 11.7 15.3 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 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 2.5 2.8 2.4 2.7 10.3 9.2 9.8 10.0 3.7 2.5 2.8 2.9 2.8 2.4 2.7 2.7
1-5 years 25.2 22.2 21.1 20.8 22.6 22.8 22.5 23.3 28.9 24.2 22.4 22.3 21.0 21.0 20.7 21.3
6-10 years 27.8 26.7 24.5 24.3 22.2 20.6 20.7 19.1 26.4 23.5 19.9 20.5 25.3 24.4 24.0 22.8
11-15 years 31.2 34.9 36.0 35.8 35.8 37.9 38.1 38.6 20.0 26.1 28.6 29.3 36.2 36.5 36.3 36.8
16-18 years 13.3 13.4 15.9 16.4 9.1 9.4 8.9 9.1 21.0 23.7 26.2 24.9 14.7 15.7 16.4 16.4
19+ years — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Unknown — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
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 5,649 5,523 5,395 5,194 3,051 2,912 3,157 3,014 2,399 2,854 3,146 3,184 6,301 5,581 5,406 5,024
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 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.2
Asian — — 0.3 0.3 — — 0.2 0.4 — — 0.3 0.3 — — 0.2 0.3
Asian/Pacific Islander 0.2 0.2 — — 0.3 0.4 — — 0.3 0.3 — — 0.2 0.3 — —
Black 66.3 64.6 62.9 61.7 60.0 59.7 57.2 58.1 62.4 61.7 58.9 59.9 64.7 63.5 61.9 60.7
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander — — — — — — — 0.1 — — — 0.1 — — — 0.0
Hispanic 0.4 0.6 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.0 1.6 1.0 0.5 0.8 1.3 1.2 0.6 0.7 0.9 0.7
White 32.2 33.7 34.0 35.4 38.0 38.2 39.8 39.0 36.0 36.4 37.8 37.1 33.6 34.7 35.2 36.5
Two or more races — — 1.4 1.2 — — 0.7 0.4 — — 1.1 0.7 — — 1.2 1.0
Unknown 0.5 0.5 0.3 0.3 0.5 0.3 0.4 0.8 0.5 0.5 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.5
Total % 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number 5,649 5,523 5,395 5,194 3,051 2,912 3,157 3,014 2,399 2,854 3,146 3,184 6,301 5,581 5,406 5,024

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 1,171 1,477 1,542 1,441
Children whose parents' rights have been terminated (TPR) 253 375 514 553
Age of Waiting Children (%) 1998 1999 2000 2001
Under 1 year 2.3 1.2 1.0 1.4
1-5 years 31.0 28.4 26.7 25.4
6-10 years 41.0 39.3 35.9 34.4
11-15 years 23.7 29.1 32.3 33.1
16+ years 2.0 2.1 4.0 5.7
Unknown — — — —
Total % 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number 1,171 1,477 1,542 1,441
Race/Ethnicity of Waiting Children (%) 1998 1999 2000 2001
Alaska Native/American Indian 0.4 0.3 0.4 0.1
Asian — — — 0.3
Asian/Pacific Islander — — — —
Black 61.1 62.5 60.4 58.8
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander — — — —
Hispanic 0.5 0.5 0.6 1.0
White 36.7 35.8 36.6 37.7
Two or more races — — 1.7 2.0
Unknown 1.3 0.9 0.3 0.1
Total % 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number 1,171 1,477 1,542 1,441

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 1.7 1.4 0.6 0.2
1-5 years 37.1 37.1 35.1 37.7
6-10 years 45.1 44.7 40.8 41.3
11-15 years 15.2 14.9 21.8 17.4
16+ years 0.8 2.0 1.7 3.4
Unknown — — — —
Total % 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number 237 356 476 470
Race/Ethnicity of Adopted Children (%) 1998 1999 2000 2001
Alaska Native/American Indian — 0.8 0.4 0.6
Asian — — — —
Asian/Pacific Islander 0.4 — — —
Black 64.1 64.3 59.9 58.1
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander — — — —
Hispanic — 0.3 1.3 0.4
White 34.6 34.0 36.8 38.9
Two or more races — — 1.5 1.7
Unknown 0.8 0.6 0.2 0.2
Total % 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number 237 356 476 470

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Louisiana [ 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 93.8 92.7 92.0 93.2
Children with one or more recurrences 6.2 7.3 8.0 6.8
Total % 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number 5,466 4,489 5,021 4,666

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 0.80 0.69 — 0.58
Children not maltreated while in foster care 99.20 99.31 — 99.42
Total % 100.0 100.0 — 100.0
Number 8,063 7,793 — 7,351

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 9.8 12.3 15.0 14.9
Guardianship 2.2 1.3 1.8 1.4
Reunification 72.8 66.3 58.6 55.9
Other 14.7 19.8 24.6 27.8
Missing data 0.5 0.3 — —
Total % 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number 2,399 2,854 3,146 3,184

Pie Charts describing data from Table 3.1 above.

3.2 Exits of Disabled Children (%) 1998 1999 2000 2001
Adoption 21.1 16.7 12.6 13.2
Guardianship 2.9 1.0 0.9 —
Reunification 39.1 43.1 42.4 40.1
Other 36.2 39.1 44.1 46.7
Missing data 0.8 0.2 — —
Total % 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number 384 599 762 713
3.3 Exits of Children Over Age 12 at Entry (%) 1998 1999 2000 2001
Adoption — 0.1 0.3 0.6
Guardianship 1.9 1.1 1.4 0.6
Reunification 60.3 52.6 46.6 41.0
Other 37.0 45.2 51.8 57.8
Missing data 0.8 1.0 — —
Total % 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number 476 812 1,101 1,128
3.4 Exits to Emancipation (%) 1998 1999 2000 2001
Children age 12 or younger at entry 50.3 50.2 49.3 51.1
Children older than 12 at entry 49.7 49.8 50.7 48.9
Missing data — — — —
Total % 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number 304 315 298 311
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 — 27.3 25.0 30.0 — — — — 16.7 — — — 9.6 12.7 15.1 14.4 — — — —
Guardianship — — — — — — — — — — — — 2.0 1.0 1.4 1.2 — — — —
Reunification 42.9 45.5 75.0 60.0 — — 70.0 87.5 33.3 62.5 — — 72.7 65.1 56.0 54.8 — — — 100.0
Other 57.1 27.3 — 10.0 — — 30.0 12.5 50.0 37.5 — — 15.1 20.9 27.5 29.6 — — — —
Missing data — — — — — — — — — — — — 0.5 0.3 — — — — — —
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
Number 7 11 8 10 — — 10 8 6 8 — — 1,497 1,761 1,853 1,908 — — — 3
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 — 4.5 14.6 5.1 10.2 11.6 14.8 15.7 23.1 15.4 9.1 8.3 — — 20.6 36.4 — — — —
Guardianship — 4.5 — — 2.3 1.8 2.5 1.8 15.4 — — 16.7 — — — — — — — —
Reunification 76.9 72.7 65.9 71.8 73.7 68.4 61.9 56.8 53.8 69.2 72.7 50.0 — — 64.7 63.6 — — — —
Other 23.1 18.2 19.5 23.1 13.3 17.9 20.8 25.8 7.7 15.4 18.2 25.0 — — 14.7 — — — — —
Missing data — — — — 0.5 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 — — — —
Number 13 22 41 39 863 1,039 1,189 1,182 13 13 11 12 — — 34 22 — — — —

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. 54.0 57.5 64.8 65.0
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos. 26.2 24.4 20.9 23.9
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos. 10.3 8.4 7.1 5.9
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos. 3.8 3.6 2.6 1.6
48 or more mos. 5.3 6.0 4.3 3.4
Missing data 0.3 0.1 0.3 0.2
Total (%) 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number 1,747 1,893 1,843 1,781

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 83.3 85.0 84.4 83.0
Children re-entering care within 12 mos. of a prior episode 7.4 6.8 7.1 7.8
Children re-entering care more than 12 mos. after a prior episode 9.2 8.2 8.5 9.2
Missing data 0.1 — — —
Total (%) 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number 3,051 2,912 3,157 3,014

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. 4.2 3.4 1.5 1.1
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos. 8.1 7.4 11.4 10.6
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos. 19.5 19.1 21.8 28.3
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos. 23.7 21.1 20.3 24.1
48 or more mos. 44.5 48.9 44.9 35.9
Missing data — — — —
Total (%) 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number 236 350 472 473

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		 78.3
80.3
79.4
83.3		 20.4
18.7
19.3
15.3		 1.3
1.0
1.4
1.4		 100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0		 3,415
3,394
3,849
3,784
At least 12 mos., but <24 mos. 1998
1999
2000
2001		 45.8
50.1
49.7
56.7		 53.9
49.8
49.8
42.6		 0.4
0.1
0.5
0.6		 100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0		 1,628
1,585
1,510
1,588
At least 24 mos., but <36 mos. 1998
1999
2000
2001		 29.0
30.8
30.4
48.1		 70.8
69.0
69.5
51.5		 0.2
0.1
0.1
0.4		 100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0		 1,005
898
862
757
At least 36 mos., but <48 mos. 1998
1999
2000
2001		 25.0
20.1
22.3
42.2		 74.9
79.5
77.7
57.8		 0.1
0.5
—
—		 100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0		 669
648
561
521
48 or more mos. 1998
1999
2000
2001		 15.3
13.0
10.8
26.7		 84.5
86.9
89.1
73.2		 0.2
0.1
0.1
0.1		 100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0		 1,962
1,888
1,762
1,554
Missing data 1998
1999
2000
2001		 85.7
100.0
87.5
50.0		 9.5
—
—
—		 4.8
—
12.5
50.0		 100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0		 21
22
8
4

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 2.2 2.1 2.1 1.5
Institutions 5.5 5.6 6.3 6.2
Other settings 92.3 92.3 91.7 92.3
Missing data — — — —
Total (%) 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number 1,889 1,762 1,901 1,801

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Louisiana [ State Comment ]

Carmen D. Weisner, Assistant Secretary
Office of Community Services
Louisiana Department of Social Services
225-342-4073

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

Louisiana is committed to reporting accurate child welfare data. Current projects entail utilizing technical assistance from the NCANDS project and the National Resource Center for Information Technology in Child Welfare to re-map the programming code to produce the NCANDS and AFCARS data sets. Louisiana still operates its child welfare data system from a 17-year-old main frame system. Inaccuracies can result from the conversion of the data from the main frame to the AFCARS and NCANDS data sets.

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Louisiana [ Federal Comment ]

The following discussion focuses on Louisiana's performance with regard to each of the outcomes assessed in the Child Welfare Outcomes Annual Reports to Congress. The Louisiana 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 Louisiana's performance on the Report to Congress Outcomes is provided in 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 6.8 percent, which does not meet the national standard of 6.1 percent or less, but is less than the national median of 8.0 percent. Performance on this measure improved from 1999 to 2001 (-6.3 percent). CFSR Final Report information identified the following as potential barriers to preventing maltreatment recurrence: (1) inconsistent safety and service needs assessments; (2) insufficient services to children and parents in some case, particularly cases in which children remain in their own homes; and (3) inconsistencies with regard to the frequency of caseworker visits with parents in cases in which children remain in their own homes.

Outcome 2. Reduce incidence of maltreatment in foster care
In CY 2001, the incidence of maltreatment in foster care was 0.58 percent, which does not quite 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 improved from 1999 to 2001 (-15.6 percent change).

Outcome 3. Increase permanency for children in foster care
In FY 2001, 72.2 percent of children exiting foster care were discharged to permanent homes (which is less than the national median of 85.3 percent); 53.3 percent of children with a diagnosed disability who exited foster care were discharged to permanent homes (which is less than the national median of 78.4 percent); and 42.2 percent of children exiting foster care who entered foster care when they were older than age 12 were discharged to permanent homes (which is considerably less than the national median of 72.3). Louisiana's performance related to attaining permanency for children leaving foster care declined from FY 1999 to FY 2001 on all three indicators (ranging from -9.6 percent change to -21.6 percent change).

Also in FY 2001, 51.1 percent of children exiting foster care through emancipation were age 12 or younger at the time of entry into foster care (which is greater than the national median of 28.0). There were no substantive changes in performance on this measure from FY 1999 to FY 2001.

These data suggest that Louisiana is not consistently effective at achieving permanency for children in foster care and is not consistently 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 suggests that performance on these measures may be attributed to a practice of maintaining the goal of reunification for long periods of time even when the prognosis for attaining that goal is poor.

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 65.0, which does not meet the national standard of 76.2 percent or more and is less than the national median of 69.2 percent. However, Louisiana's performance on this measure improved from FY 1999 to FY 2001 (+13.1 percent change), with most of the improvement occurring between FY 1999 and FY 2000.

Louisiana'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 7.8, which meets the national standard of 8.6 percent or less and is less than the national median of 10.4 percent. However, performance on this measure declined from FY 1999 to FY 2001 (+15.2 percent change). Information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that performance on this measure may be attributed in part to the following: (1) extensive post-reunification monitoring and supervision, and (2) provision of family preservation and community-based programs.

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 11.7, 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 improved slightly from FY 1999 to FY 2001 (+7.1 percent change). Information from the CFSR Final Report identifies the following as potential barriers to timely adoptions: (1) financial "disincentives" for adoptive parents, including the requirement that they must pay attorney fees and that adoption subsidy rates are substantially lower than foster care board rates; and (2) delays in the termination of parental rights (TPR) process, which often occur because judges do not consider that the State has made reasonable efforts to provide services to families to support reunification.

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 83.3, which does not meet the national standard of 86.7 percent or more, but is equal to the national median. Louisiana's performance on this measure did not change substantively from FY 1999 to FY 2001. Information from the CFSR Final Report indicates that difficulties with placement stability may be due to insufficient evaluations of children's needs in making placement decisions. However, the Final Report also notes that the agency is effective in providing mentoring and respite care to foster parents when problems arise.

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 7.7, which is less than the national median of 8.7 percent. Louisiana's performance on this measure did not change from FY 1999 to FY 2001.

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