Chapter III. Achieving Permanency Outcomes

This chapter presents key findings regarding State performance on the Report to Congress permanency outcomes. The data reported in the chapter are from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS). The analyses examined State differences with regard to (1) foster care population characteristics, (2) performance on achieving the outcome measures pertaining to permanency in FY 2002, and (3) change in outcome performance from 1999 to 2002. A State was determined to exhibit a change in performance if the percent change was greater than 5.0 in either direction.

This chapter also presents findings pertaining to the relationship between State’s foster care population characteristics and State performance on the outcome measures. These analyses are designed to assess the extent to which an understanding of State performance requires a consideration of particular contextual factors. Again, Guilford’s suggested interpretations for the Spearman rho correlation coefficients (Appendix G) were used to describe the relationships.

The number of States included in each analysis varies. States are excluded from an analysis if they do not report data or if there are apparent data quality issues, usually related to missing data or data discrepancies. In particular, States were excluded from many analyses if 20 percent or more of the exits from foster care in a given year did not have “reason for discharge” information. Additionally, States were excluded from the analysis of timeliness of adoption if there was a substantial discrepancy between the number of finalized adoptions reported to the AFCARS Adoption file and the number of exits to adoption reported to the AFCARS Foster Care file

State Foster Care Populations

The State data pages presented in chapter VI provide data pertaining to select context variables, as well as to performance on the national outcome measures. The context variables include:(1) the size of the State foster care population; (2) the number of children exiting and entering foster care and the number served on the first and last days of the Federal fiscal year; (3) the median length of stay of children in foster care; and (4) the age and race/ethnicity of the children entering and exiting foster care and children adopted from the foster care system. The findings regarding State differences on these context variables are presented below.

State variations in the size of foster care populations

The size of State foster care populations varies considerably. For example, in FY 2002, 146,070 children were served in foster care in California compared to 1,656 children in Wyoming. The median across States for the number of children served in FY 2002 was 9,413. The number of children served in California is more than 15 times the median number and is almost 2.5 times the number served in New York, which has the second largest foster care population (58,660 children).

The size of State foster care populations varies considerably. For example, in FY 2002, 146,070 children were served in foster care in California compared to 1,656 children in Wyoming. The median across States for the number of children served in FY 2002 was 9,413. The number of children served in California is more than 15 times the median number and is almost 2.5 times the number served in New York, which has the second largest foster care population (58,660 children).

The ratio of exits to entries in FY 2002 varied across States as well. In Illinois, for example, the number of exits was 133 percent of the number of entries into foster care (i.e., exits were greater than entries). In contrast, in the District of Columbia, the number of exits was 49 percent of the number of entries (i.e., more than twice the number of children entered foster care than exited foster care). There were only two States in which the number of exits from foster care was substantially larger than the number of entries (Illinois and New York).

Extensive variation was found in FY 2002 for the rate of entry into foster care—i.e., the number of children entering foster care per 1,000 children in the population. The rate of entry ranged from 1.8 children in New Hampshire to 8.3 children in Iowa, with a median of 4.5. Three States had foster care entry rates that were at least 8.0 children per 1,000 in the population (Hawaii, Iowa, and Minnesota). Four States had foster care entry rates that were less than 2.0 children per 1,000 in the population (Illinois, New Hampshire, Texas, and Virginia).

State variation with respect to child characteristics

As shown in table III-1, States varied with respect to the ages of the children entering foster care in FY 2002. The most extensive variation occurred for the 16 and older age group. All 8 of the States in which more than 20 percent of the children entering foster care were age 16 or older are States that provide child welfare agency foster care services to children who are in the juvenile justice system (Colorado, Delaware, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Tennessee, and Wyoming).

Table III-1. Range and median of State percentages of children entering foster care in FY 2002 by age group (N = 52)

State differences also were found with regard to the race/ethnicity of children entering foster care in FY 2002, as shown in table III-2. The largest range occurred for White children, with a difference across States of 95.2 percent.

Table III-2. Range and median for State percentages of children entering foster care in FY 2002 by race/ethnicity

The information in table III-3 on the following page indicates that States also varied with respect to the relationship between the percentage of children in the State population of a particular race/ethnicity and the percentage of children entering foster care of the same race/ethnicity. The following are key findings with regard to this analysis conducted for table III-3:

• There were no States in which the percentage of White children entering foster care exceeded the percentage of White children in the population.
• In 9 States (18 percent), the percentage of Hispanic children entering foster care was larger than the percentage of Hispanic children in the population. In six of these States, the percentage of Hispanic children entering foster care was twice as large as the percentage of Hispanic children in the population (Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota).
• In 40 States (78 percent), the percentage of Black children entering foster care exceeded the percentage of Black children in the State population. In 31 of these States, the percentage of Black children entering foster care was more than twice the percentage of Black children in the population.
• In eight States the percentage of Black children entering foster care was more than three times the percentage of Black children in the population (Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Wisconsin).
• States with a relatively large percentage of Black children in the State population tended to have smaller discrepancies between the percentage of Black children entering foster care and the percentage of Black children in the population. For example, in 9 of the 13 States with a Black child population greater than 20 percent, the percentage of Black children entering foster care was about equal to the percentage of Black children in the population.
• In 18 States (36 percent), the percentage of Alaska Native/Native American children entering foster care exceeded the percentage of Native American children in the population. In five of these States, the percentage of Alaska Native/Native American children entering foster care was more than four times as great as the percentage in the population (Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, and South Dakota.
• In contrast to the findings for Black children, States with a relatively large percentage of Alaska Native/Native American children tended to have a relatively large discrepancy between the percentage of Alaska Native/Native American children entering foster care and the percentage of those children in the population.

Table III-3. Relationship of percentage of children entering foster care by race/ethnicity to percentage of child population by race/ethnicity in FY 2002

State variation with respect to the characteristics of adopted children

Table III-4 presents the range and median percentages of children in various age groups reported to AFCARS as being adopted from foster care in FY 2002. As shown in the table, the median percentage across States is largest for the group of children who are at least 1 year of age, but younger than 6. At 6 years and above, the median percentage declines as age increases.

III-4. Table Range and median of State percentages of children adopted from foster care in FY 2002 in various age groups (N = 52)

Table III-5 provides the range and median percentages for the race/ethnicity of children reported to the AFCARS Adoption Database as having a finalized adoption in FY 2002. As shown in the table, there is considerable variation across States with regard to the race/ethnicity of adopted children.

Table III-5. Range and median of State percentages of children adopted from foster care in FY 2002 by race/ethnicity (N= 50)

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State Performance in Achieving Permanency

A foster child may be said to have achieved permanency if the child has been reunified with parents and the State no longer has custody and care responsibilities; if the child has been adopted and the adoption is finalized; or if the custody of the child has been transferred to a legal guardian. The Department assesses State performance with regard to achieving permanency for children in foster care through the following measures developed to assess outcome 3—Increase permanency for children in foster care.

• Outcome measure 3.1—For all children who exited foster care during the reporting period, what percentage left either to reunification, adoption, or legal guardianship?
• Outcome measure 3.2—For children who exited foster care and were identified as having a diagnosed disability, what percentage left either to reunification, adoption, or legal guardianship?
• Outcome measure 3.3—For children who exited foster care and were older than age 12 at the time of their most recent entry into foster care, what percentage left either to reunification, adoption, or legal guardianship?
• Outcome measure 3.4—Of all children exiting foster care to emancipation, what percentage was age 12 or younger at the time of entry into foster care?
• Outcome measure 3.5—For all children who exited foster care, what percentage by racial/ethnic category left either to reunification, adoption, or legal guardianship?

State performance with regard to achieving permanency for all children exiting foster care, for children exiting foster care who had a diagnosed disability, and for children exiting foster care who were age 13 or older when they entered foster care

Forty-nine States provided sufficient data in FY 2002 to calculate outcome measure 3.1.¹⁶ Table III-6 provides a summary of the data for this measure. As shown in the table, the majority of children exiting foster care in 2002 were discharged to permanent homes. In 3 States, more than 94 percent of children exiting foster care were discharged to a permanent home (Alaska, Connecticut, and Puerto Rico). Generally speaking, the majority of children who are not discharged to a permanent home exit foster care because they are emancipated.

Table III-6. Range and median of State percentages of exits to permanency in FY 2002 (N= 49)(outcome measure 3.1)

The data in table III-6 also indicate that the majority of children exiting foster care in FY 2002 were reunified with parents or primary caretakers, although there was almost a 50 percent difference in this statistic across States. There was only one State (Illinois) in which the percentage of children exiting to adoption exceeded the percentage of children exiting to reunification. Although guardianship continues to be a fairly rare permanency option in most States, in 4 States, more than 10 percent of the children exiting foster care were discharged to a legal guardianship (Arizona, Hawaii, Missouri, and North Carolina).

State performance on outcome measure 3.1 from FY 1999 through FY 2002 is presented in table III-7. The data in the table pertain to the percentage of children exiting foster care who experienced any of the three types of permanency (i.e., reunification, adoption, or guardianship).

Table III-7. State performance from FY 1999 through FY 2002 with regard to exits to permanency (outcome measure 3.1)

Figure III-1 provides the percentage of States improving, declining, or exhibiting no change in performance on outcome measure 3.1 from FY 1999 to FY 2002. Most States exhibited no change in performance on this measure, but 35 percent did improve performance.

Outcome measure 3.2 addresses State performance with regard to achieving permanency for children exiting foster care who have a diagnosed disability. Forty-seven States provided sufficient data to AFCARS for FY 2002 to be included in the analysis of performance on this measure.¹⁷ A key finding was that States generally experienced less success in finding permanent homes for children in foster care who had a diagnosed disability (median = 79.8 percent) than they did finding permanent homes for all children in foster care (median = 86.1 percent).

Outcome measure 3.3 assesses State performance with regard to achieving permanency for children exiting foster care who entered foster care when they were older than age 12. Key findings for FY 2002 with regard to this measure were the following (N = 48):¹⁸

• Most of the children discharged to permanent homes who were older than age 12 when they entered foster care were reunified with their families.
• In general, States experienced less success in finding permanent homes for children who entered foster care when they were older than age 12 (median = 72.0 percent), than they did finding permanent homes for children with a diagnosed disability (median = 79.8 percent).
• In 33 of the 44 States providing sufficient data for both measures, the percentage of children exiting to a permanent home who were older than age 12 when they entered foster care was less than the percentage of children exiting to a permanent home who had a diagnosed disability.

State performance regarding the percentage of children emancipated from foster care who were age 12 or younger when they entered foster care

Outcome measure 3.4 is designed to assess whether children are, in effect, growing up in foster care. The measure examines the percentage of children exiting to emancipation who were age 12 or younger when they entered foster care. In most States, only a small percentage of children exiting foster care are reported as discharged to emancipation, with a range from 0.5 percent in Puerto Rico to 22.1 in Virginia. In FY 2002, the median percentage of children exiting foster care to emancipation was 6.6 (N = 49 States).

The following are key findings with regard to the percentage of children exiting to emancipation in FY 2002 who were age 12 or younger when they entered foster care:

• The percentage of children exiting to emancipation who were age 12 or younger when they entered foster care ranged from 8.8 in Utah to 61.0 in Illinois, with a median of 26.9.
• In 4 States, more than 50 percent of the children emancipated from foster care in FY 2002 entered foster care when they were age 12 or younger (Alabama, Alaska, Illinois, and Puerto Rico).
• In 3 States, less than 10 percent of the children emancipated from foster care in FY 2002 entered foster care when they were age 12 or younger (New Mexico, South Dakota, and Utah).

Table III-8 provides data pertaining to State performance on outcome measure 3.4 from FY 1999 through FY 2002. As shown in the table, there was little variation across years with respect to the mean or median performance on this outcome measure.

Table III-8. State performance from FY 1999 through FY 2002 with regard to exits to emancipation of children who entered foster care when they were age 12 or younger (outcome measure 3.4)

Figure III-2 provides the percentage of States exhibiting improvement, decline, or no change in performance from FY 1999 to FY 2002 with regard to the percentage of children exiting to emancipation who were age 12 or younger when they entered foster care. Although one-half of the States exhibited improved performance on this measure, a substantial percentage of States declined in performance from FY 1999 to FY 2002. The reasons for this decline are not known at this time.

State performance with regard to exits to permanency of children of different races/ethnicity

Outcome measure 3.5 assesses State performance with regard to exits to permanency of children of various races/ethnicities. For Hispanics, Whites, and Blacks, the analysis was limited to those States in which the ethnic/racial group was represented by at least 10 percent of the children exiting foster care. For Native Americans, the analysis was limited to those States in which at least 5 percent of the children exiting foster care were Native American. The following are the key findings of the analyses of FY 2002 data:

• For the 13 States in which at least 10 percent of the children exiting foster care were Hispanic and at least 10 percent were White, there was no substantive difference between the percentage of exits to permanency for White children (mean = 86.0 percent) and the percentage of exits to permanency for Hispanic children (mean = 87.1 percent).
• For the 8 States in which at least 10 percent of the children exiting foster care were Black and at least 10 percent were Hispanic, there was no substantive difference between the percentage of exits to permanency for Black children (mean = 82.6 percent) and the percentage of exits to permanency for Hispanic children (mean = 84.9 percent).
• For the 33 States in which at least 10 percent of the children exiting foster care were Black and at least 10 percent were White, there were 23 States in which the percentage of Black children exiting to a permanent home was less than the percentage of White children exiting to a permanent home (table III-9).

Table III-9. State percentages of exits to permanency for Black and White children in FY 2002

	Percent Exiting to Permanency
State	Black	White	Difference
Nevada	84.6	74.2	10.4
Maryland	82.8	78.6	4.2
Wisconsin	86.5	82.9	3.6
Connecticut	95.1	93.0	2.1
Iowa	92.5	91.5	1.0
New York	83.2	88.2	1.0
Tennessee	87.9	87.2	0.7
Oklahoma	92.2	92.7	0.5
Delaware	91.9	91.7	0.2
Minnesota	88.0	88.0	0.0
Missouri	92.5	92.7	0.2
Kansas	82.8	78.6	4.2
North Carolina	90.6	91.2	-0.6
Massachusetts	80.8	81.4	-0.6
New Jersey	89.6	90.4	-0.8
Arkansas	91.0	92.0	-1.0
Indiana	88.7	89.8	-1.1
Georgia	89.3	90.5	-1.2
Virginia	71.8	73.2	-1.4
Florida	91.6	93.5	-1.9
Ohio	83.0	85.	4.2
Mississippi	79.7	82.4	-2.7
Rhode Island	83.4	86.2	-2.8
Michigan	85.0	88.1	-3.1
Colorado	79.3	82.6	-3.3
Texas	78.3	82.1	-3.8
Kentucky	78.4	82.4	-4.0
South Carolina	80.5	84.6	-4.1
Louisiana	71.0	76.2	-5.2
California	76.1	82.1	-6.0
Alabama	82.6	89.5	-6.9
Pennsylvania	82.1	89.6	-7.5
Illinois	77.2	84.8	-7.6

^*The 33 States listed in this table are those in which at least 10 percent of the children exiting foster care were White and at least 10 percent were Black. Back


• For the eight States in which at least five percent of the children exiting foster care were Native American and at least five percent were White, there were seven States in which the percentage of Alaska Native/Native American children exiting to a permanent home was less than the percentage of White children exiting to a permanent home (table III-10).

Table III-10. State percentages of children exiting to permanency for Alaska Native/Native American and White children in FY 2002^*

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State Performance in Achieving Permanency in a Timely Manner

A primary goal of child welfare services is to achieve permanency for children as quickly as possible after they enter foster care, without jeopardizing their continued safety. To address the issue of timely permanency, the Department established two outcomes: outcome 4—Reduce time in foster care to reunification without increasing reentry; and outcome 5—Reduce time in foster care to adoption.

• Outcome measure 4.1—Of all children who were reunified with their parents or caretakers at the time of discharge from foster care, what percentage was reunified in the following time periods?
         (1) less than 12 months
         (2) at least 12 months but less than 24 months
         (3) at least 24 months but less than 36 months
         (4) at least 36 months but less than 48 months
         (5) 48 or more months
• Outcome measure 4.2—Of all children who entered foster care during the reporting period, what percentage re-entered care:
         (1) within 12 months of a prior foster care episode?
         (2) 12 months or more after a prior foster care episode?
• Outcome measure 5.1—Of all children who exited foster care to a finalized adoption, what percentage exited foster care in the following time periods?
         (1) Less than 12 months from the time of the latest removal from home
         (2) At least 12 months but less than 24 months
         (3) At least 24 months but less than 36 months
         (4) At least 36 months but less than 48 months
         (5) 48 or more months

State performance with regard to reunifying children in a timely manner

Forty-nine States were included in the analysis of State performance in FY 2002 with regard to time to reunification (outcome measure 4.1).¹⁹ Key findings were the following:

• Exits to reunification that occurred within 12 months of the child’s entry into foster care ranged from 38.8 percent in Michigan to 90.5 percent in New Mexico, with a median of 68.1 percent.
• 18 States (37 percent) met the national standard of 76.2 percent or more for reunifications occurring within 12 months of entry into foster care.
• In 3 States, more than 15 percent of the children exiting foster care to reunification had been in foster care for at least 36 months (Illinois, Maryland, and New York).

Table III-11 provides State performance on this measure from FY 1999 through FY 2002. The information in the table demonstrates that the percentage of States meeting the national standard for reunifications within 12 months increased considerably from 1999 to 2002 (+68.2 percent change), although the largest percentage of States meeting the standard occurred in FY 2000.

Table III-11. State performance from FY 1999 to FY 2002 with regard to achieving reunification within 12 months of a child’s entry into foster care(outcome measure 4.1)

Figure III-3 provides the percentage of States exhibiting improvement, decline, and no change in performance from FY 1999 to FY 2002. As shown in the figure, many States exhibited no change in performance on this measure, although a large percentage of States improved in performance. Five States went from not meeting the national standard in FY 1999 to meeting the standard in FY 2002 (Arizona, Hawaii, Indiana, North Dakota, and Utah). None of the 8 States that declined in performance met the national standard in either FY 1999 or FY 2002.

State performance with regard to foster care re-entry

The analyses of State performance with regard to re-entries into foster care in FY 2002 included all 52 States. Key findings were the following:

• The percentage of children entering foster care in FY 2002 who were re-entering within 12 months of a prior foster care episode ranged from 1.2 in North Carolina to 28.1 in Minnesota, with a median of 9.9.
• Twenty-two States (44 percent) met the national standard of 8.6 percent or fewer children entering foster care who were re-entering within 12 months of a prior episode.

Similar to prior years, a substantial positive relationship was found in FY 2002 between the percentage of reunifications in a State occurring within 12 months of entry into foster care and the percentage of children entering foster care who were re-entering within 12 months of a prior foster care episode (Spearman’s rho = +0.546). In general, States with a relatively high percentage of reunifications within 12 months tended to have a relatively high percentage of re-entries into foster care within 12 months, and vice versa. Only 1 State (South Carolina) met both the national standard for reunification within 12 months and the national standard for reentry within 12 months of a prior episode.²⁰

Table III-12 presents State performance on the measure of foster care re-entry from FY 1999 through FY 2002. The information in the table indicates that the percentage of States meeting the national standard for this measure increased from FY 1999 to FY 2002 (+14.3 percent change).

Table III-12. State performance from FY 1999 through FY 2002 with regard to the percentage of children entering foster care who were re-entering within 12 months of a prior foster care episode (outcome measure 4.2)

Figure III-4 presents the percentage of States exhibiting improvement, decline, or no change in performance from FY 1999 to FY 2002 with regard to foster care entries that were re-entries within 12 months. The following are key findings:

• Nine of the 23 States that declined in performance met the national standard in both FY 1999 and FY 2002, despite the decline. Only 1 State went from meeting the standard in FY 1999 to not meeting it in FY 2002.
• Six States went from not meeting the national standard in FY 1999 to meeting the standard in FY 2002 (Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, and Wyoming).

State performance with regard to achieving adoptions in a timely manner

Forty-three States were included in the analysis of outcome measure 5.1 (the timeliness of adoptions) for FY 2002.²¹ The following are the key findings:

• The percentage of adoptions within 24 months of entry into foster care ranged from 5.2 in New York to 77.9 in Utah, with a median of 23.0.
• Twelve States (28 percent) met the national standard of 32 percent or more of all adoptions occurring within 24 months.
• The percentage of discharges to adoptions that occurred when the child had been in foster care for 48 or more months ranged from 4.9 percent in Utah to 63.8 percent in New York.

Table III-13 provides information pertaining to State performance with regard to timely adoptions for FY 2000 through FY 2002. FY 2000 was chosen as the comparison year because of the large number of States with data quality issues for this measure in FY 1999. As shown in the table, there was an increase in mean performance from FY 2000 to FY 2002 (+9.5 percent change), although median performance remained somewhat similar for all 4 years. The percentage of States meeting the national standard increased from FY 2000 to FY 2002 (+75 percent change).

Table III-13. State performance from FY 2000 to FY 2002 with regard to the percentage of children adopted who were adopted within 24 months of entry into foster care (outcome measure 5.1)

Figure III-5 provides the percentage of States improving, declining, or exhibiting no change in performance from FY 2000 to FY 2002 with regard to the percentage of children adopted within 24 months of the time of entry into foster care. As shown in the figure, the vast majority of States (72 percent) improved in performance from FY 2000 to FY 2002 with regard to the percentage of adoptions occurring within 24 months of entry into foster care. Two States went from not meeting the national standard in FY 2000 to meeting the national standard in FY 2002 (Minnesota and New Mexico).

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Context Variables and State Performance on Permanency Outcomes

Analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between specific contextual factors and State performance on the outcome measures assessing (1) reunifications occurring within 12 months of entry into foster care (outcome measure 4.1), (2) adoptions occurring within 24 months of entry into foster care (outcome measure 5.1), and (3) entries into foster care that were re-entries within 12 months of a prior episode (outcome measure 4.2). The context variables examined were children’s age and race/ethnicity, median length of stay in foster care, and the State rate of foster care entry.

The relationship between age of children and State performance on permanency outcomes

No meaningful relationships were found between the ages of children entering foster care and State performance with regard to (1) the percentage of reunifications occurring within 12 months of the child’s entry into foster care, or (2) the percentage of finalized adoptions occurring within 24 months of the child’s entry into foster care. However, a substantial relationship (according to Guilford’s suggested interpretations provided in Appendix G) was found between the percentage of children entering foster care in a State who were age 16 and older and the percentage of children entering foster care who were re-entering within 12 months of a prior episode (Spearman’s rho = +0.456). States with a relatively high percentage of children entering foster care in FY 2002 who were 16 and older tended to have a relatively high percentage of children entering foster care who were re-entering within 12 months of a prior episode. Eight States were in the top quartile (which included 13 States) of the ranking for both the percentage of children age 16 and older entering foster care and the percentage of re-entries into foster care. Seven of these States were those in which the child welfare system provides out-of-home placement services to children from the juvenile justice system (Colorado, Delaware, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin). This relationship suggests that States providing child welfare foster care services to older children, particularly children in the juvenile justice population, may be more likely to have a higher incidence of re-entry than States whose child welfare systems do not serve this population.

The relationship between race/ethnicity of children and State performance on permanency outcomes

No meaningful relationships were found between the percentages of White, Hispanic, and Alaska Native/Native American children in foster care in a State on the last day of FY 2002 and State performance with regard to (1) reunifications within 12 months or (2) finalized adoptions within 24 months. However, a substantial relationship was found between the percentage of Black children in a State’s foster care population and the percentage of adoptions occurring within 24 months of a child’s entry into foster care (Spearman’s rho = -0.498). In general, States with a relatively high percentage of Black children in foster care tended to have a relatively low percentage of adoptions finalized within 24 months of entry into foster care. States with a relatively low percentage of Black children in foster care tended to have a relatively high percentage of adoptions finalized within 24 months of entry into foster care. Additional research on this issue is needed to better understand this relationship.

The relationship between median length of stay in foster care and performance on permanency outcomes

As might be expected, substantial relationships were found between median length of stay and outcome performance. The following were the key findings:

• States with a relatively long median length of stay tended to have a relatively low percentage of children reunified within 12 months; States with a relatively short median length of stay tended to have a relatively high percentage of children reunified within 12 months (Spearman’s rho = -0.618).
• States with a relatively high median length of stay tended to have a relatively low percentage of children adopted within 24 months of entry into foster care; States with a relatively low median length of stay tended to have a relatively high percentage of children adopted within 24 months of entry into foster care (Spearman’s rho = -0.638).

The relationship between rate of entry into foster care and performance on permanency outcome measures

Analyses were conducted to determine whether State rates of entry into foster care (i.e., number of children entering foster care per 1,000 children in the population) were associated with State performance on the outcome measures assessing re-entry into foster care and time to reunification and adoption. Only one meaningful relationship was found. States with a relatively high rate of entry into foster care tended to have a relatively high percentage of children reunified within 12 months of entry into foster care. Correspondingly, States with a relatively low rate of entry into foster care tended to have a relatively low percentage of children reunified within 12 months of entry into foster care (Spearman’s rho = +0.405). A possible explanation for this may be that States with a relatively high rate of entry into foster care may use foster care as a short-term placement option while conducting investigations or addressing crisis situations in the family. This would result in a higher percentage of reunifications in a short period of time.

¹⁶Three States (Nebraska, Nevada, and West Virginia) were excluded because 20 percent or more of the exits from foster care in FY 2002 did not have “reason for discharge” information. Back

¹⁷ Two States (Maine and Nevada) were excluded because 20 percent or more of exits of children with a diagnosed disability did not have “reason for discharge” information. Three States (Alaska, New York, West Virginia) were excluded because they did not provide data to calculate this measure. Back

¹⁸Four States (Maine, Nebraska, Texas, and West Virginia) were excluded because 20 percent or more of the exits of children who were older than age 12 when they exited foster care did not have “reason for discharge” information. Back

¹⁹Three States (Nebraska, Nevada, and West Virginia) were excluded because 20 percent or more of the exits from foster care did not have “reason for discharge” information. Therefore, the number of children exiting to reunification is not known. Back

²⁰Nevada’s data also apparently met the national standard for both measures in FY 2002. However, in Nevada, 20 percent of the exits from foster care did not have “reason for discharge” information. Consequently, the actual number of exits to reunification is not known. Back

²¹ Three States (Nebraska, Nevada, and West Virginia) were excluded because 20 percent or more of the exits did not have “reason for discharge” information. Six States (the District of Columbia, Kansas, Maine, North Dakota, Rhode Island, and Puerto Rico) were excluded because there was a substantial discrepancy between the number of children reported to the AFCARS Adoption file as adopted in FY 2002 and the number of children reported to the AFCARS Foster Care file as exits to a finalized adoption in FY 2002. Back

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