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Georgia
Context Data | Outcomes Data | State Comment | Federal Comment
Georgia [ Context Data ]
A. Key Context Statistics |
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| 1The convention for the data tables is the following: N/A in the data table means that the category was not applicable for the specific year. A dash (-) means that there is "no value" or the category is a true zero (that is, no children were reported as being in that category). A zero (0) means that there is a value for the category, but the value is less than 0.1 percent.Back | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2The multiple and overlapping race categories in this and subsequent race tables are due to changes in the Census Bureau categories beginning in 2000. Because the reporting of these categories is a relatively new process for States, changes in percentages over time may be due to data quality issues.Back | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3A child victim is a child who is the subject of a substantiated or indicated maltreatment report. Children with more than one report of substantiated or indicated maltreatment may be counted more than once.Back | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
B. Child Maltreatment Data (NCANDS) |
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| 4Percentages may total more than 100 percent because Hispanics may be counted both by Hispanic ethnicity and by race.Back | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5Percentages 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) |
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D. Children Waiting to be Adopted (AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database: Fiscal Year Data)6 |
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| 6Waiting children are children who have a goal of adoption and/or whose parents' rights have been terminated (TPR). 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 Adoption Database) |
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Georgia [ Outcomes Data ]
Georgia [ State Comment ]
Division of Family and Children Services
Georgia Department of Human Resources
404-651-8409
The following are Georgia’s comments on the State data presented in Child Welfare Outcomes 2002: Report to Congress:
- Georgia did not provide data that could be used to calculate outcome measures 1.1 and 2.1. Georgia does not have a Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS) that allows for tracking of “unique” children receiving child protective services.
- With regard to Section C—Children in Foster Care—annual foster care data are created from two six-month files for the
report year and the first six-month period of the following year. An analysis of the data indicate that in many instances a child
was discharged from AFCARS during a six-month period within the report year but the transaction was not entered into the
system until a later six-month period of the following year. In our legacy system these transactions are not picked up in the
next transmission. This could result in the differences in end of year total and the beginning year total. Changes have been
made to improve timeliness of data entered, and changes have been made in data extraction methodology.
Georgia [ Federal Comment ]
The following discussion focuses on Georgia's performance with regard to each of the outcomes assessed in the Child Welfare Outcomes Annual Reports to Congress. The Georgia Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) was completed in fiscal year (FY) 2001, and compliance with the national standards was based on data from 1999. The final report for that review is available from Reports and Results of the Child and Family Service Reviews. A discussion of the implications of CFSR findings for Georgia's performance on the Report to Congress Outcomes is provided in Child Welfare Outcomes 2000.
The Federal Comment includes an examination of State performance in 2002 and the percent change in performance from 1999 to 2002. A difference in percent change from 1999 to 2002 that was less than 5.0 in either direction was considered to represent no change in performance. With the exception of outcome measure 2.1, the data presented in the Report to Congress are rounded to one decimal. However, the percent change in performance was calculated using data rounded to two decimals. Measure 2.1 is rounded to two decimals because the national standard is less than one percent. Key findings of the analyses of national data pertaining to State variation in performance on the outcome measures are incorporated into a State's Federal Comment when relevant.
Outcome 1. Reduce recurrence of child abuse and/or neglect
Georgia's performance on outcome 1 cannot be assessed as part of the Federal Comment section because the State does not provide data to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) for calculating this outcome. To ensure data consistency across States, only data submitted through NCANDS are presented for this outcome in the Report to Congress. However, the State provided year 1999 data for this outcome for its CFSR using an alternative source. For that year, the State
reported that 4.2 percent of the children who were the subject of a substantiated or indicated child maltreatment report during the first 6 months of the calendar year experienced another substantiated or indicated maltreatment within 6 months of the first report. The national standard for this measure is 6.1 percent or fewer.
Outcome 2. Reduce the incidence of child abuse and/or neglect in foster care
Georgia's performance on outcome 2 cannot be evaluated as part of the Federal Comment section because the State does not provide data to NCANDS for calculating this outcome. In order to ensure data consistency across States, only data submitted through the NCANDS system are presented for this outcome in the Report to Congress. However, the State provided year 1999 data for this outcome for its CFSR using an alternative source. For that year, the State reported that 1.08 percent of the children in foster care for the first 9 months of the calendar year were victims of maltreatment by foster parents or a facility staff member. The national standard for this measure is 0.57 percent or fewer.
Outcome 3. Increase permanency for children in foster care
In FY 2002, 89.9 percent of children exiting foster care in Georgia were discharged to a permanent home (which is more than the national median of 86.1 percent); 82.0 percent of children with a diagnosed disability who exited from foster care were discharged to a permanent home (which is more than the national median of 79.8 percent); and 79.1 percent of children exiting foster care who
were older than age 12 at entry into foster care were discharged to a permanent home (which is more than the national median of 72.0 percent). This suggests that the State is generally successful in achieving permanency for children exiting foster care. However, 45.0 percent of the children exiting foster care through emancipation were age 12 or younger at the time of entry into foster care, which is more than the national median of 26.9 percent.
Georgia's performance improved from FY 1999 to FY 2002 with respect to: (1) the percentage of children with a diagnosed disability exiting foster care who were discharged to a permanent home (+9.9 percent change), and (2) the percentage of children exiting foster care who were older than age 12 when they entered foster care and who were discharged to a permanent home (+12.0 percent change). The other measures for outcome 3 exhibited no change in performance from FY 1999 to FY 2002.
Outcome 4. Reduce time to reunification without increasing re-entry
In FY 2002, the percentage of all reunifications in Georgia occurring within 12 months of a child's entry into foster care was 73.1, which does not meet the national standard (76.2 percent or more), but is more than the national median (68.0 percent). Performance with regard to reunifications within 12 months improved from FY 1999 to FY 2002 (+15.9 percent change). Georgia's performance in FY 2002 with regard to the percent of re-entries into foster care within 12 months of a discharge from a
prior foster care episode was 7.2 percent, which is less than both the national standard (8.6 percent or less) and the national median (9.9 percent). However, performance on this measure declined from FY 1999 to 2002 (+63.5 percent change).
Outcome 5. Reduce time in foster care to adoption
In FY 2002, the percentage of all finalized adoptions occurring within 24 months of a child's entry into foster care was 17.0, which is less than both the national standard (32.0 percent or more) and the national median (23.0 percent). Change in performance on this measure is assessed from FY 2000 to FY 2002 due to data quality issues for many States for this measure in FY 1999. Performance
on this measure did not change from FY 2000 to FY 2002.
Outcome 6. Increase placement stability
In FY 2002, the percentage of children who experienced no more than 2 placement settings during their first 12 months in foster care was 90.7, which is more than both the national standard (86.7 percent or more) and the national median (84.1 percent). Performance on this measure did not change from FY 1999 to FY 2002.
Outcome 7. Reduce placements of young children in group homes and institutions
In FY 2002, the percentage of children age 12 or younger placed in a group home or institution was 4.1, which is less than the national median of 8.6 percent. Georgia's performance on this measure improved from FY 1999 to FY 2002 (-65.6 percent change).
