 |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
|
||||
| ACF Home | Services | Working with ACF | Policy/Planning | About ACF | ACF News | HHS Home | |||||
Questions?
|
Privacy
|
Site Index
|
Contact Us
|
Download Reader™
|
Print
|
|---|
Iowa
Context Data | Outcomes Data | State Comment | Federal Comment
Iowa [ Context Data ]
A. Key Context Statistics |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
D. Children Waiting to be Adopted (AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database: Fiscal Year Data)6 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Iowa [ Outcomes Data ]
Iowa [ State Comment ]
Division of Behavioral, Developmental and Protective Services
for Families, Adults and Children
Iowa Department of Human Services
515-281-5521
- Context. Iowa serves children referred for abuse/neglect, delinquency, and emotional/behavioral problems. Our caseloads and supervisor:worker ratios are almost twice national standards. State revenue declines have led to reductions in service array (especially in-home services) and infrastructure (e.g., training and quality assurance).
- Safety. Child abuse reports peaked in 2001, and have since declined/stabilized. Iowa’s reoccurrence rate exceeds the national
standard of 6.1 percent. Analysis of a data sample indicates that a significant percentage of Iowa’s reoccurrence rate is not
really repeat maltreatment - rather, it reflects the same incident or abuse that occurred before our first contact with the family.
Excluding these reduces our reoccurrence to 9.1 percent. Iowa achieved substantial conformity with the federal outcome (for
the Child and Family Services Review) that children are safely maintained in their homes when possible and appropriate.
Iowa’s incidence of abuse in foster care met the national standard in 2002. Iowa’s CFSR Program Improvement Plan (PIP)
identifies expansion of our Community Partnership for Protecting Children initiative as a key strategy for improving child
safety.
- Permanency. Iowa’s time to reunification, placement stability and time to adoption meet the national standard. In 2002,
DHS finalized a record 1,037 adoptions. Iowa’s foster care re-entry is higher than the national standard. Re-entry is highest
for youth age 11 and older who are placed due to behavior. Iowa recently implemented a trial home visit policy to help reduce
re-entries. With regard to Outcome 7, 17.8 percent of youth age 12 and under in foster care are placed in group care - twice
the national median of 8.6 percent. We are implementing an aggressive recruitment strategy to increase availability of resource
families.
- Well-Being. Iowa met the federal outcome (for the Child and Family Services Review) for education, but needs to improve
physical and mental health outcomes, and family capacity to provide for their children’s needs. Iowa’s CFSR PIP identifies
family team meetings as a key strategy for improving family engagement and permanency.
Iowa [ Federal Comment ]
The following discussion focuses on Iowa’s performance with regard to each of the outcomes assessed in the Child Welfare Outcomes Annual Reports to Congress. The Iowa 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 the Child Welfare Monitoring Documents Library. A discussion of the implications of CFSR findings for Iowa’s performance on the Report to Congress Outcomes is provided in Child Welfare Outcomes 2001.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
In calendar year (CY) 2002, Iowa’s rate of maltreatment recurrence within 6 months was 11.4 percent, which is more than both the national standard (6.1 percent or less) and the national median (7.5 percent). Performance on this measure declined from 1999 to 2002 (+35.3 percent change).
The cross-State analyses found a substantial positive relationship between State performance on this outcome measure and the State rate of child victims (i.e., the number of child victims per 1,000 children in the population). States with a relatively high rate of child victims tended to have a relatively high percentage of maltreatment recurrence. For Iowa, both the incidence of maltreatment recurrence (11.4 percent) and the rate of child victims (17.5 per 1,000 children in the population) were in the top quartile of the State rankings.
The cross-State analyses also found a small, but definite, positive relationship between performance on this outcome measure and the percentage of child victims experiencing neglect. States with a relatively high percentage of child victims experiencing neglect tended to have a relatively high percentage of maltreatment recurrence. For Iowa, both the incidence of maltreatment recurrence (11.4 percent) and the percentage of child victims experiencing neglect (71.8 percent) were in the top quartile of the State rankings. These findings suggest that a State’s definitions and laws pertaining to what constitutes maltreatment may be related to a State’s performance on the measure assessing maltreatment recurrence.
Outcome 2. Reduce the incidence of child abuse and/or neglect in foster care
In CY 2002, Iowa’s incidence of maltreatment in foster care was 0.38 percent, which meets the national standard (0.57 percent or less) and is about equal to the national median (0.39 percent). Performance on this measure improved from 1999 to 2002 (-15.37 percent change).
Outcome 3. Increase permanency for children in foster care
In FY 2002, 91.9 percent of children exiting foster care in Iowa were discharged to a permanent home (which is more than the national median of 86.1 percent); 87.5 percent of children with a diagnosed disability who exited foster care were discharged to a permanent home (which is more than the national median of 79.8 percent); and 87.4 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). In addition, 20.3 percent of the children emancipated from foster care were age 12 or younger when they entered foster care, which is less than the national median of 26.9 percent. These findings suggest that the State is generally successful in achieving permanency for children exiting foster care.
Iowa’s performance declined from FY 1999 to FY 2002 with regard to the percentage of children emancipated from foster care who were age 12 or younger when they entered foster care (+112.9 percent change). Performance on the other measures relevant to outcome 3 showed no change 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 Iowa occurring within 12 months of a child’s entry into foster care was 83.2, which is more than both the national standard (76.2 percent or more) and the national median (68.0 percent). Performance with regard to reunifications within 12 months exhibited no change from FY 1999 to FY 2002.
Because the cross-State analysis found a substantial positive relationship between the percentage of reunifications within 12 months in a State and the percentage of children entering foster care who were re-entering within 12 months of a prior episode, Iowa’s performance in FY 2002 with regard to reunifications within 12 months must be considered in the context of its re-entry rate. For Iowa, the percentage of children entering foster care in FY 2002 who were re-entering within 12 months of a discharge from a prior foster care episode was 25.3, which is more than both the national standard (8.6 percent or less) and the national median (9.9 percent). Thus, although Iowa had a relatively high percentage of reunifications in FY 2002 occurring within 12 months of entry into foster care, the State also had a relatively high percentage of children entering foster care who were re-entering within 12 months of a prior episode. Performance on the measure of foster care re-entry improved slightly from FY 1999 to FY 2002 (-5.4 percent change).
The cross-State analysis also found a substantial positive relationship between State performance on the measure of re-entry into foster care and the percentage of children entering foster care in the State who were age 16 or older. States with a relatively high percentage of children age 16 and older entering foster care in FY 2002 tended to have a relatively high percentage of children entering foster care in FY 2002 who were re-entering within 12 months of a prior episode. For Iowa, both the percentage of children entering foster care who were age 16 and older (21.1 percent) and the percentage of children entering foster care who were re-entering within 12 months of a prior episode (25.3) were in the top quartile of the State rankings. One explanation for this may be that children age 16 and older who enter foster care often are entering because of their own behaviors (or through the juvenile justice system) rather than as a result of maltreatment, and they may leave the foster care system before the behavior problems are fully resolved. This is particularly relevant to Iowa, because this State provides child welfare foster care services to children in the juvenile justice system.
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 52.4, which is more 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. Iowa’s performance on this measure improved from FY 2000 to FY 2002 (+32.7 percent change).
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 89.4, 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 21.7, which is considerably more than the national median of 8.6 percent. However, Iowa’s performance on this measure improved from FY 1999 to FY 2002 (-9.2 percent change).
Return to Chapter VI State Data Pages
