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Washington
Context Data | Outcomes Data | State Comment | Federal Comment
Washington [ 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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Washington [ Outcomes Data ]
Washington [ State Comment ]
Children’s Administration
Washington Department of Social and Health Services
360-902-7820
- Washington State continues to focus efforts on achieving stable permanent homes for children in out-of-home care in the
shortest time possible. A high percentage of children were reunified within twelve months of their placement, and children in
placement had more stable placements than ever before. Over 1,000 children have been adopted each year for the last four
years and the number of legally-free children waiting for a permanent home has decreased significantly since 1998. In an
effort to continually improve practice and statewide consistency, new initiatives are underway to better engage families in
order to prevent placement in out-of-home care, to safely reunite children with their parents, and to increase relative
involvement.
- The percent of children re-entering care has declined with the implementation of safety tools such as reunification
assessments and transition plans, and the recurrence of abuse or neglect has decreased since the implementation of safety
assessments and safety plans used during investigations. Improvements in the Child Protective Services system will be
implemented over the next two years to further improve child safety and to address information technology system issues
which impact the calculation of outcome measures such as duplicate entry of referrals.
- The Governor and legislature of Washington State are committed to managing by outcomes and the state has been tracking
performance on select outcomes since 1997. We support the federal effort to evaluate states’ performance in comparison to
federal standards, but some unique characteristics of Washington’s child welfare system make this comparison difficult.
Because the scope of this report does not permit clarification of laws and policies that may influence the data, some of the
results presented may be misleading. We support the federal government’s efforts to explore state differences which may
impact the comparability of the data. This work will assist us in improving child welfare services for all children and their
families.
Washington [ Federal Comment ]
The following discussion focuses on Washington’s performance with regard to each of the outcomes assessed in the Child Welfare Outcomes Annual Reports to Congress. The Washington Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) was completed in fiscal year (FY) 2004, and compliance with the national standards was based on data from 2002. The final report for that review is available from the Child Welfare Monitoring Documents Library. A discussion of the implications of CFSR findings for Washington’s performance on the Report to Congress Outcomes is provided below.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, Washington’s rate of maltreatment recurrence within 6 months was 10.8 percent, which is more than both the national standard of 6.1 percent or less and the national median of 7.5 percent. Performance on this measure exhibited no change from 1999 to 2002. Information from the CFSR Final Report identifies the following as potential barriers to preventing maltreatment recurrence: (1) the refusal of many families in voluntary cases to participate in services; (2) insufficient safety assessments conducted at the time of case closure; and (3) an increase in chronic neglect cases.
The cross-State analyses found a small, but definite, positive relationship between State variation in performance on this outcome measure and State variation in the percentage of child victims experiencing neglect. For Washington, both the incidence of maltreatment recurrence (10.8 percent) and the percentage of child victims experiencing neglect (73.1 percent) were in the top quartile of the State rankings. This suggests that State definitions and laws pertaining to what constitutes maltreatment and what is required for substantiation may be related to State performance on the measure of maltreatment recurrence.
Outcome 2. Reduce the incidence of child abuse and/or neglect in foster care
In CY 2002, Washington’s incidence of maltreatment in foster care was 0.32 percent, which is less than both the national standard of 0.57 percent or less and the national median of 0.39 percent. Performance on this measure exhibited no change from 1999 to 2002. Information in the CFSR Final Reports attributes State effectiveness in preventing maltreatment in foster care to: (1) ongoing facility reviews by licensors; (2) routine health and safety visits by social workers to all children in foster care (which are to be conducted every 90 days; and (3) the implementation of the Kids Come First safety assessments and safety planning.
Outcome 3. Increase permanency for children in foster care
In FY 2002, 91.7 percent of children exiting foster care in Washington were discharged to a permanent home (which is more than the national median of 86.1 percent); 79.2 percent of children with a diagnosed disability who exited foster care were discharged to a permanent home (which is about equal to the national median of 79.8 percent); and 85.2 percent of children exiting foster care who were older than age 12 at entry into foster care exited to a permanent home (which is considerably more than the national median of 72.0 percent). In addition, 25.1 percent of the children emancipated from foster care were age 12 or younger at the time of entry into foster care, which is less than the national median of 26.9 percent. Washington’s performance improved slightly from FY 1999 to FY 2002 with regard to: (1) the percentage of children exiting foster care who were discharged to a permanent home (+5.7 percent change); (2) the percentage of children with a diagnosed disability who were discharged to a permanent home (+6.7 percent); and (3) the percentage of children emancipated from foster care who were age 12 or younger when they entered foster care (-14.7 percent change).
Outcome 4. Reduce time to reunification without increasing re-entry
In FY 2002, the percentage of all reunifications in Washington occurring within 12 months of a child’s entry into foster care was 81.5, which is more than both the national standard of 76.2 percent or more and the national median of 68.0 percent. Performance with regard to reunifications within 12 months did not change from FY 1999 to FY 2002. Information from the CFSR Final Report indicates that most reunifications take place very quickly, within 1 or 2 months of the child’s entry into foster care. However, stakeholders in the State suggested that if a child remains in foster care past that point, there is a lack of consistent effort to achieve reunification in a timely manner, particularly with regard to providing the necessary services to parents in a timely manner. The report also indicates that some stakeholders in the State believe that it often takes longer than 12 months to address the parental deficits, particularly parental substance abuse problems.
Because the cross-State analyses found a substantial and positive relationship between State variation in the percentage of reunifications occurring within 12 months of entry into foster care and State variation in the percentage of children entering foster care who were re-entering within 12 months of a prior episode, Washington’s performance with regard to reunifications within 12 months must be considered in the context of its re-entry rate. For Washington, the percentage of children entering foster care in FY 2002 who were re-entering within 12 months of a prior foster care episode was 14.7, which is more than both the national standard of 8.6 or less and the national median of 9.9 percent. Thus, while Washington was in the top quartile of the State rankings for the percentage of reunifications within 12 months, it also was in the top quartile for the State rankings for the percentage of children entering foster care who were re-entering within 12 months of a prior episode.
Washington’s performance on the measure of foster care re-entry improved slightly from FY 1999 to FY 2002 (-5.4 percent change). Information in the CFSR Final Report identifies the following as potential barriers to preventing re-entry into foster care: (1) insufficient services to families after reunification, and (2) insufficient safety assessments conducted at the time of reunification. The Report also notes that stakeholders in the State believe that family team meetings help prevent re-entries into foster care because relatives become more involved in supporting the families.
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 26.7, which does not meet the national standard of 32.0 percent or more, but is more than the national median of 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. Washington’s performance on this measure improved from FY 2000 to FY 2002 (+35.2 percent change). Information in the CFSR Final Report identifies the following as potential barriers to achieving timely adoptions: (1) a shortage of attorneys and judges; (2) staff turnover; (3) delays in completing paperwork and home studies; and (4) the lengthiness of appeals to termination of parental rights decisions.
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 83.7, which is less than the national standard of 86.7 percent or more, but is about equal to the national median of 84.1 percent. Washington’s performance on this measure improved slightly from FY 1999 to FY 2002 (+5.3 percent change). Information from the CFSR Final Report attributes placement instability to the following factors: (1) lack of appropriate matching of foster parents and children; (2) lack of adequate placement resources, particularly for children with behavioral or emotional problems; (3) inadequate training of foster parents; (4) insufficient support for relative foster care providers; and (5) lack of support services, such as respite care, for foster parents.
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 3.0, which is substantially less than the national median of 8.6 percent. However, Washington’s performance on this measure declined from FY 1999 to FY 2002 (+15.1 percent change).
