Alabama

Context Data | Outcomes Data | Federal Comment

Alabama [ Context Data ]

A. Context Statistics

General Child Population (Census Bureau)	2000	2001	2002	2003
Total children under 18 years	1,121,425	1,111,351	1,110,914	1,107,973
Race/Ethnicity (%)1
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.4
Asian	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.7
Black (non-Hispanic)	31.8	31.8	31.4	31.4
Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander	0.0	<.1	<.1	<.1
Hispanic (of any race)	2.2	2.4	2.4	2.5
White (non-Hispanic)	63.3	63.3	63.9	63.7
Two or more races	1.3	1.3	1.2	1.2
% Child population in poverty	20.6	23.2	19.1	22.3

Child Welfare Summary	2000	2001	2002	2003
Child maltreatment victims2	9,990	9,229	9,903	9,290
Children in foster care on 9/30	5,621	5,859	5,883	6,079
Children adopted	202	238	249	329

B. Child Maltreatment Data [National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS)]

	2000		2001		2002		2003
Overview Maltreatment Information	Number	Rate	Number	Rate	Number	Rate	Number	Rate
Children subject of an investigated report alleging child maltreatment	32,655	29.1 per 1,000	29,911	26.9 per 1,000	32,682	29.4 per 1,000	29,679	26.8 per 1,000
Total child maltreatment victims3	9,990	8.9 per 1,000	9,229	8.3 per 1,000	9,903	8.9 per 1,000	9,290	8.4 per 1,000
Child fatalities	27	2.4 per 100,000	24	2.2 per 100,000	29	2.6 per 100,000	22	2.0 per 100,000

1 Race/ethnicity data for 2001, 2002, and 2003 represent population estimates. Back
2 A child victim is defined as a child who is the subject of a substantiated or indicated maltreatment report. Back
3 Children with more than one report of substantiated or indicated maltreatment may be counted more than once. Back

Age of Child Victims (%)	2000	2001	2002	2003
<1 year	8.6	8.5	7.5	7.4
1-5 years	27.4	28.0	26.4	27.0
6-10 years	27.9	27.7	25.4	24.1
11-15 years	28.9	28.2	28.3	29.8
16+ years	5.2	5.0	5.7	5.6
Unknown	1.9	2.6	6.6	6.2
Number	9,990	9,229	9,903	9,290

Race/Ethnicity of Child Victims (%)4	2000	2001	2002	2003
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1
Asian	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.1
Black (non-Hispanic)	38.5	33.5	30.3	29.9
Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander	N/A	N/A	N/A	0.0
Hispanic (of any race)	0.9	1.3	2.1	2.2
White (non-Hispanic)	59.7	62.5	54.5	48.9
Two or more races	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Unknown	0.6	2.3	12.7	16.1
Number	9,990	9,229	9,903	9,290

Maltreatment Types of Child Victims (%)5	2000	2001	2002	2003
Emotional abuse	3.7	3.4	2.3	1.3
Medical neglect	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Neglect	43.8	44.5	42.0	39.6
Physical abuse	40.4	44.4	45.6	38.6
Sexual abuse	26.5	21.1	23.8	24.7
Unknown/missing data	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Other	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Number	9,990	9,229	9,903	9,290

4 Percentages may total more than 100 because Hispanics may be counted by Hispanic ethnicity and race. Back
5 Percentages may total more than 100 because children can be victims of more than one type of maltreatment. Back

C. Characteristics of Children in Foster Care [Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS): Foster Care File]

	In Foster Care on 10/1 FY				Entered Foster Care in FY				Exited Foster Care in FY				In Foster Care on 9/30 FY
	2000	2001	2002	2003	2000	2001	2002	2003	2000	2001	2002	2003	2000	2001	2002	2003
Total Number	5,294	5,458	5,450	5,651	2,661	2,672	3,125	3,246	2,334	2,271	2,692	2,818	5,621	5,859	5,883	6,079
Median length of stay (months)	21.8	21.8	20.8	19.7	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	11.1	12.4	11.1	11.1	22.0	21.5	19.1	18.3

	In Foster Care on 10/1 FY				Entered Foster Care in FY				Exited Foster Care in FY				In Foster Care on 9/30 FY
Age (%)	2000	2001	2002	2003	2000	2001	2002	2003	2000	2001	2002	2003	2000	2001	2002	2003
<1 year	3.8	4.1	3.7	3.7	15.4	15.4	14.9	13.3	5.7	5.3	6.2	5.4	4.3	3.9	4.1	3.9
1 year	5.2	4.9	4.7	5.0	6.6	6.0	6.7	6.2	5.9	6.0	6.4	6.5	4.8	5.1	4.8	4.4
2 years	4.6	4.7	4.3	4.6	4.8	5.7	6.0	5.5	5.1	6.5	6.9	6.5	5.0	4.5	4.6	4.6
3 years	4.7	4.3	4.5	4.0	4.7	5.0	4.6	5.7	5.1	5.4	6.2	6.2	4.5	4.6	3.9	4.3
4 years	4.5	4.3	4.5	4.0	4.0	5.6	4.9	5.1	5.2	5.6	5.8	5.0	4.4	4.6	4.0	4.3
5 years	4.4	4.0	3.9	3.6	4.1	4.5	4.0	4.0	4.4	4.4	4.8	5.1	4.1	4.2	3.9	3.4
6 years	4.5	4.2	4.1	4.0	3.9	4.3	4.2	4.8	3.8	4.1	4.3	4.5	4.3	4.3	3.8	4.0
7 years	4.7	4.4	4.2	4.2	4.9	4.0	4.4	4.2	5.1	3.4	4.2	4.1	4.4	4.4	4.2	3.8
8 years	4.6	4.9	4.5	4.0	4.7	4.0	5.1	3.9	4.3	3.8	5.1	4.4	4.8	4.5	4.0	4.0
9 years	5.5	4.8	4.6	4.9	4.5	4.4	4.8	3.9	4.3	4.1	4.4	4.1	4.9	4.6	5.0	4.0
10 years	5.3	5.6	5.3	4.7	4.7	4.9	4.5	3.9	4.5	4.5	3.9	4.2	5.6	5.2	4.7	4.6
11 years	5.0	5.6	5.6	5.2	5.4	4.4	3.9	4.8	3.7	3.7	3.8	3.9	5.7	5.5	5.2	4.8
12 years	5.3	5.8	5.8	5.9	5.2	4.7	4.9	5.5	3.5	4.1	3.9	3.8	5.6	5.7	5.8	5.8
13 years	5.8	6.0	6.2	6.4	5.3	5.0	5.5	6.0	4.2	4.4	3.7	4.2	5.8	6.0	6.4	6.7
14 years	6.6	6.6	6.5	6.9	7.5	6.6	6.6	5.9	5.9	4.8	4.4	4.2	6.5	6.3	7.0	7.0
15 years	7.1	7.5	7.4	7.2	6.1	7.0	6.4	6.7	6.1	5.9	6.4	5.4	7.3	7.4	7.2	7.6
16 years	7.0	6.5	7.7	7.4	5.0	4.9	5.4	6.0	6.1	5.3	5.2	5.5	6.5	7.3	7.3	7.7
17 years	5.8	6.1	6.3	7.3	2.7	3.3	2.8	4.0	5.0	5.8	4.0	5.5	6.0	6.0	7.1	7.1
18 years	3.4	3.7	3.8	4.2	0.1	0.3	0.3	0.3	5.8	6.8	5.4	5.7	3.6	3.6	4.1	4.9
19 years	1.5	1.4	1.6	1.9	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.2	3.5	3.9	2.8	3.4	1.4	1.5	1.9	2.1
20 years	0.7	0.7	0.8	0.9	0.0	<.1	0.0	<.1	1.5	1.5	1.6	1.9	0.7	0.7	0.8	1.0
Missing data	<.1	<.1	<.1	<.1	0.1	<.1	<.1	<.1	1.1	0.8	0.7	0.7	<.1	<.1	0.1	<.1

	In Foster Care on 10/1 FY				Entered Foster Care in FY				Exited Foster Care in FY				In Foster Care on 9/30 FY
Race/Ethnicity (%)	2000	2001	2002	2003	2000	2001	2002	2003	2000	2001	2002	2003	2000	2001	2002	2003
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.1	<.1	0.1	<.1	0.2	0.1	<.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.1	0.2
Asian	0.0	<.1	<.1	<.1	<.1	<.1	<.1	<.1	0.0	<.1	<.1	0.0	<.1	<.1	<.1	<.1
Black (non-Hispanic)	55.9	54.5	51.6	51.0	46.1	42.6	41.3	41.9	47.7	48.7	42.6	42.9	54.6	51.3	50.3	49.9
Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Hispanic (of any race)	0.7	0.9	0.9	1.2	1.5	0.9	1.5	2.6	1.0	0.5	1.2	2.2	0.9	1.0	1.1	1.5
White (non-Hispanic)	42.9	43.7	46.4	46.8	51.2	55.6	56.3	54.5	50.8	50.1	55.2	54.0	43.6	46.7	47.7	47.6
Two or more races	0.2	0.5	0.6	0.7	0.9	0.6	0.4	0.5	0.2	0.4	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.6	0.6	0.6
Unknown	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.1	0.3	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2
Missing data	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

D. Characteristics of Children "Waiting for Adoption"6 (AFCARS: Foster Care File)

Waiting for Adoption	2000	2001	2002	2003
Total waiting children	1,162	1,288	1,525	1,608
Numbers of waiting children whose parents' rights have been terminated	652	839	948	927

Age (%)	2000	2001	2002	2003
<1 year	2.8	2.1	3.6	3.5
1 year	3.6	4.0	5.1	4.1
2 years	6.0	5.0	5.5	6.1
3 years	5.2	5.4	4.9	4.8
4 years	6.0	5.3	4.8	5.2
5 years	7.0	5.5	6.4	5.3
6 years	5.8	6.1	5.0	5.8
7 years	7.6	6.2	5.9	4.9
8 years	6.9	6.5	6.2	5.9
9 years	6.1	6.8	6.6	5.7
10 years	8.8	7.3	6.3	6.3
11 years	6.5	8.2	7.1	6.0
12 years	6.0	7.1	7.3	7.0
13 years	5.1	6.1	5.9	7.8
14 years	4.6	4.7	5.6	5.6
15 years	3.7	4.4	3.9	5.1
16 years	2.5	3.4	3.7	3.7
17 years	2.2	2.4	2.8	3.3
18 years	2.0	1.7	1.6	2.2
19 years	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.1
20+ years	0.7	0.7	0.5	0.6
Missing data	—	—	—	—

Race/Ethnicity (%)	2000	2001	2002	2003
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.3	<.1	<.1	<.1
Asian	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Black (non-Hispanic)	53.6	51.6	49.5	48.7
Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Hispanic (of any race)	0.7	1.2	1.1	1.1
White (non-Hispanic)	45.0	45.7	48.5	49.0
Two or more races	0.3	1.0	0.5	0.6
Unknown	0.2	0.5	0.3	0.5
Missing data	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

6 There is no Federal definition for a child waiting to be adopted. The definition used in the table above includes children who have a goal of adoption and/or whose parental rights have been terminated. It excludes children 16 years old and older whose parental rights have been terminated and who have a goal of emancipation. A State's own definition may differ from that used here. Furthermore, some numbers in this table may be lower than the numbers reported in the prior Child Welfare Outcomes reports. Only children with terminations prior to the end of the fiscal year of interest are included in the current table. Back

E. Characteristics of Children Adopted (AFCARS: Adoption File)

Adoptions	2000	2001	2002	2003
Total children adopted	202	238	249	329

Age (%)	2000	2001	2002	2003
<1 year	2.5	2.5	0.8	1.2
1 year	4.5	6.3	5.6	8.2
2 years	7.4	8.4	10.4	9.7
3 years	12.4	11.8	12.9	12.5
4 years	12.9	10.9	12.4	8.5
5 years	11.4	9.2	6.4	5.5
6 years	8.9	7.6	8.4	8.8
7 years	5.4	9.2	4.4	7.3
8 years	5.4	5.0	6.0	8.5
9 years	7.9	5.9	8.0	5.5
10 years	5.4	5.5	6.0	5.5
11 years	4.0	5.5	6.8	3.6
12 years	4.5	6.3	2.8	4.9
13 years	2.5	2.5	2.0	3.0
14 years	2.5	1.3	1.6	2.7
15 years	0.0	0.8	2.0	1.8
16 years	0.5	0.4	1.2	1.5
17 years	0.5	0.4	1.6	0.9
18 years	1.0	0.4	0.4	0.3
19 years	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.0
20+ years	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Missing data	—	—	—	—

Race/Ethnicity (%)	2000	2001	2002	2003
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.0	0.8	0.0	0.0
Asian	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Black (non-Hispanic)	40.6	42.4	40.6	45.6
Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Hispanic (of any race)	1.0	0.0	0.4	1.5
White (non-Hispanic)	57.9	55.5	56.2	51.4
Two or more races	0.5	1.3	2.4	1.5
Unknown	0.0	0.0	0.4	0.0
Missing data	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

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Alabama [ Outcomes Data ]

1. Reduce Recurrence of Child Abuse and/or Neglect (NCANDS)

1.1 Recurrence of Maltreatment Within 6 Months (%)	2000	2001	2002	2003
Children without a recurrence	—	—	—	—
Children with one or more recurrences	—	—	—	—
Number	—	—	—	—

2. Reduce the Incidence of Child Abuse and/or Neglect in Foster Care (NCANDS and AFCARS: Foster Care File, Jan.-Sept.)

2.1 Maltreatment in Foster Care (%)	2000	2001	2002	2003
Children maltreated while in foster care	—	—	—	—
Children not maltreated while in foster care	—	—	—	—
Number	—	—	—	—

3. Increase Permanency for Children in Foster Care (AFCARS: Foster Care File)

3.1 Exits of Children from Foster Care (%)	2000	2001	2002	2003
Adoption	6.2	8.0	9.2	11.7
Guardianship	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Reunification	77.7	75.0	77.1	75.7
Other	9.0	9.5	8.2	12.1
Missing data	7.2	7.5	5.5	0.6
Number	2,334	2,271	2,692	2,818

3.2 Exits of Children with a Diagnosed Disability (%)	2000	2001	2002	2003
Adoption	12.4	8.4	13.0	14.8
Guardianship	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Reunification	53.2	62.3	53.0	59.6
Other	25.3	19.9	24.7	24.8
Missing data	9.1	9.4	9.3	0.7
Number	186	191	215	270

3.3 Exits of Children Older than Age 12 at Entry into Foster Care (%)	2000	2001	2002	2003
Adoption	0.0	0.2	0.3	0.3
Guardianship	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Reunification	72.8	71.6	72.2	75.1
Other	14.7	16.2	16.7	23.5
Missing data	12.4	12.0	10.8	1.2
Number	651	623	665	758

3.4 Exits to Emancipation (%)	2000	2001	2002	2003
Children age 12 or younger at entry	61.2	60.0	52.2	47.5
Children older than 12 at entry	38.8	39.1	47.8	52.5
Missing data	0.0	0.9	0.0	0.0
Number	103	110	115	177

3.5 Exits by Race/Ethnicity (%)	Alaska Native/Am. In.				Asian				Black (non-Hispanic)
	2000	2001	2002	2003	2000	2001	2002	2003	2000	2001	2002	2003
Adoption	0.0	100.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	6.0	6.0	8.8	12.4
Guardianship	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Reunification	0.0	0.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	100.0	50.0	0.0	75.7	73.8	73.6	71.5
Other	66.7	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	50.0	0.0	10.8	11.1	10.9	15.1
Missing data	33.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	7.5	9.1	6.6	0.9
Number	3	2	3	3	0	1	2	0	1,113	1,107	1,146	1,208
	Native Hawaiian/Other Pac. Is.				Hispanic (of any race)				White (non-Hispanic)
	2000	2001	2002	2003	2000	2001	2002	2003	2000	2001	2002	2003
Adoption	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	8.7	0.0	3.1	7.9	6.3	9.7	9.3	11.1
Guardianship	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Reunification	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	87.0	83.3	62.5	77.8	79.4	76.3	80.3	79.1
Other	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	4.3	0.0	31.3	14.3	7.3	8.1	5.8	9.5
Missing data	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	16.7	3.1	0.0	7.0	6.0	4.6	0.3
Number	0	0	0	0	23	12	32	63	1,185	1,137	1,487	1,523
	Unable to Determine				Two or more Races				Missing Data
	2000	2001	2002	2003	2000	2001	2002	2003	2000	2001	2002	2003
Adoption	0.0	0.0	12.5	0.0	20.0	37.5	42.9	33.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Guardianship	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Reunification	100.0	100.0	75.0	50.0	80.0	62.5	57.1	60.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Other	0.0	0.0	0.0	50.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	6.7	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Missing data	0.0	0.0	12.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Number	5	4	8	6	5	8	14	15	0	0	0	0

4. Reduce Time to Reunification Without Increasing Re-entry (AFCARS Foster Care File)

4.1 Time to Reunification (%)	2000	2001	2002	2003
Less than 12 mos.	61.7	57.7	61.4	64.4
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	20.0	22.7	20.9	20.3
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	7.4	8.4	7.5	6.8
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	3.6	4.7	3.8	3.5
48 or more mos.	7.3	6.6	6.4	5.0
Missing data	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1
Number	1,813	1,704	2,076	2,132

4.2 Children Re-entering Foster Care (%)	2000	2001	2002	2003
Children entering care for the first time	81.8	78.6	82.3	81.8
Children re-entering care within 12 mos. of a prior episode	7.9	8.8	8.6	8.7
Children re-entering care more than 12 mos. after a prior episode	10.0	12.2	9.0	9.1
Missing data	0.3	0.4	0.2	0.4
Number	2,661	2,672	3,125	3,246

5. Reduce Time in Foster Care to Adoption (AFCARS Foster Care File)

5.1 Time to Adoption (%)	2000	2001	2002	2003
Less than 12 mos.	4.8	2.2	2.4	1.8
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	8.3	11.6	11.3	13.4
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	22.8	21.5	24.3	21.3
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	25.5	21.5	17.4	21.6
48 or more mos.	38.6	43.1	44.5	41.9
Missing data	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Number	145	181	247	329

6. Increase Placement Stability (AFCARS Foster Care File)

6.1 Number of Placements by Time in Care (%)	In Care less than 12 Months				In Care at Least 12 Months but less than 24 Months				In Care for 24 Months or Longer				Missing Time in Care
	2000	2001	2002	2003	2000	2001	2002	2003	2000	2001	2002	2003	2000	2001	2002	2003
Children with 2 or fewer placements	96.4	96.4	92.2	92.6	84.2	83.5	79.8	75.7	57.8	56.9	53.5	51.9	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Children with 3 or more placements	3.6	3.6	7.8	7.4	15.8	16.5	20.2	24.3	42.2	43.1	46.5	48.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Number	3,064	3,096	3,617	3,726	1,557	1,552	1,589	1,787	3,327	3,481	3,365	3,369	7	1	4	15

7. Reduce Placements of Young Children in Group Homes or Institutions (AFCARS Foster Care File)

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 (%)	2000	2001	2002	2003
Group homes	4.0	3.3	3.2	2.3
Institutions	6.8	4.7	4.3	4.2
Other settings	88.4	91.5	92.4	92.5
Missing data	0.8	0.5	0.1	0.9
Number	1,907	1,901	1,731	1,707

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Alabama [ Federal Comment ]

PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

The following is a discussion of Alabama's performance on the national outcomes established for the Report to Congress. The discussion focuses on the State's performance in 2003 and on changes in performance over time. Change over time was determined by calculating the percent change in performance from 2000 to 2003. A percent change that was less than 5.0 in either direction (i.e., positive or negative) was considered to represent "no change in performance."

Outcome 1. Reduce recurrence of child abuse and/or neglect

Alabama's performance with regard to achieving outcome 1 cannot be assessed because the State does not provide data to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) for calculating the measure for this outcome (measure 1.1). To ensure consistency across States, the Report to Congress provides only data submitted through NCANDS.

The State provided data to NCANDS to calculate the number of child victims in the State (9,290). The child victim rate was 8.4 child victims per 1,000 children in the population, which is lower than the national median of 10.6 child victims per 1,000 children in the population.

Outcome 2. Reduce the incidence of child abuse and/or neglect in foster care

Alabama's performance with regard to achieving outcome 2 cannot be assessed because the State does not provide data to NCANDS for calculating the measure for this outcome (measure 2.1). To ensure consistency across States, the Report to Congress only presents data submitted through NCANDS.

Outcome 3. Increase permanency for children in foster care

Alabama's effectiveness in achieving outcome 3 varied depending on the measure being assessed. In 2003, 87.4 percent of children exiting foster care were discharged to a permanent home (measure 3.1), which is slightly higher than the national median of 86.3 percent. Also in 2003, 75.4 percent of the children exiting foster care who were older than age 12 when they entered foster care were discharged to a permanent home (measure 3.3), which is slightly higher than the national median of 72.2 percent. In comparison, 74.4 percent of the children exiting foster care who had a diagnosed disability were discharged to a permanent home, which is less than the national median of 79.5 percent. However, performance improved on this measure from 2000 to 2003 (+13.4 percent change).

In 2003, 47.5 percent of the children reported as emancipated from foster care (either through legal action or because they reach the age of majority) entered foster care when they were age 12 or younger (measure 3.4). Although this percentage is one of the highest in the nation (and far exceeds the median of 29.6), performance on this measure improved from 2000 to 2003 (-22.4 percent change).

The data for measure 3.5 indicate some differences with regard to discharges to permanency for children of different races or ethnicities. (This was assessed only when a particular race or ethnicity accounted for at least 10 percent of the exits from foster care.) In 2003, Black (non-Hispanic) children exiting foster care were less likely to be discharged to a permanent home (83.9 percent) than were White (non-Hispanic) children exiting foster care (90.2 percent). An additional finding is that the percent of Black (non-Hispanic) children in the foster care population in 2003 (49.9 percent) exceeded the percent of Black children in the State's child population (31.4 percent).

Outcome 4. Reduce time in foster care to reunification without increasing re-entry

In 2003, 64.4 percent of reunifications occurred within 12 months of a child's entry into foster care (measure 4.1), which is less than the national median of 72.0 percent. Performance with regard to this measure did not change from 2000 to 2003. In addition, 8.5 percent of reunifications occurred after the child had been in foster care for at least 36 months, which is more than twice the national median of 3.5 percent for this measure.

With regard to re-entries into foster care, in 2003, 8.7 percent of the children entering foster care were re-entering within 12 months of a prior foster care episode (measure 4.2), which is less than the national median of 9.5 percent. However, performance on this measure declined from 2000 to 2003 (+10.1).

Outcome 5. Reduce time in foster care to adoption

In 2003, only 15.2 percent of finalized adoptions in Alabama occurred within 24 months of a child's entry into foster care (measure 5.1), which is less than the national median of 23.9 percent. However, performance with regard to this measure improved from 2000 to 2003 (+16.0 percent change).

Outcome 6. Increase placement stability

In 2003, 92.6 percent of the children in foster care in Alabama for less than 12 months experienced no more than two placement settings, which exceeds the national median of 84.2 percent (measure 6.1). In addition, 75.7 percent of children in foster care for at least 12 months but less than 24 months experienced no more than two placement settings, which exceeds the national median of 59.1 percent for this measure.

Outcome 7. Reduce placements of young children in group homes and institutions

In 2003, only 6.5 percent of the children entering foster care in Alabama who were age 12 or younger were placed in a group home or institution (measure 7.1). This percent not only is less than the national median of 8.3 percent, but also represented an improvement in performance on this measure from 2000 to 2003 (-39.8 percent change).

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