Chapter II: Finding Permanent Homes for Foster Children
Many situations come to the attention of child welfare agencies in which it is necessary for a State to remove a child from his or her home and place the child in a temporary living situation, referred to in this report as foster care. However, foster care is intended as a temporary, not permanent, living arrangement for a child. Once removal occurs, it is the responsibility of the State (usually the child welfare agency working in conjunction with the family and the courts) to return the child to his or her home or find another permanent home for the child. This responsibility is reflected in national child welfare outcome 3: increase permanency for children in foster care.
For the Child Welfare Outcomes Reports and the CFSRs, a child in foster care achieves a permanent home when the child is reunified with his or her family (including living with relatives other than the parents), when a finalized adoption has occurred, or when the child is discharged from foster care to the care of a legal guardian. |
For the Child Welfare Outcomes Reports and the Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSRs), a child has reached a permanent home when the child is reported to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting system (AFCARS) as discharged from foster care and the discharge reason is one of the following: (1) reunified with parents or primary caretakers, (2) living with other relatives, (3) legally adopted, or (4) living with a legal guardian.36 To assess State performance with regard to achieving permanent homes for children, the Child Welfare Outcomes Report provides the following data for each State: (1) the number and characteristics of children in foster care, and (2) the percentages of children in foster care who achieve permanency. This chapter presents key findings of the analyses of these data across States.37
The Number and Characteristics of Children in Foster Care
The rate of foster care entry in 2005 varied across States from 1.8 children per 1,000 children in the population to 10.4 children per 1,000 children in the population. |
In 2005, approximately 513,000 children nationally were in foster care on the last day of the fiscal year. During that year, 311,000 children entered foster care and 285,000 children exited foster care. States differed considerably in 2005 with respect to both the numbers of children in foster care and the rate of foster care entry, defined as the number of children entering foster care per 1,000 children in the State population. States with a relatively low rate of foster care entry in 2005 were Illinois (1.8 children per 1,000 in the population), New Hampshire (1.8 children per 1,000 in the population), and Virginia (1.9 children per 1,000 in the population). States with a relatively high rate of foster care entry in 2005 were Wyoming (10.4 children per 1,000 in the population), Iowa (10.1 children per 1,000 in the population), and Nebraska (9.1 children per 1,000 in the population). The median across States was 4.7 children per 1,000 in the population.
The reasons for variations in the rate of foster care entry are difficult to ascertain. The variation cannot be attributed entirely to differences in the rate of child victims in a State because the correlation between foster care entry rates and child victims rates in 2005 is low (Pearson's r = 0.28). The variation also cannot be attributed to differences in characteristics of either the child victim population or the child foster care population because the correlations between foster care entry rates and child characteristics for both populations are close to zero.
Table II – 1 presents information for 2005 pertaining to the ages of children and their race/ethnicity at the time of entry into foster care.
Table II – 1. The range and median across States in 2005 with regard to children's age and race/ethnicity at entry into foster care (N=52)
| Characteristics of children entering foster care in 2005 | Range | Median | Children's age at entry |
|---|---|---|
| Birth to age 5 | 28.1 – 58.6% | 43.4% |
| Age 6 to 12 | 15.8 – 34.4 | 27.0 |
| Age 13 to 15 | 10.0 – 35.3 | 19.2 |
| Age 16 or older | 3.4 – 29.1 | 9.5 |
| Children's race/ethnicity at entry | ||
| Alaska Native/American Indian | 0.1 – 51.9 | 0.4 |
| Asian | 0 – 11.4 | 0.3 |
| Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander | 0 – 21.0 | 0.1 |
| Black (Non–Hispanic) | 0.1 – 74.9 | 18.3 |
| Hispanic (of any race) | 0 – 21.0 | 0.1 |
| White (Non–Hispanic) | 0.1 – 94.4 | 49.3 |
| Multiple races | 0.3 – 41.7 | 3.3 |
There were many States in which the race or ethnicity of children entering foster care was disproportionate to the representation of that race or ethnicity in the State's child population. |
In 2005, States differed considerably with respect to the ages of children entering foster care, particularly with regard to children age 13 or older. In Delaware, for example, approximately 56 percent of the children entering foster care were age 13 or older at the time of entry. In contrast, in Texas only 13 percent of the children entering foster care were age 13 or older at entry. Overall, in 15 States at least 40 percent of children entering foster care were age 13 or older, and in 11 States less than 20 percent of the children entering foster care were age 13 or older. This age difference is an important distinction because adolescents often require services and placement resources that are different from those needed by younger children. In addition, the families of adolescents often have different needs compared to the families of younger children with regard to the services necessary to achieve permanency. Consequently, States with relatively large percentages of children entering foster care as adolescents may need to implement practices and policies that differ from those that are needed in States with relatively small percentages of children entering foster care as adolescents.
The percentage of Black (non–Hispanic) children entering foster care was substantially larger than the percentage of these children in the State population in all but four States. |
States also varied in 2005 with regard to the race/ethnicity of their foster care populations. Although this variation often reflected differences in the distribution of races and ethnicity in the State population, there were many States in which the race/ethnicity of children entering foster care was disproportionate to the percentage of these children in the State population.38 However, there were no States in which the percentage of White (non–Hispanic) children entering foster care exceeded the percentage of those children in the State population. The following are key findings with regard to the disproportionate representation of Black (non–Hispanic) children in the population of children entering foster care in 2005:
- In 39 States, the percentage of Black (non–Hispanic) children entering foster care was at least one and one–half times larger than the percentage of these children in the State's child population.
- In nine States, the percentage of Black (non–Hispanic) children entering foster care was at least three times larger than the percentage of these children in the State's child population (Iowa, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Wyoming).
- There were only four States in which the percentage of Black (non–Hispanic) children entering foster care was less than or about equal to the percentage of these children in the child population (District of Columbia, Hawaii, Mississippi, and South Carolina).
Key findings with regard to the disproportionate representation of Hispanic children (of any race) in the population of children entering foster care are as follows:
- In 13 States, the percentage of Hispanic children (of any race) entering foster care was at least one and one–half times larger than the percentage of these children in the State's child population.
- In two States, the percentage of Hispanic children (of any race) entering foster care was at least three times larger than the percent of these children in the State's child population (Maine and North Dakota).
- In 24 States, the percentage of Hispanic children (of any race) entering foster care was less than or about equal to the percentage of these children in the State's child population.
The findings with regard to the disproportionate representation of American Indian/Alaska Native children among children entering foster care are the following:
- In 16 States, the percentage of American Indian/Alaska Native children entering foster care was at least 1.5 times larger than the percentage of these children in the State's child population.
- In 10 States, the percentage of American Indian/Alaska Native children entering foster care was at least three times larger than the percentage of these children in the State's child population.
- In four States, the percentage of Alaska Native/American Indian children entering foster care was at least five times greater than the percentage of these children in the State's child population (Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Oregon).
- In 26 States, the percentage of American Indian/Alaska Native children entering foster care was less than or about equal to the percentage of these children in the State's child population.
Achieving Permanency for Children in Foster Care
The original measures established to assess State performance with regard to achieving permanency for children in foster care are shown in Table II – 2, along with the new measures that are part of composite 3.39 Measures that are part of composite 3 are preceded by a "C." More details on all the measures are provided in appendix B.
Table II – 2. Summary of State performance in 2005 on measures pertaining to child welfare outcome 3:
Increase permanency for children in foster care
| Outcome Measures* | Performance Variables | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25th Percentile | Median | 75th Percentile | Range | |
| Measure 3.1: Percentage of all children exiting foster care who were discharged to a permanent home.** (N=52) | 84.9% | 87.8% | 90.8% | 67.8–95.6% |
| Measure 3.2: Percentage of all children with a diagnosed disability exiting foster care who were discharged to a permanent home.*** (N=51) | 75.0 | 79.0 | 84.4 | 34.2–95.4 |
| Measure 3.3: Percentage of all children who entered foster care when they were older than age 12 who were discharged to a permanent home. (N=52) | 66.2 | 73.1 | 78.6 | 41.1–88.5 |
| Measure 3.4: Percentage of all children who were emancipated from foster care who entered foster care when they were age 12 or younger. (N=52) | 21.8 | 27.6 | 35.8 | 5.8–61.1 |
| Measure C3.1: Percentage of children in foster care for 24 months or longer on the first day of the fiscal year who were discharged to a permanent home or who turned 18 by the end of the year. (N=52) | 21.9 | 26.4 | 31.1 | 9.1–37.7 |
| Measure C3.2: Percentage of children discharged from foster care who were legally free for adoption at the time of discharge and who exited to a permanent home. (N=52) | 92.9 | 95.7 | 97.8 | 82.2–100 |
| Measure C3.3: Percentage of children emancipated or turning age 18 while in foster care who were in foster care for 3 years or longer. (N=52) | 38.7 | 48.1 | 56.2 | 21.7–76.2 |
* Appendix B provides definitions for each of these measures.
**A discharge to a permanent home is a discharge to reunification (including living with other relatives), adoption, or guardianship.
***There are only 51 States included for this measure because New York does not report data to AFCARS on the data element pertaining to a "diagnosed disability."
Measures 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, and C3.2 assess permanency for children at the time of discharge from foster care. The data in table II – 2 suggest that, in 2005, States were particularly successful in achieving permanent homes for children discharged from foster care who were legally free for adoption at the time of discharge (measure C3.2, median = 95.7 percent).40 However, even small percentages of legally free children who do not exit foster care to a permanent home are cause for concern.
The data in table II – 2 also indicate that in 2005, States were somewhat successful in achieving a permanent home for all children exiting foster care (measure 3.1, median = 87.8 percent). However, States were less successful in achieving permanent homes for children exiting foster care who had a diagnosed disability (measure 3.2, median = 79.0 percent), or for children exiting foster care who entered foster care when they were older than age 12 (measure 3.3, median = 73.1 percent).
For all States, most of the children in foster care for 24 months or longer at the start of the year were still in foster care by the end of the year. |
Measure C3.1 follows a cohort of children (those who have been in foster care for 24 months or longer) from the first day of the fiscal year to the last. The focus is on the percentage of these children who achieve permanency prior to the last day of the year. The data for this measure presented in table II – 2 suggest that achieving permanency for children in foster care for 24 months or longer is a challenge for all States (median for measure C3.1 = 26.4 percent). The range for this measure for 2005 (9.1 percent–37.7 percent) suggests that, for all States, most of the children in foster care for 24 months or longer at the start of the year were still in foster care by the end of the year. An additional finding was that many States that had a relatively high percentage of children exiting foster care to a permanent home (measure 3.1) also had a relatively high percentage of children in foster care for 24 months or longer who achieved permanency by the end of the fiscal year (Pearson's r = 0.32). This suggests that some States that are generally successful in achieving permanency for children at the time of exit from foster care also are successful in achieving permanency for children in foster care for long periods of time.
Children who exit foster care to emancipation
Measures 3.4 and C3.3 focus on children who exit foster care with a discharge reason of emancipation. These are children for whom the State was unable to find a permanent home. The issue addressed by these measures is how long these children were in foster care before emancipation. That is, did they spend a large portion of their formative years in foster care, or did they enter foster care in mid– or late adolescence?
In general, the percentage of children exiting foster care who are reported to AFCARS as having a discharge reason of emancipation varies considerably across States. States with the lowest percentage of children exiting foster care with a discharge reason of emancipation are Wyoming (4.8 percent), Nevada (3.4 percent), Connecticut (2.1 percent), and Puerto Rico (1.9 percent). States with the highest percentages are Virginia (22.5 percent), Maine (20.7 percent), Illinois (15.0 percent), and the District of Columbia (14.1 percent). In 2005, the median across States was 7.6 percent for children exiting foster care with a discharge reason of emancipation.
The percentage of children exiting foster care with a discharge reason of emancipation ranges across States from 1.9 percent to 22.5 percent, with a median of 7.6 percent. |
The reasons for the extensive variation across States in the percentage of children exiting foster care with a discharge reason of emancipation are not known. While it might be expected that the variation would be due to differences across States in the ages of children entering foster care, this was not the case. The percentage of children discharged from foster care who were emancipated was not found to be related to the percentage of children entering foster care in the State who were age 13 or older. In fact, the correlation was close to zero.
In about one–half of the States, 28 percent or more of the children emancipated from foster care were age 12 or younger when they entered foster care. |
The data shown in table II – 2 suggest that, in many States, a substantial percentage of children emancipated from foster care in 2005 were in foster care for long periods of time before they were emancipated (measures 3.4 and C3.3). In about one–half of the States, 28 percent or more of the children emancipated from foster care were age 12 or younger when they entered foster care (measure 3.4), and 48 percent or more of the children emancipated from foster care were in foster care for 3 years or longer (measure C3.3). As would be expected, performance on these two measures is highly correlated (Pearson's r = 0.83).
Change in State Performance with Regard to Achieving Permanency
The change in State performance over time was assessed by calculating a percent change in performance.41 Using a percent change calculation permits an assessment of the extent of change occurring over time by taking into account the size of the percentages being compared. For example, a change from 6 percent in 2002 to 7 percent in 2005 represents a change of only 1 percentage point; however, it reflects a +16.7 percent change. In contrast, a change from 75 percent to 80 percent represents a change of 5 percentage points, but only a +6.7 percent change. Consistent with the Department's approach in prior Child Welfare Outcomes Reports, a percent change of 5.0 or greater was used as an indicator that meaningful change occurred. That is, for purposes of the analyses presented in this chapter, if the percent change in performance from 2002 to 2005 was not at least 5.0 in either direction (i.e., positive or negative), a determination was made that there was "no change" in performance.
For measures 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, and 3.4, change was assessed from 2002 to 2005. For measures C3.1, C3.2, and C3.3, change was assessed from 2004 to 2005 because data are not available for these new measures for earlier years. Table II – 3 presents a summary of findings regarding the change in State performance on the measures pertaining to achieving permanency for children in foster care. The analyses included only those States that provided data for a measure in all relevant years.
Table II – 3. Number and percentage of States exhibiting improvement, decline, or no change in performance over time on measures pertaining to outcome 3: Increase permanency for children in foster care
| Outcome Measures | Change in Performance: Number and Percentage of States |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Improved performance | Declined in performance | No change in performance | |
| Measure 3.1: Change from 2002 to 2005 in the percentage of all children exiting foster care who were discharged to a permanent home. (N=52) | 10 (19%) | 5 (10%) | 37 (71%) |
| Measure 3.2: Change from 2002 to 2005 in the percentage of all children with a diagnosed disability exiting foster care who were discharged to a permanent home. (N=46) | 10 (20) | 20 (41) | 19 (39) |
| Measure 3.3: Change from 2002 to 2005 in the percentage of all children who entered care when they were age 13 or older who were discharged to a permanent home. (N=52) | 14 (27) | 13 (25) | 25 (48) |
| *Measure 3.4: Change from 2002 to 2005 in the percentage of all children emancipated from foster care who entered foster care when they were age 12 or younger (N=52). | 23 (44) | 19 (37) | 10 (19) |
| Measure C3.1: Change from 2004 to 2005 in the percentage of children in foster care for 24 months or longer who were discharged to a permanent home by the end of the year. (N=51) | 28 (55) | 10 (20) | 13 (25) |
| Measure C3.2: Change from 2004 to 2005 in the percentage of children exiting foster care who were legally free for adoption who were discharged to a permanent home. (N=51) | 2 (4) | 5 (10) | 44 (86) |
| *Measure C3.3: Change from 2004 to 2005 in the percentage of children emancipated or turning age 18 while in foster care who were in foster care for 3 years or longer. (N=51). | 12 (23) | 15 (29) | 23 (47) |
*For these measures, a reduction in percentage reflects an improvement in performance.
As shown in table II – 3, there were no clear patterns of change across States for most of these measures. In fact, the majority of States exhibited no change in performance on the measure 3.1, which assesses exits to a permanent home of all children exiting foster care to a permanent home. Similarly, the majority of States did not show a change for measure C3.2, which assesses exits to permanent homes of children who were legally free for adoption. The absence of change in performance on these measures may be due in large part to the high performance on the measures of most States for all relevant years.
One measure that exhibited change in performance over time pertained to the percentage of children in foster care for 24 months or longer who achieve permanency by the end of the fiscal year (measure C3.1). For this measure, 55 percent of States exhibited improvement from 2004 to 2005, while only 20 percent of States exhibited a performance decline. In comparison, for measure 3.4, 41 percent of the States declined in performance compared to only 20 States exhibiting improvement.
Summary of Findings Regarding Achieving Permanency for Children in Foster Care
The data for 2005 pertaining to achieving permanency for children in foster care depict a somewhat variable picture of performance. For example, the measures assessing permanency for children at the time of discharge from foster care indicate that, across the States, the majority of children exiting foster care in 2005 were discharged to a permanent home (measure 3.1, median = 87.8 percent). A particularly encouraging finding is that the majority of the children who were legally free for adoption at the time of exit from foster care were discharged to a permanent home (measure C3.2, median = 95.7 percent). This finding is critical because, when a State terminates parental rights, it is important for the State to ensure that before the child leaves foster care, the child has a permanent family he or she can count on.
Despite these findings, the data shown in table II – 2 also indicate that, in 2005, some States experienced challenges with regard to finding permanent homes for children with disabilities (measure 3.2, range = 34.2 to 95.4 percent), and for children who enter foster care when they are older than age 12 (measure 3.3, range = 41.1 to 88.5 percent). This has been a consistent finding of the Child Welfare Outcomes Reports and suggests that greater efforts are necessary to achieve permanency for these groups of children.
Across States, most children discharged from foster care exit to permanent homes. However, all States experience challenges in finding permanent homes for children who have been in foster care for 2 years or longer. |
Additional concerns are raised by State performance on the measures assessing permanency for children in foster care for relatively long periods of time. The percentages of children in foster care for 24 months or longer at the start of the fiscal year who achieved permanency by the end of the fiscal year were fairly small for all States (measure C3.1, range from 9.1 to 37.7 percent). In addition, for at least half of the States, many of the children who were discharged from foster care to emancipation had been in foster care for long periods of time. These findings suggest that there are children in foster care who are essentially growing up in the system.
The data with regard to change in performance over time did not present any clear patterns of change. For most measures, States were equally as likely to improve in performance as they were to decline in performance. The one exception pertained to a change in performance from 2004 to 2005 with regard to the percentage of children in foster care for 24 months or longer who achieved permanency by the end of the fiscal year (measure C3.1). For this measure, 55 percent of the States exhibited improvement.
36 For the Child Welfare Outcomes Reports, the discharge reasons of "reunification with parents or primary caretakers" and "living with other relatives" are combined into the category of "reunification." Back
37 With the exception of data pertaining to State child populations, which come from the Current Population Survey of the U.S. Census Bureau, the data presented in this chapter come from AFCARS. Back
38 The analysis of disproportionate representation was conducted for Black (non–Hispanic), White (non–Hispanic), American Indian/Alaska Native (non–Hispanic), and Hispanic children. Other races were not included in the analysis because of their very small representation in the population of the majority of States. Back
39 Appendix B provides additional information about composite 3. Back
40 A child is considered legally free for adoption if a termination of parental rights date is reported to AFCARS for both mother and father. Back
41 Percentage change is calculated by subtracting "old" data from "new" data, dividing by old data and multiplying by 100. For example, if maltreatment recurrence was 9.2 in 2002 and 7.6 in 2005, the percentage change would be [(7.6 – 9.2)/9.2] x 100 = -17.4 percent change. Back
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