Maryland

Context Data | Outcomes Data | State Comment | Federal Comment

Maryland [Context Data]

A. Context Statistics1

General Child Population (Census Bureau)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Total children under 18 years	1,379,925	1,378,092	1,394,808	1,402,961
Race/ethnicity (%)2
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2
Asian	4.0	4.1	4.2	4.2
Black (non-Hispanic)	32.4	32.5	32.6	32.7
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander	<.1	<.1	<.1	<.1
Hispanic (of any race)	5.9	6.4	6.8	7.3
White (non-Hispanic)	54.9	54.2	53.5	52.8
Two or More Races	2.5	2.6	2.6	2.7
Child population in poverty (%)	7.4	10.6	11.0	13.3

Child Welfare Summary
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Child maltreatment victims3	15,843	16,688	15,180	14,603
Children in foster care on 9/30	12,026	11,521	11,111	10,867
Children adopted	949	742	915	620

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

Overview Maltreatment Information4
	2002		2003		2004		2005
	Number	Rate	Number	Rate	Number	Rate	Number	Rate
Children subject of an investigated report alleging child maltreatment	37,177	26.9 per 1,000	31,919	23.2 per 1,000	30,538	21.9 per 1,000	29,289	20.9 per 1,000
Total child maltreatment victims5	15,843	11.5 per 1,000	16,688	12.1 per 1,000	15,180	10.9 per 1,000	14,603	10.4 per 1,000
Child fatalities	33	2.4 per 100,000	27	2.0 per 100,000	28	2.0 per 100,000	28	2.0 per 100,000

1 A calendar year is the basis for data from the Census Bureau (in Section A. Context Statistics) and the 2002 data only from NCANDS (in Section B. Child Maltreatment Data). All other data on this page are based on the Federal fiscal year, October 1 through September 30. Back
2 Race/ethnicity data represent population estimates from the Census Bureau. Child poverty data are from the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey (CPS). Back
3 A child victim is defined as a child who is the subject of a substantiated or indicated maltreatment report. Back
4 The rate for maltreatment investigations and victims is per 1,000 children under age 18; for fatalities, the rate is per 100,000 children under age 18. Back
5 Children with more than one report of substantiated or indicated maltreatment may be counted more than once. Back

B. Child Maltreatment Data (Continued)

Age of Child Victims (%)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Under 1 year	6.3	7.6	8.2	9.8
1-5 years	27.0	27.4	28.0	28.8
6-10 years	29.5	28.7	28.5	26.5
11-15 years	27.6	28.9	27.9	26.9
16+ years	7.8	7.4	7.4	8.0
Unknown	1.8	--	--	--
Number	15,843	16,688	15,180	14,603

Race/Ethnicity of Child Victims (%)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.1
Asian	0.7	0.7	0.9	0.9
Black (non-Hispanic)	50.4	50.4	47.5	48.1
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander	N/A	0.0	0.1	0.1
Hispanic (of any race)	4.0	4.1	4.8	5.4
White (non-Hispanic)	39.4	38.7	40.0	39.2
Two or More Races	--	--	--	--
Unknown	5.5	5.8	6.5	6.3
Number	15,843	16,688	15,180	14,603

Maltreatment Types of Child Victims (%)6
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Emotional abuse	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.3
Medical neglect	--	--	--	--
Neglect	55.8	57.5	59.2	61.8
Physical abuse	32.4	32.0	30.4	26.7
Sexual abuse	14.1	12.5	12.4	13.4
Unknown	--	--	--	--
Other	--	--	--	--
Number	15,843	16,688	15,180	14,603

Time to Investigation (in hours)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Mean	--	--	--	--
Median	--	--	--	--

6 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
	2002	2003	2004	2005	2002	2003	2004	2005	2002	2003	2004	2005	2002	2003	2004	2005
Total number	11,848	11,113	10,749	10,193	3,563	3,470	3,564	3,353	3,445	3,062	3,265	2,679	12,026	11,521	11,111	10,867
Median length of stay (months)	34.4	33.3	32.4	30.6	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	22.0	20.2	21.4	17.7	34.0	32.3	31.1	30.4

Age of Children in Foster Care (%)
	In Foster Care on 10/1 FY				Entered Foster Care in FY				Exited Foster Care in FY				In Foster Care on 9/30 FY
	2002	2003	2004	2005	2002	2003	2004	2005	2002	2003	2004	2005	2002	2003	2004	2005
Under 1 year	3.0	3.7	3.6	3.7	18.4	18.4	18.3	20.5	5.3	4.9	5.4	7.1	3.6	3.6	3.7	4.0
1 year	3.8	3.8	4.4	4.5	5.7	5.8	5.0	6.6	4.9	6.7	5.1	5.4	3.7	4.3	4.4	4.6
2 years	4.3	3.8	3.8	4.3	4.8	5.0	5.1	4.4	6.1	5.6	6.0	6.8	3.8	3.7	4.4	4.3
3 years	4.2	3.7	3.5	3.5	4.2	4.9	4.7	4.0	5.8	5.5	5.5	5.4	3.6	3.5	3.5	3.8
4 years	3.6	4.0	3.7	3.4	5.3	4.1	4.6	4.1	4.9	5.0	5.1	4.7	4.1	3.6	3.4	3.3
5 years	3.4	3.4	3.8	3.4	3.8	4.0	4.1	3.7	4.6	4.0	5.0	4.4	3.4	3.8	3.3	3.2
6 years	3.6	3.2	3.4	3.8	3.9	3.8	3.5	4.0	4.6	3.9	4.2	4.8	3.3	3.4	3.8	3.4
7 years	4.0	3.3	3.3	3.3	3.9	3.7	4.2	3.5	4.6	3.5	3.9	3.6	3.3	3.3	3.2	3.6
8 years	4.7	4.2	3.5	3.5	4.3	4.4	3.4	3.0	4.4	4.1	3.9	4.0	4.1	3.4	3.3	3.2
9 years	5.5	4.6	4.2	3.5	4.5	4.4	3.9	3.0	4.4	4.2	3.7	3.3	4.6	4.1	3.5	3.3
10 years	5.5	5.7	4.8	4.3	4.8	4.0	4.6	3.9	4.7	5.1	3.7	3.7	5.5	4.6	4.2	3.5
11 years	6.0	5.7	5.7	5.2	5.7	4.6	4.5	3.7	5.1	4.2	4.3	3.8	5.6	5.5	5.0	4.2
12 years	6.0	6.3	6.0	5.9	5.5	5.4	5.0	4.8	4.4	4.9	4.1	4.3	6.1	5.8	5.7	5.3
13 years	6.7	6.7	6.7	6.6	5.3	5.8	6.3	5.8	3.8	4.5	4.5	3.9	6.4	6.4	6.4	6.1
14 years	6.9	7.5	7.3	7.4	6.3	6.6	6.3	6.6	4.5	4.8	5.2	5.1	7.2	7.1	7.2	7.0
15 years	6.6	7.4	8.0	8.0	6.2	6.3	6.4	7.2	5.2	5.2	4.7	4.7	7.2	7.9	7.7	8.0
16 years	7.3	7.1	7.5	8.8	4.5	5.0	5.9	6.9	5.1	5.6	5.8	7.3	6.7	7.4	8.3	8.2
17 years	6.1	7.3	6.7	7.4	2.8	3.5	4.1	4.0	4.4	5.6	5.6	6.1	7.0	6.7	7.0	8.2
18 years	4.9	4.8	5.4	5.2	<.1	0.1	0.1	0.2	6.0	7.6	6.2	7.2	4.8	5.6	5.3	5.6
19 years	2.9	3.7	3.4	4.1	<.1	<.1	<.1	<.1	2.7	3.1	2.7	3.1	3.6	3.4	4.1	3.9
20+ years	1.1	0.2	1.4	<.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	<.1	3.5	1.9	1.7	1.2	2.3	2.8	2.7	3.3
Missing data	0.0	0.0	0.0	<.1	<.1	<.1	<.1	<.1	0.9	0.0	3.7	0.0	0.0	0.0	<.1	0.0

C. Characteristics of Children in Foster Care (Continued)

Race/Ethnicity of Children in Foster Care (%)
	In Foster Care on 10/1 FY				Entered Foster Care in FY				Exited Foster Care in FY				In Foster Care on 9/30 FY
	2002	2003	2004	2005	2002	2003	2004	2005	2002	2003	2004	2005	2002	2003	2004	2005
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.2
Asian	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.2	0.5	0.5	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.5	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3
Black (non-Hispanic)	78.1	76.7	75.7	74.9	62.6	63.2	62.7	63.7	68.3	66.6	65.2	66.3	76.3	75.3	74.5	73.6
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander	<.1	<.1	<.1	<.1	0.0	0.0	<.1	0.0	<.1	0.0	<.1	0.0	<.1	<.1	<.1	<.1
Hispanic (of any race)	1.3	1.5	1.5	1.5	2.8	2.4	3.4	3.3	2.0	2.5	3.2	2.7	1.5	1.5	1.6	1.8
White (non-Hispanic)	18.7	19.6	20.1	20.8	31.0	28.7	28.9	28.5	26.9	27.5	27.2	26.8	20.0	20.3	20.8	21.6
Two or More Races	0.9	0.9	1.1	1.0	1.2	1.9	1.7	1.4	1.5	1.5	1.9	1.4	0.8	1.0	1.1	1.0
Unknown	0.6	0.8	1.2	1.3	2.0	3.3	2.5	2.5	1.0	1.5	2.0	2.2	0.9	1.4	1.5	1.4
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"7 (AFCARS Foster Care File)

Children Waiting for Adoption
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Total waiting children	2,933	2,500	2,202	1,954
Number of waiting children whose parents' rights have been terminated	1,524	1,336	1,200	1,093

Age of Children Waiting for Adoption (%)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Under 1 year	0.9	0.6	0.8	0.8
1 year	4.5	4.1	4.5	4.4
2 years	5.8	5.1	6.9	7.4
3 years	5.6	6.4	4.8	5.9
4 years	7.0	5.4	5.2	4.7
5 years	5.3	5.8	5.1	4.7
6 years	5.3	5.1	5.7	5.6
7 years	5.9	5.1	5.2	5.2
8 years	5.8	5.6	4.8	5.2
9 years	6.9	6.0	4.8	4.9
10 years	8.1	6.0	5.9	4.4
11 years	6.8	7.9	6.4	6.1
12 years	7.6	6.9	7.8	6.4
13 years	6.5	7.7	6.7	7.8
14 years	6.4	6.8	7.8	6.9
15 years	5.4	6.8	7.4	8.1
16 years	3.7	4.8	5.8	6.1
17 years	2.5	3.9	4.4	5.5
18 years	--	--	--	--
19 years	--	--	--	--
20+ years	--	--	--	--

7 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 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

D. Characteristics of Children "Waiting for Adoption" (Continued)

Race/Ethnicity of Children Waiting for Adoption (%)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Alaska Native/American Indian	<.1	<.1	<.1	<.1
Asian	0.2	0.2	<.1	0.0
Black (non-Hispanic)	79.3	79.7	77.2	74.5
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1
Hispanic (of any race)	0.9	1.0	1.1	1.2
White (non-Hispanic)	17.7	16.8	18.4	20.9
Two or More Races	1.0	1.0	1.1	1.2
Unknown	0.9	1.1	1.9	2.0
Missing data	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

E. Characteristics of Children Adopted (AFCARS Adoption File)

Children Adopted
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Total children adopted	949	742	915	620

Age of Children Adopted (%)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Under 1 year	0.5	0.9	0.5	1.8
1 year	4.2	6.5	6.1	4.8
2 years	9.1	9.7	10.5	13.5
3 years	11.9	10.2	9.5	11.3
4 years	8.3	10.0	10.3	7.9
5 years	9.0	7.4	9.7	8.9
6 years	8.4	5.7	6.6	7.3
7 years	8.6	5.7	5.9	7.9
8 years	7.0	5.8	5.8	6.1
9 years	7.1	5.8	5.0	5.5
10 years	5.9	7.4	6.2	4.0
11 years	6.0	3.6	4.7	3.1
12 years	4.7	5.0	5.6	4.5
13 years	2.5	4.0	2.1	2.4
14 years	3.3	4.2	4.7	4.4
15 years	1.8	3.2	1.7	2.3
16 years	0.9	1.6	3.1	3.4
17 years	0.5	2.0	1.5	1.0
18 years	0.2	1.2	0.4	0.0
19 years	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
20+ years	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

Race/Ethnicity of Children Adopted (%)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0
Asian	0.1	0.7	0.1	0.6
Black (non-Hispanic)	72.8	69.1	71.0	62.1
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Hispanic (of any race)	1.1	0.7	1.1	1.0
White (non-Hispanic)	23.3	25.6	21.4	31.0
Two or More Races	2.3	2.7	3.5	3.1
Unknown	0.3	1.2	2.8	2.3
Missing data	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

Maryland [Outcomes Data]

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

1.1 Recurrence of Maltreatment Within 6 Months (%)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Children without a recurrence	92.0	93.1	93.0	92.8
Children with one or more recurrences	8.0	6.9	7.0	7.2
Number	7,400	7,862	7,000	6,651

2. Reduce the Incidence of Child Abuse and/or Neglect in Foster Care (NCANDS and AFCARS Foster Care File8)

2.1 Maltreatment in Foster Care (%)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Children maltreated while in foster care	N/A	<.1	0.10	0.12
Children not maltreated while in foster care	N/A	99.97	99.90	99.88
Number	N/A	14,583	14,313	13,546

8 For the years 2003, 2004, and 2005, the denominator for this measure includes all children served in foster care during the 12-month fiscal year. In 2002, only children served in the first 9 months of the calendar year were included in the denominator because of differences in the NCANDS and AFCARS reporting periods. Therefore, the data for 2002 are not provided for this measure. Back

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

3.1 Exits of Children From Foster Care (%)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Adoption	22.5	21.6	20.2	13.8
Guardianship	0.6	1.2	1.1	0.6
Reunification	58.5	52.7	57.9	47.1
Other	14.7	14.6	15.9	8.7
Missing data	3.8	9.9	4.8	29.7
Number	3,445	3,062	3,265	2,679

3.2 Exits of Children With a Diagnosed Disability (%)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Adoption	19.4	20.9	21.6	14.5
Guardianship	0.7	1.0	1.2	1.1
Reunification	49.5	48.0	47.4	42.8
Other	26.5	21.4	24.4	11.8
Missing data	3.9	8.7	5.4	29.9
Number	717	631	755	663

3.3 Exits of Children Older Than Age 12 at Entry Into Foster Care (%)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Adoption	1.5	2.0	1.9	1.0
Guardianship	1.3	1.4	1.7	0.4
Reunification	52.5	49.6	51.5	48.5
Other	37.3	34.2	36.5	18.3
Missing data	7.5	12.7	8.4	31.7
Number	751	695	776	703

3.4 Exits to Emancipation (%)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Children age 12 or younger at entry	43.5	44.7	42.7	39.3
Children older than 12 at entry	56.5	55.3	57.3	60.7
Missing data	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Number	384	295	361	140

3. Increase Permanency for Children in Foster Care (Continued)

3.5 Exits by Race/ethnicity (%)
	Alaska Native/Am. In.				Asian				Black (non-Hispanic)
	2002	2003	2004	2005	2002	2003	2004	2005	2002	2003	2004	2005
Adoption	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	14.3	44.4	33.3	0.0	24.9	23.0	23.3	14.6
Guardianship	0.0	0.0	16.7	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.6	1.3	1.0	0.7
Reunification	50.0	60.0	66.7	33.3	42.9	33.3	33.3	53.8	57.3	49.1	55.5	46.3
Other	50.0	0.0	16.7	33.3	28.6	11.1	11.1	7.7	13.7	14.8	16.1	8.8
Missing data	0.0	40.0	0.0	33.3	14.3	11.1	22.2	38.5	3.4	11.9	4.1	29.6
Number	4	5	6	3	7	9	9	13	2,353	2,039	2,129	1,776

3.5 Exits by Race/ethnicity (%)
	Native Hawaiian/Other Pac. Is.				Hispanic (of any race)				White (non-Hispanic)
	2002	2003	2004	2005	2002	2003	2004	2005	2002	2003	2004	2005
Adoption	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	10.0	10.4	8.5	5.6	17.1	19.7	14.9	13.0
Guardianship	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	6.5	0.0	0.0	0.5	0.8	1.5	0.6
Reunification	100.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	67.1	61.0	58.5	48.6	61.0	59.9	62.3	49.3
Other	0.0	0.0	100.0	0.0	17.1	14.3	15.1	13.9	17.0	14.5	16.1	8.9
Missing data	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	5.7	7.8	17.9	31.9	4.4	5.0	5.2	28.3
Number	1	0	1	0	70	77	106	72	925	841	887	718

3.5 Exits by Race/ethnicity (%)
	Unable to Determine				Two or More Races				Missing Data
	2002	2003	2004	2005	2002	2003	2004	2005	2002	2003	2004	2005
Adoption	3.0	13.0	13.6	13.6	40.4	15.6	21.3	13.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Guardianship	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.7	0.0	0.0	1.6	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Reunification	75.8	60.9	68.2	49.2	46.2	64.4	68.9	36.8	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Other	12.1	4.3	12.1	0.0	9.6	20.0	8.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Missing data	9.1	21.7	6.1	35.6	3.8	0.0	0.0	50.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Number	33	46	66	59	52	45	61	38	0	0	0	0

4. Reduce Time to Reunification Without Increasing Reentry (AFCARS Foster Care File)

4.1 Time to Reunification (%)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Less than 12 mos.	50.3	45.1	48.4	50.0
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	22.0	27.1	23.1	24.2
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	9.2	11.4	12.1	10.9
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	5.8	4.9	4.1	5.6
48 or more mos.	10.1	11.5	9.4	9.4
Missing data	2.5	0.0	3.0	0.0
Number	2,014	1,615	1,891	1,262

4.2 Children Reentering Foster Care (%)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Children entering care for the first time	79.7	79.3	80.5	78.7
Children reentering care within 12 mos. of a prior episode	8.5	8.8	7.3	8.5
Children reentering care more than 12 mos. after a prior episode	11.7	11.8	12.2	12.5
Missing data	<.1	<.1	0.0	0.2
Number	3,563	3,470	3,564	3,353

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

5.1 Time to Adoption (%)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Less than 12 mos.	3.6	3.5	4.1	3.5
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	11.2	12.7	10.6	15.1
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	18.6	20.9	22.4	21.9
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	16.3	17.1	16.6	17.8
48 or more mos.	50.1	45.8	46.1	41.6
Missing data	0.3	0.0	0.2	0.0
Number	775	660	661	370

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
	2002	2003	2004	2005	2002	2003	2004	2005	2002	2003	2004	2005	2002	2003	2004	2005
Children with 2 or fewer placements	94.3	94.4	93.5	89.7	77.8	80.1	79.8	77.5	50.4	50.8	50.5	51.2	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Children with 3 or more placements	5.5	5.6	6.5	10.3	21.6	19.9	20.2	22.5	49.4	49.2	49.5	48.8	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Number	3,957	3,844	3,898	3,705	2,539	2,552	2,504	2,537	8,904	8,178	7,895	7,285	11	9	16	19

7. Reduce Placement 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 (%)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Group homes	5.7	6.2	7.4	11.6
Institutions	1.2	0.6	1.3	2.8
Other settings	91.7	90.9	90.2	84.3
Missing data	1.4	2.3	1.1	1.3
Number	2,643	2,492	2,503	2,279

Composite and Individual Measures Established for the Federal Child and Family Services Reviews9

Composite One: Timeliness and Permanency of Reunification
	2004	2005
Composite Score	--	99.8
C1.1: Percent of reunifications that occur in less than 12 months (with adjustments)	54.7	55.6
C1.2: Median length of stay in months of children exiting to reunification (with adjustments)	10.3	9.9
C1.3: Percent of children in entry cohort who are reunified in less than 12 months (with adjustments)	22.4	23.9
C1.4: Percent of children reentering foster care in less than 12 months	14.4	11.6

Composite Two: Timeliness of Adoptions
	2004	2005
Composite Score	--	46.4
C2.1: Percent of adoptions occurring in less than 24 months	14.8	18.7
C2.2: Median length of stay in months of children who are adopted	44.5	42.3
C2.3: Percent of children in foster care for 17+ months on first day of fiscal year who are adopted by the end of the year	9.8	5.7
C2.4: Percent of children in foster care for 17+ months on first day of fiscal year who are not legally free for adoption who become legally free within 6 months	4.2	3.9
C2.5: Percent of children legally free for adoption who are adopted in less than 12 months of becoming legally free	42.9	40.0

Composite Three: Achieving Permanency for Children in Foster Care for Long Periods of Time
	2004	2005
Composite Score	--	90.3
C3.1: Percent of children in foster care for 24+ months on the first day of fiscal year who exit to permanency by age 18 or by the end of the fiscal year	16.1	10.4
C3.2: Percent of children who are legally free for adoption who exit to a permanent home	98.2	98.9
C3.3: Percent of children emancipated or reaching age 18 who were in foster care for at least 3 years	62.6	62.0

Composite Four: Placement Stability While in Foster Care
	2004	2005
Composite Score	--	112.4
C4.1: Percent of children in care for less than 12 months with 2 or fewer placement settings	93.1	89.2
C4.2: Percent of children in care for 12 to 24 months with 2 or fewer placement settings	79.7	77.4
C4.3: Percent of children in care for at least 24 months with 2 or fewer placement settings	51.0	51.8

9 State composite scores for 2004 are not provided because that year's data served as the source data for the establishment of the national standards. Composite scores are not used for performance assessment purposes until 2005; therefore, only 2005 composite scores are provided. Individual measure performance is shown under each composite unless the State did not provide the data necessary to calculate those measures. Back

Maryland [State Comment]

No comment submitted.

Maryland [Federal Comment]

PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

Maryland's performance in achieving outcomes related to the safety and permanency of children served by the child welfare system is discussed below. The discussion focuses on performance in 2005 and change in performance over time, which is determined by calculating the percent change from a prior year to 2005. The prior year selected varies depending on the availability and reliability of data. A percent change that is less than 5.0 (either positive or negative) is considered to represent "no change."

The discussion incorporates information about performance on the seven outcomes that have been part of the Report to Congress since its inception. In general, data are provided for these outcomes from 2002 to 2005 and their measures are identified using the labels provided in the data pages (e.g., measure 1.1, 2.1, etc.). The discussion also incorporates information about performance on measures included in four composite data indicators recently developed for the Federal Child and Family Services Reviews. (See appendix B for a discussion of these measures.) The composites and measures are presented on the last page of the data pages and are identified below using the labels provided on the data page (e.g., measure C1.2, C1.3, etc.). Data are available for these outcome measures for 2004 and 2005 only.

Outcomes Pertaining to Safety

In 2005, 7.2 percent of the children who were victims of child maltreatment in the first 6 months of the fiscal year experienced another maltreatment incident within a 6-month period (measure 1.1). This percentage exceeds the national median of 6.6 percent and represents an improvement in performance on this measure from 2002 (10.0 percent change).
In 2005, 0.12 percent of children in foster care in Maryland were found to be victims of maltreatment by foster parents or facility staff members (measure 2.1). Although this percentage is less than the national median of 0.42 percent, it represents a decline in performance from 2003 (a 33.3 percent change).

Outcomes Pertaining to Permanency

Performance with regard to exits from foster care to a permanent home (i.e., children discharged from foster care to adoption, guardianship, or reunification).

Data with regard to exits from foster care cannot be analyzed for Maryland because in 2005, 29.7 percent of the children reported to AFCARS as discharged from foster care did not have the discharge reason reported. This represents a decline in the quality of data compared to earlier years. In 2004, for example, only 4.8 percent of the children exiting foster care did not have a discharge reason.

Outcomes Pertaining to the Stability and Appropriateness of Placements

In 2005, 89.2 percent of the children in foster care for at least 8 days but less than 12 months experienced two or fewer placement settings (measure C4.1). This percentage exceeds the national median of 82.4 percent.
In 2005, 51.2 percent of children in foster care for 24 months or longer experienced two or fewer placement settings (measure 6.1). This percentage exceeds the national median of 32.3 percent and represents an improvement in performance from 2002 (38.1 percent change).
In 2005, 14.4 percent of the children entering foster care at age 12 or younger were placed in a group home or institution (measure 7.1). This percentage exceeds the national median of 7.2 percent and represents a decline in performance from 2002 (108.7 percent change).