Mississippi

Context Data | Outcomes Data | State Comment | Federal Comment

Mississippi [Context Data]

A. Context Statistics1

General Child Population (Census Bureau)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Total children under 18 years	760,747	761,268	749,569	748,544
Race/ethnicity (%)2
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5
Asian	0.6	0.7	0.7	0.7
Black (non-Hispanic)	44.7	44.7	44.7	44.7
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander	<.1	<.1	<.1	<.1
Hispanic (of any race)	1.7	1.8	1.8	1.9
White (non-Hispanic)	51.6	51.5	51.4	51.3
Two or More Races	0.9	0.9	0.9	0.9
Child population in poverty (%)	25.3	23.1	26.6	30.7

Child Welfare Summary
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Child maltreatment victims3	4,003	5,940	5,674	6,154
Children in foster care on 9/30	2,686	2,721	2,989	3,269
Children adopted	227	183	270	244

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	18,009	23.7 per 1,000	24,503	32.2 per 1,000	24,546	32.8 per 1,000	24,648	32.9 per 1,000
Total child maltreatment victims5	4,003	5.3 per 1,000	5,940	7.8 per 1,000	5,674	7.6 per 1,000	6,154	8.2 per 1,000
Child fatalities	7	0.9 per 100,000	13	1.7 per 100,000	19	2.5 per 100,000	14	1.9 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	8.1	8.0	9.1	9.2
1-5 years	30.2	28.9	30.4	29.3
6-10 years	30.2	30.4	29.2	29.2
11-15 years	25.7	26.8	25.6	26.7
16+ years	5.9	6.0	5.6	5.5
Unknown	--	--	--	--
Number	4,003	5,940	5,674	6,154

Race/Ethnicity of Child Victims (%)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.1	0.2	0.1	0.1
Asian	0.4	0.2	0.3	0.1
Black (non-Hispanic)	41.9	41.5	40.4	41.0
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander	N/A	--	--	0.0
Hispanic (of any race)	1.1	0.9	1.0	1.2
White (non-Hispanic)	38.8	39.3	40.1	42.5
Two or More Races	0.4	0.6	0.6	1.0
Unknown	17.3	17.5	17.5	14.2
Number	4,003	5,940	5,674	6,154

Maltreatment Types of Child Victims (%)6
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Emotional abuse	9.7	9.3	11.7	11.0
Medical neglect	3.0	3.1	3.3	2.9
Neglect	54.0	55.0	52.5	56.6
Physical abuse	20.7	22.8	22.6	21.2
Sexual abuse	16.8	15.1	15.9	15.0
Unknown	--	--	--	--
Other	0.2	0.3	0.2	0.5
Number	4,003	5,940	5,674	6,154

Time to Investigation (in hours)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Mean	104.8	177.2	137.6	111.7
Median	>24, but <48	>24, but <48	>24, but <48	>24, but <48

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	2,614	2,675	2,697	2,880	1,582	1,570	1,852	2,048	1,510	1,525	1,560	1,659	2,686	2,721	2,989	3,269
Median length of stay (months)	16.2	17.3	17.1	13.9	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	12.5	11.8	12.3	11.1	17.1	17.2	13.9	13.1

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	3.7	4.1	4.2	4.5	12.8	13.7	13.3	14.5	3.6	4.3	3.5	4.2	4.3	4.1	4.6	5.5
1 year	5.8	4.9	5.3	6.3	6.4	6.8	6.6	7.7	6.2	6.6	5.5	5.8	5.1	5.4	6.3	6.4
2 years	5.4	5.7	5.3	5.6	6.4	5.9	5.7	6.2	7.1	5.7	6.0	6.4	5.6	5.2	5.5	6.5
3 years	4.9	4.6	5.3	5.9	5.2	5.4	6.9	5.9	6.3	6.0	5.4	6.8	4.8	5.4	6.0	6.2
4 years	4.6	5.0	4.7	5.5	5.4	5.2	5.7	6.1	5.4	5.3	6.0	5.8	4.7	4.6	5.4	5.3
5 years	5.2	5.0	4.6	5.8	5.0	4.3	6.5	5.4	5.2	6.0	4.7	5.8	5.0	4.4	5.5	5.3
6 years	4.7	4.4	4.5	4.8	3.9	5.3	5.0	5.1	5.3	4.7	5.5	6.0	4.3	4.9	5.1	5.5
7 years	5.2	4.6	4.3	4.1	5.4	4.7	4.4	4.4	5.3	5.2	5.1	4.8	4.5	4.4	4.1	4.3
8 years	4.5	5.0	4.7	4.3	4.7	5.0	4.8	3.9	5.0	4.5	4.5	5.5	5.0	4.8	4.3	3.9
9 years	5.2	4.6	5.0	4.5	5.9	4.6	3.8	4.2	6.0	4.6	4.1	4.0	4.6	5.0	4.6	3.9
10 years	4.9	5.0	4.5	4.3	4.7	4.9	4.8	4.5	4.6	5.4	4.7	4.5	5.0	4.5	4.4	4.6
11 years	4.6	4.9	5.6	5.1	4.7	5.4	5.3	4.5	4.2	4.6	4.9	4.9	4.9	5.3	5.1	4.0
12 years	4.3	4.9	5.3	5.3	4.7	4.6	5.6	5.4	3.6	4.6	6.2	4.1	5.0	5.1	5.2	5.3
13 years	4.8	5.5	5.5	5.1	6.3	5.8	4.8	5.3	5.0	5.0	5.3	4.5	5.5	5.1	5.1	5.8
14 years	7.0	5.1	5.9	5.7	5.5	5.2	5.1	5.7	5.0	4.5	5.2	4.6	5.3	5.9	5.7	5.8
15 years	6.4	7.1	5.6	5.9	5.9	4.7	4.7	5.1	5.0	4.7	3.9	5.0	7.1	5.8	5.8	5.7
16 years	7.0	6.7	6.8	5.9	4.3	5.0	4.5	4.1	5.4	4.8	4.4	3.7	6.6	6.6	5.9	6.1
17 years	5.6	6.5	6.2	6.1	2.3	3.2	2.4	2.1	3.6	5.8	4.7	4.8	6.3	6.5	6.0	5.0
18 years	4.4	3.3	3.5	3.0	0.0	<.1	0.0	0.0	4.7	5.0	5.9	5.2	3.5	3.5	3.0	3.0
19 years	1.3	2.4	1.5	1.6	0.0	0.1	<.1	0.0	1.8	1.4	1.0	1.4	2.5	1.7	1.7	1.3
20+ years	0.3	0.4	1.5	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.4	1.2	2.4	1.6	0.4	1.7	0.6	0.5
Missing data	<.1	<.1	<.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.0	<.1	0.3	1.1	0.4	<.1	0.2	0.1	0.1

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	<.1	<.1	<.1	<.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	<.1	<.1	0.1	<.1	0.0	<.1	<.1	<.1	0.1
Asian	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.3	0.1	0.0	0.5	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.3	0.5	0.1	0.1	0.3	<.1
Black (non-Hispanic)	55.6	53.3	53.7	50.1	47.9	45.9	44.0	45.9	52.6	48.9	51.2	43.8	52.7	51.5	49.0	50.7
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander	0.0	0.1	<.1	<.1	0.4	0.0	0.0	<.1	0.3	0.1	0.0	<.1	0.1	<.1	<.1	<.1
Hispanic (of any race)	0.9	0.9	1.6	1.3	1.4	1.5	0.8	2.2	1.3	1.2	1.3	1.6	0.9	1.0	1.3	1.7
White (non-Hispanic)	42.3	41.4	41.6	45.7	41.1	40.0	48.1	48.4	41.7	41.8	42.1	50.8	41.9	40.4	45.4	44.8
Two or More Races	0.4	0.6	1.4	1.4	1.0	1.2	1.5	2.1	0.3	0.7	1.3	1.2	0.8	0.9	1.4	1.9
Unknown	0.3	1.8	0.2	0.4	0.8	2.4	0.6	0.7	0.5	4.3	0.3	0.5	0.4	0.7	0.4	0.5
Missing data	0.4	1.7	1.3	0.7	7.2	8.9	4.4	0.3	3.1	2.8	3.6	1.6	2.9	5.3	2.0	<.1

D. Characteristics of Children "Waiting for Adoption"7 (AFCARS Foster Care File)

Children Waiting for Adoption
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Total waiting children	803	810	914	857
Number of waiting children whose parents' rights have been terminated	210	212	329	302

Age of Children Waiting for Adoption (%)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Under 1 year	3.5	2.6	4.6	2.5
1 year	4.9	5.2	6.5	6.7
2 years	6.1	5.8	6.6	7.9
3 years	5.1	7.2	7.0	6.2
4 years	5.5	4.4	6.6	5.8
5 years	6.1	4.9	6.0	6.2
6 years	5.7	5.8	5.1	6.5
7 years	6.6	5.9	4.3	4.9
8 years	7.0	6.2	5.0	5.1
9 years	5.9	6.0	6.8	5.0
10 years	6.7	6.2	4.8	6.0
11 years	7.0	7.0	5.5	4.7
12 years	6.5	7.0	6.3	5.7
13 years	6.8	6.4	6.2	6.2
14 years	4.5	6.2	5.8	6.4
15 years	6.0	5.1	5.7	5.6
16 years	3.4	5.2	4.4	5.1
17 years	2.9	2.8	2.8	3.5
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	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.1
Asian	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.0
Black (non-Hispanic)	54.2	53.3	51.0	52.9
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander	0.0	0.1	0.1	0.0
Hispanic (of any race)	0.4	1.0	2.2	1.8
White (non-Hispanic)	43.0	41.9	42.8	42.6
Two or More Races	1.1	1.0	2.5	2.1
Unknown	0.4	0.4	0.2	0.6
Missing data	0.6	2.0	1.0	0.0

E. Characteristics of Children Adopted (AFCARS Adoption File)

Children Adopted
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Total children adopted	227	183	270	244

Age of Children Adopted (%)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Under 1 year	0.0	0.0	0.4	0.0
1 year	4.8	4.9	5.2	4.9
2 years	11.0	7.1	6.7	8.6
3 years	6.6	8.2	8.9	10.7
4 years	7.0	8.7	9.6	8.2
5 years	7.9	10.4	4.1	10.2
6 years	7.9	6.0	7.8	7.4
7 years	7.9	8.2	10.7	5.7
8 years	5.7	7.1	5.2	5.3
9 years	5.3	5.5	4.1	7.0
10 years	5.7	4.9	8.9	7.4
11 years	5.3	4.4	7.0	5.3
12 years	4.0	6.0	7.0	5.3
13 years	5.3	7.1	5.6	3.3
14 years	4.0	4.9	3.7	4.5
15 years	5.7	2.7	1.9	2.5
16 years	4.4	1.1	1.1	2.0
17 years	1.3	2.2	1.9	1.2
18 years	0.0	0.5	0.4	0.4
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	0.0	0.0	0.4	0.0
Asian	0.9	0.0	0.0	0.8
Black (non-Hispanic)	50.7	45.4	46.7	41.4
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.4
Hispanic (of any race)	1.8	1.1	2.6	2.9
White (non-Hispanic)	46.3	50.8	48.1	52.5
Two or More Races	0.4	2.2	2.2	2.0
Unknown	0.0	0.5	0.0	0.0
Missing data	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

Mississippi [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	95.4	95.7	95.5	94.7
Children with one or more recurrences	4.6	4.3	4.5	5.3
Number	2,065	2,604	2,646	2,805

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	0.57	0.48	0.49
Children not maltreated while in foster care	N/A	99.43	99.52	99.51
Number	N/A	4,245	4,549	4,928

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	15.5	11.9	17.4	14.0
Guardianship	1.5	1.3	3.7	6.4
Reunification	63.4	44.9	67.5	71.8
Other	7.1	6.1	10.2	6.8
Missing data	12.5	35.7	1.3	1.0
Number	1,510	1,525	1,560	1,659

3.2 Exits of Children With a Diagnosed Disability (%)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Adoption	17.8	12.1	30.5	27.6
Guardianship	1.8	3.3	2.0	3.9
Reunification	64.0	50.0	52.2	55.5
Other	12.0	11.0	15.1	11.5
Missing data	4.4	23.6	0.2	1.4
Number	225	182	456	355

3.3 Exits of Children Older Than Age 12 at Entry Into Foster Care (%)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Adoption	1.8	0.3	1.7	1.3
Guardianship	2.1	1.1	3.5	5.2
Reunification	63.0	44.4	67.1	72.8
Other	21.7	16.2	26.7	20.1
Missing data	11.4	37.9	1.0	0.5
Number	332	351	401	383

3.4 Exits to Emancipation (%)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Children age 12 or younger at entry	31.5	32.3	26.7	28.6
Children older than 12 at entry	68.5	67.7	73.3	71.4
Missing data	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Number	89	62	116	98

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	100.0	0.0	100.0	0.0	0.0	22.2	14.6	11.3	15.9	12.7
Guardianship	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.9	1.1	3.3	5.8
Reunification	100.0	50.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	75.0	77.8	64.2	46.2	66.2	71.9
Other	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	25.0	0.0	9.4	6.3	13.7	8.1
Missing data	0.0	50.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	10.8	35.1	1.0	1.5
Number	1	2	1	0	2	0	4	9	794	746	798	726

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	100.0	20.0	10.5	35.0	25.9	17.6	14.3	19.8	15.1
Guardianship	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	5.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.2	1.9	4.1	7.4
Reunification	0.0	50.0	0.0	0.0	65.0	57.9	55.0	70.4	62.5	43.1	67.7	70.8
Other	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	5.0	3.7	4.8	6.6	6.9	6.1
Missing data	100.0	50.0	0.0	0.0	10.0	31.6	5.0	0.0	12.9	34.2	1.5	0.7
Number	4	2	0	1	20	19	20	27	630	638	656	842

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	0.0	1.5	0.0	0.0	20.0	40.0	28.6	20.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Guardianship	0.0	0.0	0.0	12.5	0.0	0.0	4.8	0.0	2.1	0.0	5.4	3.8
Reunification	85.7	33.8	100.0	87.5	80.0	40.0	57.1	80.0	63.8	60.5	91.1	92.3
Other	0.0	1.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	10.0	9.5	0.0	4.3	4.7	1.8	3.8
Missing data	14.3	63.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	10.0	0.0	0.0	29.8	34.9	1.8	0.0
Number	7	65	4	8	5	10	21	20	47	43	56	26

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.	56.8	64.5	66.5	69.4
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	29.5	21.3	21.3	20.6
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	6.4	8.2	7.3	5.2
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	3.0	2.5	2.3	2.2
48 or more mos.	4.3	3.4	2.6	2.4
Missing data	0.0	0.1	<.1	0.2
Number	958	685	1,053	1,191

4.2 Children Reentering Foster Care (%)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Children entering care for the first time	94.8	91.3	90.8	90.5
Children reentering care within 12 mos. of a prior episode	4.6	6.1	5.2	4.3
Children reentering care more than 12 mos. after a prior episode	0.4	1.9	4.0	5.1
Missing data	0.1	0.7	0.0	0.0
Number	1,582	1,570	1,852	2,048

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.	2.6	0.0	1.5	0.0
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	16.2	13.7	9.6	17.2
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	23.5	21.4	23.6	29.2
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	21.4	19.8	22.9	26.6
48 or more mos.	36.3	45.1	42.4	27.0
Missing data	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Number	234	182	271	233

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	55.3	58.1	79.7	80.8	47.4	51.8	58.5	55.6	28.1	33.0	39.5	35.5	71.4	23.5	100.0	87.5
Children with 3 or more placements	9.7	10.8	15.8	18.6	28.4	28.6	37.7	44.1	56.9	56.1	58.0	63.9	0.0	5.9	0.0	12.5
Number	1,831	1,825	2,090	2,422	944	920	939	1,033	1,414	1,483	1,518	1,465	7	17	2	8

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	25.5	21.6	20.3	17.4
Institutions	0.0	0.2	0.7	1.8
Other settings	74.5	78.1	78.9	80.8
Missing data	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Number	770	810	1,368	1,550

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

Composite One: Timeliness and Permanency of Reunification
	2004	2005
Composite Score	--	125.4
C1.1: Percent of reunifications that occur in less than 12 months (with adjustments)	63.4	69.2
C1.2: Median length of stay in months of children exiting to reunification (with adjustments)	8.3	7.6
C1.3: Percent of children in entry cohort who are reunified in less than 12 months (with adjustments)	33.2	43.4
C1.4: Percent of children reentering foster care in less than 12 months	10.9	8.2

Composite Two: Timeliness of Adoptions
	2004	2005
Composite Score	--	104.0
C2.1: Percent of adoptions occurring in less than 24 months	11.1	16.8
C2.2: Median length of stay in months of children who are adopted	42.8	38.0
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	22.1	19.7
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	10.5	10.2
C2.5: Percent of children legally free for adoption who are adopted in less than 12 months of becoming legally free	36.4	64.9

Composite Three: Achieving Permanency for Children in Foster Care for Long Periods of Time
	2004	2005
Composite Score	--	117.5
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	31.3	26.6
C3.2: Percent of children who are legally free for adoption who exit to a permanent home	98.3	96.5
C3.3: Percent of children emancipated or reaching age 18 who were in foster care for at least 3 years	40.9	54.7

Composite Four: Placement Stability While in Foster Care
	2004	2005
Composite Score	--	90.5
C4.1: Percent of children in care for less than 12 months with 2 or fewer placement settings	82.1	80.8
C4.2: Percent of children in care for 12 to 24 months with 2 or fewer placement settings	60.7	55.8
C4.3: Percent of children in care for at least 24 months with 2 or fewer placement settings	40.9	36.4

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

Mississippi [State Comment]

Rickie Felder, Director
Division of Family and Children's Services
Mississippi Department of Human Services

The following are Mississippi's comments on the State's data presented in Child Welfare Outcomes 2002-2005: Report to Congress.

DATA QUESTIONS AND INCONSISTENCIES

Section B: Implementation of our SACWIS system, development of reports, and quality assurance measures have allowed us to do a better job of completing intakes and dispositions.
Section D: A child in Division of Family and Children's Services (DFCS) custody may have a plan of adoption without a termination of parental rights order. However, we do not consider these children freed for adoption until the court holds the termination hearing and grants a termination of parental rights order. Only at this point are the children considered free for adoption.
Outcome Measure 23.4: Some children who exited care were discharged for reasons other than emancipation even though emancipation was the plan. Some of these children were released due to guardianship, reunification or living with other relatives. However, regardless of the exit reason, all children age 14 and older are eligible to receive Independent Living Skills training to help transition them into life after foster care.
Outcome Measure 6.1: Mississippi has made a conscientious effort to place children in settings other than shelters for the first placement. The AFCARS extraction routine was also corrected for the 2003B AFCARS file in order to follow the AFCARS guidelines. The combination of both these factors did increase Mississippi's data quality.

AREAS OF IMPROVED PERFORMANCE:

Outcome Measure 3.4: Again, some children who exited care were discharged for other reasons than emancipation, even though emancipation was the plan. Some of these children were released due to guardianship, reunification or living with other relatives after participating in the Independent Living Skills program.
Outcome Measure 4.1: With the Implementation of Family Team Meetings, concurrent planning, intensive in-home services, and the hiring of new CPS workers, our agency staff are able to make a more concerted effort to establish reunification in a more timely manner while still decreasing reentries within the 12 month period after reunification.

AREAS WHERE IMPROVEMENT MAY BE NEEDED

Outcome Measure 1.1: Data quality is continually improving due to the workers' improved knowledge of the SACWIS. Children are being linked to previous cases in which they were involved rather than being reentered into the system as a new person.
Outcome Measure 5.1: Mississippi continues to have older children adopted who have been in the child welfare system for a long time.
Outcome Measure 7.1: Mississippi has a shortage of foster care homes willing to accept children with extreme behavioral or emotional problems. Unfortunately, the number of children coming into custody with behavioral or emotional problems is increasing. Group Homes in Mississippi are expected to provide a family-type setting with a limited number of children placed in each one at any given time. However, improvements continue to be made. Mississippi has seen a 6.35 reduction rate since 2002.

Mississippi [Federal Comment]

PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

Mississippi'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, 5.3 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 is less than the national median of 6.6 percent, but represents a decline in performance on this measure from 2002 (15.2 percent change).
In 2005, 0.49 percent of children in foster care in Mississippi were found to be victims of maltreatment by foster parents or facility staff members (measure 2.1). This percentage exceeds the national median of 0.42 percent and represents an improvement in performance from 2003 (14.0 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).

In 2005, 92.2 percent of all children exiting foster care (measure 3.1), 87.0 percent of children exiting foster care who had a diagnosed disability (measure 3.2), and 79.3 percent of children exiting foster care who were older than age 12 when they entered foster care (measure 3.3) were discharged to a permanent home. All percentages exceed the national medians for those measures (national medians for measures 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3 are 87.8 percent, 79 percent, and 73.1 percent, respectively).
In 2005, 26.6 percent of the children in foster care for 24 months or longer on the first day of the fiscal year were discharged from foster care to a permanent home by the last day of the fiscal year (measure C3.1). This percentage is about equal to the national median of 26.4 percent, but represents a decline in performance from 2004 (15.0 percent change).
In 2005, 96.5 percent of the children exiting foster care who were legally free for adoption (i.e., a parental rights termination date was reported for both parents) were discharged to a permanent home (measure C3.2). This percentage exceeds the national median of 95.7 percent.

Performance with regard to children remaining in foster care until emancipated.

In 2005, 5.9 percent of the children exiting foster care had a discharge reason of "emancipation" and 28.6 percent of these children were age 12 or younger when they entered foster care (measure 3.4). This latter percentage exceeds the national median of 27.6 percent and represents an improvement in performance from 2002 (9.2 percent change).
In 2005, 54.7 percent of the children who exited foster care with a discharge reason of emancipation had been in foster care for 3 years or longer (measure C3.3). This percentage exceeds the national median of 48.1 percent and represents a decline in performance on this measure from 2004 (33.7 percent change).

Performance with regard to the timeliness and permanency of reunifications.

In 2005, 69.2 percent of the reunifications of children who were in foster care for 8 days or longer occurred in less than 12 months from the time of the child's entry into foster care (measure C1.1). This percentage is less than the national median of 70.4 percent for this measure, but represents an improvement in performance on this measure from 2004 (9.1 percent change).
Measure C1.3 indicates that 43.4 percent of the children entering foster care in the last 6 months of 2005 were reunified in less than 12 months from the time of entry into foster care. This percentage exceeds the national median of 38.7 percent and represents an improvement in performance from 2004 (30.7 percent change).
Measure C1.4 indicates that 8.2 percent of children exiting foster care to reunification in 2005 reentered foster care in less than 12 months. This percentage is less than the national median of 14.8 percent and represents an improvement in performance from 2004 (24.8 percent change). Because measure C1.4 is a longitudinal measure of foster care reentry (i.e., it follows children for up to 24 months), it is intended to replace measure 4.2 as the assessment of foster care reentry.

Performance with regard to the timeliness of adoptions.

In 2005, 17.2 percent of finalized adoptions occurred within 24 months of the child's entry into foster care (measures 5.1 and C2.1). This percentage is less than the national median of 29.1 percent. Change in performance can only be assessed from 2004 because of missing data in prior years. The 2005 percentage reflects an improvement in performance from 2004 (55.0 percent change).
In 2005, 19.7 percent of children in foster care for 17 months or longer at the start of the fiscal year who did not exit to reunification or guardianship were discharged from foster care to a finalized adoption by the end of the year (measure C2.3). This percentage is less than the national median of 20.9 percent and represents a decline in performance from 2004 (10.9 percent change).
Measure C2.5 indicates that 64.9 percent of children who became legally free for adoption in 2005 (i.e., there was a termination of parental rights date reported for mother and father) were adopted in less than 12 months of becoming legally free. This percentage exceeds the national median of 45.1 percent and represents an improvement from 2004 (78.3 percent change).

Outcomes Pertaining to the Stability and Appropriateness of Placements

In 2005, 80.8 percent of the children in foster care for less than 12 months but at least 8 days experienced two or fewer placement settings (measure C4.1). This percentage is less than the national median of 82.4 percent, but represents an improvement in performance from 2002 (46.1 percent change).
In 2005, 35.5 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 (26.3 percent change).
In 2005, 19.2 percent of the children entering foster care at age 12 or younger were placed in a group home or institution (measure 7.1). Although this percentage is among the highest in the nation, it represents an improvement in performance from 2004 (24.7 percent change).