North Carolina

Context Data | Outcomes Data | State Comment | Federal Comment

North Carolina [Context Data]

A. Context Statistics1

General Child Population (Census Bureau)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Total children under 18 years	2,068,840	2,087,443	2,118,492	2,141,041
Race/ethnicity (%)2
Alaska Native/American Indian	1.4	1.4	1.4	1.4
Asian	1.7	1.8	1.8	1.9
Black (non-Hispanic)	25.9	25.7	25.5	25.3
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander	<.1	<.1	<.1	<.1
Hispanic (of any race)	7.3	7.9	8.5	9.1
White (non-Hispanic)	61.9	61.4	60.9	60.5
Two or More Races	1.7	1.8	1.8	1.8
Child population in poverty (%)	20.6	23.1	19.2	18.3

Child Welfare Summary
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Child maltreatment victims3	35,523	32,847	33,849	33,250
Children in foster care on 9/30	9,527	9,534	10,077	10,698
Children adopted	1,324	1,296	1,198	1,203

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	127,702	61.7 per 1,000	120,194	57.6 per 1,000	134,436	63.5 per 1,000	135,809	63.4 per 1,000
Total child maltreatment victims5	35,523	17.2 per 1,000	32,847	15.7 per 1,000	33,849	16.0 per 1,000	33,250	15.5 per 1,000
Child fatalities	26	1.3 per 100,000	--	-- per 100,000	--	-- per 100,000	--	-- 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	9.8	9.9	9.7	10.4
1-5 years	33.3	33.6	34.1	33.9
6-10 years	28.9	27.4	27.3	26.6
11-15 years	24.1	24.9	24.5	24.4
16+ years	3.9	4.1	4.4	4.7
Unknown	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Number	35,523	32,847	33,849	33,250

Race/Ethnicity of Child Victims (%)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Alaska Native/American Indian	1.7	1.8	2.1	1.9
Asian	0.9	0.5	0.4	0.5
Black (non-Hispanic)	34.0	33.7	33.2	33.0
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander	N/A	0.3	0.3	0.4
Hispanic (of any race)	8.4	8.3	8.9	9.0
White (non-Hispanic)	53.7	53.6	52.3	52.2
Two or More Races	0.9	1.3	2.1	2.2
Unknown	0.5	0.5	0.7	0.9
Number	35,523	32,847	33,849	33,250

Maltreatment Types of Child Victims (%)6
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Emotional abuse	0.3	0.4	--	0.4
Medical neglect	2.1	2.1	--	1.5
Neglect	90.3	90.3	0.0	64.3
Physical abuse	3.5	3.1	--	3.5
Sexual abuse	3.5	3.6	--	3.8
Unknown	0.0	--	100.0	25.9
Other	0.4	0.5	--	0.7
Number	35,523	32,847	33,849	33,250

Time to Investigation (in hours)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Mean	51.2	52.9	49.5	49.7
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	9,316	9,140	9,182	9,651	5,615	5,461	6,089	6,529	5,404	5,067	5,194	5,482	9,527	9,534	10,077	10,698
Median length of stay (months)	15.8	13.8	14.0	13.2	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	13.7	13.2	13.6	12.8	14.0	14.0	13.1	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	5.2	5.9	5.5	6.0	16.3	16.2	16.1	16.6	4.5	4.0	4.7	4.3	5.8	5.6	6.0	6.3
1 year	6.6	6.4	7.5	6.8	6.8	7.4	7.5	7.4	7.8	7.2	7.9	7.8	6.3	7.5	6.8	7.5
2 years	5.9	5.9	6.3	7.0	6.3	6.5	6.2	6.0	7.3	6.7	7.4	7.6	6.0	6.3	7.0	6.3
3 years	5.0	5.2	5.7	5.5	5.3	5.7	6.0	6.0	6.1	6.0	6.9	6.5	5.2	5.8	5.6	6.0
4 years	4.8	4.9	5.0	5.5	5.3	5.7	5.6	5.6	5.6	5.4	5.5	6.1	4.8	5.0	5.6	5.6
5 years	4.1	4.4	4.8	4.8	4.3	4.7	4.9	5.3	5.1	5.6	5.5	5.3	4.4	4.8	4.9	5.3
6 years	4.3	4.0	4.2	4.6	4.8	4.2	4.3	4.1	4.7	4.2	4.4	5.1	4.0	4.2	4.5	4.7
7 years	4.2	4.3	3.6	4.0	4.3	3.5	4.0	4.0	4.5	4.7	4.3	4.4	4.3	3.6	4.0	4.2
8 years	4.7	4.3	3.8	3.6	4.3	3.7	3.6	4.2	4.3	4.3	3.8	3.8	4.3	3.8	3.6	4.0
9 years	5.1	4.7	4.2	3.7	4.4	3.7	3.2	3.5	4.1	4.4	3.5	3.6	4.7	4.1	3.7	3.7
10 years	5.4	5.2	4.0	3.9	4.3	4.0	4.0	3.6	4.6	4.5	3.9	3.8	5.1	4.0	3.9	3.6
11 years	5.2	5.1	5.1	4.2	4.5	4.7	4.1	4.2	4.1	4.8	4.7	4.0	5.1	5.0	4.2	3.9
12 years	5.5	5.4	5.0	5.0	4.4	4.5	4.5	4.1	4.5	4.4	4.1	3.9	5.4	5.0	4.9	4.3
13 years	6.1	5.8	5.6	5.4	5.5	5.4	5.4	5.1	4.3	4.3	4.2	4.1	5.8	5.5	5.3	5.1
14 years	6.6	6.7	6.8	6.5	6.1	6.6	6.6	6.0	5.3	4.8	5.0	4.7	6.6	6.8	6.5	6.0
15 years	7.4	7.1	7.7	7.9	6.4	6.8	6.8	6.6	5.8	5.2	5.5	5.4	7.0	7.7	7.7	7.4
16 years	7.2	7.4	7.1	7.4	4.3	4.0	4.5	4.5	5.8	5.5	5.7	6.1	7.3	7.1	7.4	7.5
17 years	4.9	5.7	6.0	5.6	1.9	2.1	2.0	2.5	5.9	8.9	5.9	4.2	5.7	6.1	5.7	6.2
18 years	1.1	1.2	1.0	1.6	0.4	0.3	0.4	0.5	4.5	3.4	5.8	7.6	1.4	1.1	1.8	1.6
19 years	0.4	0.5	0.8	0.4	0.1	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.6	0.8	0.9	1.0	0.5	0.8	0.5	0.6
20+ years	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.3	<.1	<.1	<.1	<.1	0.4	0.6	0.5	0.6	0.3	0.2	0.3	0.2
Missing data	<.1	<.1	<.1	<.1	<.1	0.1	<.1	<.1	<.1	0.1	0.2	0.2	<.1	<.1	<.1	<.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	2.1	1.6	2.1	2.2	2.1	2.4	2.7	1.8	2.8	1.6	2.8	3.0	1.7	2.1	2.1	1.5
Asian	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.6	0.4	0.3	0.5	0.5	0.4	0.2	0.8	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.2
Black (non-Hispanic)	47.4	44.8	43.1	43.5	38.1	37.4	38.4	36.1	42.5	40.0	38.0	38.3	44.7	43.1	42.9	41.7
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.4	0.2	0.4	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.3
Hispanic (of any race)	5.7	5.7	5.9	6.5	7.4	7.6	9.0	8.8	7.4	7.0	7.9	8.2	5.7	6.1	6.7	7.0
White (non-Hispanic)	42.7	45.1	45.9	44.1	49.6	49.6	46.3	49.0	44.9	48.5	48.5	46.6	45.5	45.9	44.8	45.9
Two or More Races	1.7	2.1	2.3	2.8	1.7	1.8	2.6	3.0	1.4	1.9	2.2	2.6	1.9	2.1	2.6	3.0
Unknown	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.5	0.4	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.4
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	3,119	3,087	3,074	3,137
Number of waiting children whose parents' rights have been terminated	1,774	1,786	1,607	1,654

Age of Children Waiting for Adoption (%)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Under 1 year	2.9	2.9	3.4	3.7
1 year	5.8	6.7	6.6	6.9
2 years	5.7	6.9	7.8	7.0
3 years	5.7	6.0	6.3	7.3
4 years	5.4	5.1	5.6	6.2
5 years	4.7	5.2	4.6	6.3
6 years	4.2	4.3	5.3	5.1
7 years	4.8	3.8	4.4	4.6
8 years	4.9	4.7	3.8	4.7
9 years	5.8	4.7	4.8	4.1
10 years	6.7	5.2	4.9	4.8
11 years	6.9	6.7	4.8	4.7
12 years	7.1	6.3	6.5	4.7
13 years	7.1	6.1	6.2	6.0
14 years	7.3	7.5	6.2	5.9
15 years	6.2	7.5	7.3	6.1
16 years	5.0	5.9	6.7	6.3
17 years	3.8	4.4	4.8	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	1.4	1.7	1.8	0.9
Asian	0.4	0.1	0.2	<.1
Black (non-Hispanic)	47.2	44.6	43.8	42.5
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.2
Hispanic (of any race)	4.8	6.1	5.7	6.1
White (non-Hispanic)	43.3	44.4	44.5	45.8
Two or More Races	2.6	2.9	3.6	3.9
Unknown	0.2	<.1	0.2	0.5
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	1,324	1,296	1,198	1,203

Age of Children Adopted (%)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Under 1 year	3.3	4.7	4.1	3.8
1 year	11.3	10.3	11.8	12.1
2 years	10.6	11.0	12.2	11.6
3 years	9.8	8.1	10.2	11.2
4 years	7.9	7.5	7.1	8.5
5 years	6.8	8.0	8.2	7.1
6 years	6.1	5.6	5.9	6.7
7 years	5.6	5.0	4.8	5.6
8 years	5.1	5.5	5.7	5.1
9 years	5.4	5.7	4.0	3.3
10 years	6.0	5.0	4.5	4.5
11 years	4.9	5.6	5.3	4.1
12 years	5.0	5.1	3.6	3.6
13 years	3.2	4.0	3.8	3.0
14 years	3.2	3.1	3.0	2.7
15 years	2.4	2.7	1.6	2.7
16 years	2.0	2.0	3.1	2.9
17 years	1.1	1.1	0.9	1.4
18 years	0.2	0.2	0.3	<.1
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	1.4	0.6	1.5	2.3
Asian	0.2	0.4	<.1	0.4
Black (non-Hispanic)	43.9	41.4	34.2	35.7
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Hispanic (of any race)	6.3	5.0	8.3	8.0
White (non-Hispanic)	40.8	43.4	49.0	45.0
Two or More Races	6.8	9.0	6.8	8.2
Unknown	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.3
Missing data	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.0

North Carolina [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	91.0	91.8	92.1	93.3
Children with one or more recurrences	9.0	8.2	7.9	6.7
Number	15,834	14,556	13,311	11,275

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	1.01	1.00	0.82
Children not maltreated while in foster care	N/A	98.99	99.00	99.18
Number	N/A	14,601	15,271	16,180

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	23.2	23.4	23.3	20.7
Guardianship	12.2	10.8	12.9	13.1
Reunification	55.8	54.9	52.9	55.6
Other	8.8	10.9	10.9	10.6
Missing data	0.0	0.0	0.0	<.1
Number	5,404	5,067	5,194	5,482

3.2 Exits of Children With a Diagnosed Disability (%)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Adoption	23.9	26.9	23.0	19.2
Guardianship	11.5	9.0	11.3	10.0
Reunification	46.3	42.7	47.3	51.0
Other	18.2	21.4	18.4	19.8
Missing data	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Number	615	599	575	551

3.3 Exits of Children Older Than Age 12 at Entry Into Foster Care (%)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Adoption	2.6	2.8	3.1	3.0
Guardianship	9.0	8.2	9.8	9.6
Reunification	66.5	62.2	60.3	60.9
Other	21.9	26.8	26.9	26.4
Missing data	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Number	1,240	1,240	1,261	1,380

3.4 Exits to Emancipation (%)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Children age 12 or younger at entry	32.6	30.7	29.6	27.6
Children older than 12 at entry	67.4	69.3	70.4	72.2
Missing data	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.2
Number	328	387	389	417

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	12.6	18.5	15.2	16.3	20.7	25.0	0.0	11.9	26.2	25.3	22.2	19.3
Guardianship	29.8	16.0	34.5	16.3	6.9	5.0	33.3	2.4	12.3	12.0	11.1	14.5
Reunification	48.3	56.8	45.5	62.7	69.0	65.0	50.0	71.4	52.1	50.4	53.6	54.1
Other	9.3	8.6	4.8	4.8	3.4	5.0	16.7	14.3	9.4	12.3	13.1	12.1
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
Number	151	81	145	166	29	20	12	42	2,297	2,028	1,974	2,098

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	27.3	16.7	42.9	16.8	16.9	19.9	18.9	21.7	21.9	24.5	21.7
Guardianship	0.0	0.0	8.3	28.6	9.0	6.5	10.8	8.9	11.7	10.3	13.4	12.4
Reunification	100.0	72.7	75.0	28.6	67.9	68.6	59.6	63.5	57.8	57.2	52.3	55.4
Other	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	6.3	7.9	9.8	8.7	8.8	10.6	9.8	10.4
Missing data	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	<.1
Number	12	11	12	14	399	354	408	449	2,428	2,460	2,518	2,552

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	27.3	37.5	15.4	12.5	37.7	45.4	42.0	35.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Guardianship	27.3	25.0	7.7	25.0	7.8	10.3	12.5	15.9	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Reunification	45.5	25.0	69.2	56.3	46.8	41.2	35.7	45.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Other	0.0	12.5	7.7	6.3	7.8	3.1	9.8	3.4	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
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
Number	11	16	13	16	77	97	112	145	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.	60.2	64.0	60.8	62.9
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	25.1	23.4	27.1	24.9
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	7.7	6.5	6.8	6.7
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	3.1	2.9	2.1	2.5
48 or more mos.	3.7	3.1	3.1	2.9
Missing data	0.2	0.1	0.2	<.1
Number	3,017	2,784	2,749	3,047

4.2 Children Reentering Foster Care (%)
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Children entering care for the first time	97.6	96.9	97.2	96.8
Children reentering care within 12 mos. of a prior episode	1.2	1.4	1.5	1.8
Children reentering care more than 12 mos. after a prior episode	1.2	1.6	1.3	1.3
Missing data	<.1	<.1	0.0	<.1
Number	5,615	5,461	6,089	6,529

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.	6.3	5.9	6.0	6.4
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	25.3	28.8	33.9	32.4
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	27.3	28.2	28.2	31.3
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	17.2	15.9	16.1	14.3
48 or more mos.	23.9	21.3	15.7	15.5
Missing data	0.0	0.0	0.0	<.1
Number	1,252	1,185	1,208	1,135

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	57.7	52.3	56.6	56.6	37.1	30.2	27.1	32.3	18.0	14.4	13.8	11.6	92.9	97.4	94.3	93.3
Children with 3 or more placements	42.3	47.7	43.4	43.4	62.9	69.8	72.9	67.7	82.0	85.6	86.2	88.4	7.1	2.6	5.7	6.7
Number	6,707	6,525	7,057	7,655	3,325	3,574	3,702	3,995	4,885	4,463	4,477	4,500	14	39	35	30

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	2.8	2.9	2.2	2.3
Institutions	4.7	5.0	6.6	5.8
Other settings	92.5	92.1	91.2	91.9
Missing data	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Number	4,130	3,965	4,399	4,782

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

Composite One: Timeliness and Permanency of Reunification
	2004	2005
Composite Score	--	139.4
C1.1: Percent of reunifications that occur in less than 12 months (with adjustments)	69.7	72.1
C1.2: Median length of stay in months of children exiting to reunification (with adjustments)	6.7	6.4
C1.3: Percent of children in entry cohort who are reunified in less than 12 months (with adjustments)	29.9	30.2
C1.4: Percent of children reentering foster care in less than 12 months	1.6	2.3

Composite Two: Timeliness of Adoptions
	2004	2005
Composite Score	--	123.8
C2.1: Percent of adoptions occurring in less than 24 months	39.9	38.9
C2.2: Median length of stay in months of children who are adopted	26.8	27.6
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	23.5	22.5
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	13.6	14.4
C2.5: Percent of children legally free for adoption who are adopted in less than 12 months of becoming legally free	60.1	62.1

Composite Three: Achieving Permanency for Children in Foster Care for Long Periods of Time
	2004	2005
Composite Score	--	117.4
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	27.6	27.6
C3.2: Percent of children who are legally free for adoption who exit to a permanent home	95.2	94.1
C3.3: Percent of children emancipated or reaching age 18 who were in foster care for at least 3 years	50.8	49.5

Composite Four: Placement Stability While in Foster Care
	2004	2005
Composite Score	--	52.4
C4.1: Percent of children in care for less than 12 months with 2 or fewer placement settings	55.0	55.4
C4.2: Percent of children in care for 12 to 24 months with 2 or fewer placement settings	27.0	32.2
C4.3: Percent of children in care for at least 24 months with 2 or fewer placement settings	13.7	11.6

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

North Carolina [State Comment]

Sherry S. Bradsher, Director
Division of Social Services
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services

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

North Carolina has experienced a steady decline in the rate of child maltreatment victims. The state attributes this decline to the implementation of North Carolina's Multiple Response System (MRS). As part of the MRS initiative, social workers are encouraged to provide services to families immediately, such that at the time of case decision a safety risk no longer exists for the child. In order to capture cases where this is occurring, North Carolina implemented a new case decision finding in February 2006 – "Services Provided, No Longer Needed."
North Carolina's data shows that only 53% of children waiting to be adopted in North Carolina were reported to have a termination of parental rights. We believe that this is an error in our AFCARS mapping. As such, we have engaged in technical assistance with the National Resource Center for Child Welfare Data and Technology (NRC-CWDT). North Carolina is currently in the process of re-mapping this data with the goal of re-programming the data submission by Fall 2007.
With regard to the discrepancy between Outcome Measure 3.4 and the total number of children exiting foster care over 18, we believe this is due to errors in data entry and errors in AFCARS mapping. To address these issues, North Carolina is re-programming its AFCARS data according to the recommendations by the NRC-CWDT. The state is also revising its data entry manual and drafting plans to train social workers to do more accurate data entry in the future.
North Carolina is proud to show many areas of improved performance, including the percentage of children experiencing maltreatment recurrence, the percentage of children maltreated in foster care, the percentage of children exiting foster care to emancipation who were aged twelve or younger when they entered foster care, and the percentage of adoptions that occur within 24 months of a child's entry into care. We believe these improvements are tied to the MRS initiative, which seeks to instill family-centered practice at every level of North Carolina's child welfare system.
With regard to placement stability, North Carolina falls under the national median. After reviewing our data with the NRC-CWDT we believe that this is a result of errors in data entry, as well as errors in our AFCARS mapping. To address these issues, North Carolina re-mapped the AFCARS data regarding placement moves effective for the Fall 2006 AFCARS data submission. The state is also revising its data entry manual and drafting plans to train social workers to do more accurate data entry in the future. Although we believe placement stability is an area in which we could improve, we do not believe the current outcome measure accurately reflects practice in North Carolina.
North Carolina also falls under the national median with regard to the percentage of children who were age twelve or younger when they were placed in a group home or institution. In 2006, North Carolina started focusing on this issue closely and since last year we have seen a .7% decrease in the number of children who were age 12 or younger when they were placed in group homes or institutions as a result. The state plans to continue diligent efforts to further reduce this number.

North Carolina [Federal Comment]

PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

North Carolina'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, 6.7 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 slightly higher than the national median of 6.6 percent and represents an improvement in performance from 2002 (25.6 percent change).
In 2005, 0.82 percent of children in foster care in North Carolina 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, but represents an improvement in performance from 2003 (18.9 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, 89.4 percent of all children exiting foster care (measure 3.1), 80.2 percent of children exiting foster care who had a diagnosed disability (measure 3.2), and 73.5 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 three percentages exceed the national medians for these 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, 27.6 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 exceeds the national median of 26.4 percent.
In 2005, 94.1 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 is less than the national median of 95.7 percent.

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

In 2005, 7.6 percent of the children exiting foster care had a discharge reason of "emancipation" and 27.6 percent of these children were age 12 or younger when they entered foster care (measure 3.4). This latter percentage is equal to the national median and represents an improvement in performance from 2002 (15.3 percent change).
In 2005, 49.5 percent of the children exiting 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.

Performance with regard to the timeliness and permanency of reunifications.

In 2005, 72.1 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 exceeds the national median of 70.4 percent.
Measure C1.3 indicates that 30.2 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 is less than the national median of 38.7 percent.
Measure C1.4 indicates that 2.3 percent of children exiting foster care to reunification in 2005 reentered foster care in less than 12 months. This percentage is one of the lowest in the nation. Because measure C1.4 is a longitudinal measure of foster care reentry, 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, 38.9 percent of finalized adoptions occurred within 24 months of the child's entry into foster care (measures 5.1 and C2.1). This percentage exceeds the national median of 29.1 percent.
In 2005, 22.5 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 exceeds the national median of 20.9 percent.
Measure C2.5 indicates that 62.1 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.

Outcomes Pertaining to the Stability and Appropriateness of Placements

In 2005, 55.4 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 is less than the national median of 82.4 percent.
In 2005, 11.6 percent of children in foster care for 24 months or longer experienced two or fewer placement settings (measure 6.1). This percentage is less than the national median of 32.3 percent and represents a decline in performance from 2002 (35.6 percent change).
In 2005, 8.1 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 (8.0 percent change).