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III. Federal Data Sources

To know whether State child welfare agencies are achieving the desired outcomes of safety and permanency for children, the data used to measure these outcomes must be accurate and reliable. Only with such data can all those concerned with the welfare of children —parents, social workers, administrators, attorneys, judges, legislators, Federal and State officials, and the public —make informed decisions regarding the children served by the child welfare system, the programs designed to help children and families, and the policies that establish the mandates for services.

This chapter provides an overview of the States' capacities to collect and report child welfare data and briefly summarizes the data sources that were used for this report.

State Capacity to Collect and Report on Child Welfare Outcomes

Over the past several years, State child welfare agencies have made great strides in collecting and analyzing child welfare data and in reporting these data to the Federal Government. States have been assisted in this endeavor in a number of ways. The Congress, through the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, provided 3 years of enhanced Federal funding to States to modernize and expand their data collection capabilities through the design of new and improved Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information Systems (SACWIS). Even though the period of enhanced Federal funding has ended, States may still improve their child welfare information systems and claim 50 percent of their expenditures as title IV-E administrative costs.

As of May 2000, there were 22 fully operational SACWIS systems; 18 systems were being implemented; and 6 were in the planning and design stages. Operational Systems: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming. Implementation Phase: Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Wisconsin. Planning Phase: Alaska, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio.

In spite of the development of new data collection infrastructures, State capacity to collect and report valid data in a nationally consistent format continues to be a challenge. As States transition from older, payment-focused systems to more comprehensive, child-focused systems, State agencies face difficult decisions as to how best to implement the new systems while still addressing everyday work requirements. For example, workers need to be trained; manuals need to be revised; and paper and automated information systems need to be synchronized. The reality is that some States are still in the process of converting their data to their SACWIS systems and may not have been able to supply all of the data elements for the outcome measures used in this report.

Data Sources for the Outcome Measures

Information for this report has been compiled from several data sources. The report uses 1997 population estimates from the Census Bureau to provide general, contextual information for each State, such as the total number of children younger than 18 years of age in the State. The majority of data used in this report has been extracted from two national child welfare reporting systems: the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), which collects data on child maltreatment, and the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), which collects data on foster care and adoption. These data collection systems are briefly described below. See appendix E for a list of the data elements that have been used for the contextual information and the outcome measures.

In response to the 1988 amendments to the Child Abuse and Prevention Treatment Act (CAPTA), the Department developed the voluntary National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS). The NCANDS has two components: the Summary Data Component (SDC), which collects State aggregate data on key child maltreatment indicators, and the Detailed Case Data Component (DCDC), which collects case-level data on children in all reports alleging child abuse and/or neglect. Both components collect data on an annual basis.

The ninth annual report on child maltreatment was published by the Department in June 2000.

Almost all States submit data to the SDC. Recent amendments to CAPTA require States that receive the CAPTA State Child Abuse and Neglect Grant (the Basic State Grant) to report, to the maximum extent practicable, a number of data elements on child maltreatment, which have been incorporated into the SDC. Forty-nine States submitted data to the SDC for 1997. The participation in the voluntary DCDC has been more gradual. In 1997, 16 States reported to the DCDC. It is anticipated that as States fully implement their SACWIS systems, participation will increase in the coming years.

The Department expects additional States to report DCDC case-level data for 1998.

In 1986, Congress added section 479 of the Social Security Act, directing the Department to establish and implement a system for the collection of comprehensive adoption and foster care data in the United States. After an extensive assessment of the ability of States to provide such data, the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) was designed and implemented. Data are reported twice a year. The first reporting period was October 1, 1994, through March 31, 1995.

AFCARS consists of two databases: the Foster Care Database and the Adoption Database. States submit case-level data to the Foster Care Database on all children in out-of-home care who are under placement, care, and supervision of the State child welfare agency. States also submit case-level data to the Adoption Database on all children adopted with State child welfare agency involvement. These include children in foster care and other children who received services from the child welfare system.

This report uses data from the 1998 Annual Foster Care Database and the 1998 Annual Adoption Database. The programming logic used to unduplicate and merge the 6-month submissions into annual databases can be accessed on-line at the Children's Bureau's website, located at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb. Data from 41 States are included in the 1998 Annual Foster Care Database, and data from 49 States make up the 1998 Annual Adoption Database.

No additional reporting burden has been placed on the States in compiling data for this report.

Because this report uses these two established national data sources, the NCANDS and the AFCARS, all 50 States plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have data on some elements.

To assist the States in improving the quality of their data submissions, the Department is providing technical assistance through the newly established National Resource Center on Information Technology in Child Welfare and through the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) Development, Implementation, and Technical Assistance Program. The Department is confident that through these collaborative efforts, State data capacity will continue to improve, and data from more States will be incorporated into future annual reports.

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