State Data Pages: California

State Data Pages

California Context Data

A. Key Context Statistics

GENERAL POPULATION IN 1997
Total children under 18 yrs	8,951,653
• Alaska Native/American Indian	1%
• Asian/Pacific Islander	11%
• Black	7%
• Hispanic	40%
• White	41%
Child population in poverty	25%
Child population living in metropolitan areas	99%
CHILD WELFARE
Child maltreatment victims during 1997	174,170
Children in foster care on 9/30/98	112,767
Children adopted during FY 1998	4,062

B. Child Maltreatment Data
(NCANDS SDC, 1997)

OVERVIEW	Count	Rate
Children subject of an investigated report alleging child maltreatment	480,443	54 per 1,000
Child maltreatment victims (1)	174,170	19 per 1,000
Child fatalities	47	0.5 per 100,000

AGE	Under	1-5 Yrs	6-10 Yrs	11-15 Yrs	16+ Yrs	Unknown	Total	Number
Child victims	1%	8%	11%	9%	4%	67%	100%	174,170

RACE/ETHNICITY	Alaska Native/A.I.	Asian/Pacific Islander	Black	Hispanic	White	Other	Unable to Determine/Missing	Total (2)	Number
Child victims	0%	1%	4%	12%	14%	0%	80%	111%	174,170

MALTREATMENT TYPE

Emotional

Medical Neglect

Neglect

Physical Abuse

Sexual Abuse

Other

Unknown

Total (3)

Number

Child victims

47%

31%

15%

100%

174,170

(1) Children with more than one report of substantiated or indicated maltreatment may be counted more than once.
(2) Percentages may total more than 100 percent because Hispanics may be counted both by Hispanic ethnicity and by race.
(3) Percentages may total more than 100 percent because children could have been victims of more than one type of maltreatment.

C. Children in Foster Care
(AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database, FY 1998)

OVERVIEW	In Care on 10/1/97	Entered Care (FY 1998)	Exited Care (FY 1998)	In Care on 9/30/98	Total Served
Children	109,819	52,997	50,049	112,767	162,816
Median length of stay (months)	19.8	N/A	12.2	21.6	N/A

AGE	Under 1 Yr	1-5 Yrs	6-10 Yrs	11-15 Yrs	16-18 Yrs	19 + Yrs	Missing	Total	Number
In care on 10/1/97	4%	30%	29%	24%	12%	1%	0%	100%	109,819
Entered care (FY 1998)	14%	29%	23%	24%	11%	0%	0%	101%	52,997
Exited care (FY 1998)	4%	31%	23%	19%	20%	2%	0%	99%	50,049
In care on 9/30/98	4%	28%	29%	27%	12%	0%	0%	100%	112,767

RACE/ETHNICITY	Alaska Native/A.I.	Asian/Pacific Islander	Black	Hispanic	White	Unable to Determine /Missing	Total	Number
In care on 10/1 /97	1%	2%	37%	29%	31%	0%	100%	109,819
Entered care (FY 1998)	1%	3%	23%	35%	37%	1%	100%	52,997
Exited care (FY 1998)	1%	3%	24%	32%	38%	1%	99%	50,049
In care on 9/30/98	1%	2%	35%	31%	30%	1%	100%	112,767

D. Children Waiting to be Adopted on 9/30/1998 (4)
(AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database, FY 1998)

OVERVIEW
Children waiting to be adopted	4,455
• Children whose parents' rights have been terminated (TPR)	1,915

AGE	Under 1 Yr	1-5 Yrs	6-10 Yrs	11-15 Yrs	16-17 Yrs	Missing	Total	Number
Waiting children	8%	55%	26%	9%	2%	0%	100%	4,455

RACE/ETHNICITY	Alaska Native/A.I.	Asian/Pacific Islander	Black	Hispanic	White	Unable to Determine /Missing	Total	Number
Waiting children	1%	1%	27%	30%	40%	0%	99%	4,455

(4) Waiting children are children who have a goal of adoption and/or whose parental rights have been terminated. Children 16 years and older with TPR, but with a goal of emancipation have been excluded from the waiting children and TPR populations.

E. Children Adopted
(AFCARS Annual Adoption Database, FY 1998)

AGE	Under 1 Yr	1-5 Yrs	6-10 Yrs	11-15 Yrs	16+ Yrs	Missing	Total	Number
Children	3%	61%	28%	7%	1%	0%	100%	4,062

RACE/ETHNICITY	Alaska Native/A.I.	Asian/Pacific Islander	Black	Hispanic	White	Unable to Determine /Unknown	Total	Number
Children	1%	3%	25%	34%	37%	1%	101%	4,062

California Outcomes Data

1. Reduce Recurrence of Child Abuse and/or Neglect
(NCANDS, DCDC 1997)

1.1 Recurrence of Maltreatment
Children without a recurrence within 12 months	-
Children with one or more recurrences within 12 months	-
Total	-
Number	-

2. Reduce the Incidence of Child Abuse and/or Neglect in Foster Care

2.1 Maltreatment in Foster Care
Children maltreated while in foster care	To be reported in 2001
Children not maltreated while in foster care	To be reported in 2001
Total	To be reported in 2001
Number	To be reported in 2001

3. Increase Permanency for Children in Foster Care
(AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database, FY 1998)

3.1 Exits from Foster Care
Adoption	6%
Guardianship	3%
Reunification	47%
Other	9%
Missing	35%
Total	100%
Number	50,049

Pie Chart

3.2 Exits of Disabled Children
Adoption	7%
Guardianship	3%
Reunification	46%
Other	9%
Missing	36%
Total	101%
Number	988

3.3 Exits of Children Age 12 or Older at Entry
Adoption	0%
Guardianship	1%
Reunification	48%
Other	20%
Missing	30%
Total	99%
Number	15,145

3.4 Exits by Race/Ethnicity	Alaska Native/ A.I.	Asian/Pacific Islander	Black	Hispanic	White	Unable to Determine	Missing
Adoption	7%	3%	6%	5%	8%	4%	0%
Guardianship	7%	2%	3%	2%	3%	2%	0%
Reunification	43%	53%	45%	50%	45%	46%	0%
Other	8%	7%	12%	7%	8%	5%	0%
Missing	35%	35%	34%	35%	36%	44%	0%
Total	100%	100%	100%	99%	100%	101%	0%
Number	627	1,504	12,166	16,168	19,009	575	0

3.5 Exits to Emancipation
Children age 12 or younger at entry	36%
Children older than 12 at entry	64%
Missing	0%
Total	100%
Number	2,739

4. Reduce Time to Reunification Without Increasing Re-entry
(AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database, FY 1998)

4.1 Time to Reunification
Less than 12 months	55%
At least 12 months, but less than 24 months	26%
At least 24 months, but less than 36 months	8%
At least 36 months, but less than 48 months	3%
48 or more months	6%
Missing	1%
Total	99%
Number	23,680

Chart

4.2 Children Who Entered Foster Care in FY 1998
Children entering care for the first time	78%
Children re-entering care within 12 months of a prior episode	14%
Children re-entering care more than 12 months after a prior episode	7%
Missing	1%
Total	100%
Number	52,997

5. Reduce Time in Foster Care to Adoption
(AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database, FY 1998)

5.1 Time to Adoption
Less than 12 months	12%
At least 12 months, but less than 24 months	24%
At least 24 months, but less than 36 months	26%
At least 36 months, but less than 48 months	19%
48 or more months	19%
Missing	0%
Total	100%
Number	3,105

5.2 Time to Adoption for Children Age 3 or Older at Entry
Less than 12 months	17%
At least 12 months, but less than 24 months	26%
At least 24 months, but less than 36 months	20%
At least 36 months, but less than 48 months	18%
48 or more months	19%
Missing	0%
Total	100%
Number	1,159

6. Increase Placement Stability
(AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database, FY 1998)

6.1 Number of Placements by Time in Care	Less than 12 mos.	At least 12 mos., but < 24	At least 24 mos., but < 36	At least 36 mos., but < 48	48 or more mos.	Missing
Children with 2 or fewer placements	85%	70%	62%	59%	61%	99%
Children with 3 or more placements	15%	30%	38%	41%	39%	1%
Missing	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%
Total	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%
Number	59,548	36,159	18,868	11,927	35,355	959

7. Reduce Placements of Young Children in Group Homes or Institutions
(AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database, FY 1998)

7.1 Most Recent Placement Settings of Children Who Entered Care During FY 1998 and Were Age 12 or Younger at the Time of This Placement
Group homes	5%
Institutions	11%
Other settings	84%
Missing	0%
Total	100%
Number	37,818

California State Comments

Del Sayles Owens, Acting Deputy Director
Children and Family Services Division, California Department of Social Services
(916) 445-0813

Child Welfare Context Data, Section B: The first child abuse reporting law in California mandated that only physicians report physical abuse. Over the years, the definition of child abuse and the persons required to report expanded. California's Child Abuse Reporting Law now includes child care custodians, health practitioners, child protective agencies, commercial film and photographic print processors, animal control officers, firefighters, and clergy. California's larger-than-average number of individuals required by law to report child abuse contributes to a higher child abuse reports per capita than other States.

Child Welfare Context Data, Section C: Among its foster care population, California includes dependent children cared for by relative caregivers and probation children residing in group homes. This number is anticipated to be significantly reduced by implementation of California's Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment Program (Kin-GAP) January 1, 2000. This program will provide subsidies to foster children living with relative guardians when they have lived with the relative at least 12 months and juvenile court dependency has been dismissed.

Child Welfare Context Data, Section C: With regard to the median length of stay, it should be noted that this statistic can be skewed by the fact that children living with relative caregivers, who are included in California's foster care population, tend to stay in care longer than children living with nonrelative foster parents. This statistic is also anticipated to be positively impacted by the implementation of the Kin-GAP program, which will reduce the numbers of children in foster care with relative caregivers and therefore reduce lengths of stay in the foster care system.

Child Welfare Outcomes Data, Measure 3.3: Probation children, who are counted in California's foster care population, come into the system at older ages and tend not to be good candidates for adoption. Because a significant portion of older children at entry to foster care are probation children, this skews the data to indicate a low rate of exit due to adoption.

Child Welfare Outcomes Data, Measures 3.1, 3.2, and 3.3: The statistic on reasons for discharge (“Missing” category) was negatively impacted by data conversion in which a valid code was not available prior to our transition to our new Child Welfare Services/Case Management System (CWS/CMS). The amount of old data converted was at the discretion of the 58 counties, but was promoted to enrich the new database. The majority of missing data for reasons for discharge has been corrected in CWS/CMS.

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