State Data Pages: Connecticut

State Data Pages

Connecticut Context Data

A. Key Context Statistics

GENERAL POPULATION IN 1997
Total children under 18 yrs	792,161
• Alaska Native/American Indian	0%
• Asian/Pacific Islander	3%
• Black	11%
• Hispanic	12%
• White	74%
Child population in poverty	10%
Child population living in metropolitan areas	95%
CHILD WELFARE
Child maltreatment victims during 1997	18,178
Children in foster care on 9/30/98	6,683
Children adopted during FY 1998	229*

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*See State Commentary

B. Child Maltreatment Data
(NCANDS SDC, 1997)

OVERVIEW	Count	Rate
Children subject of an investigated report alleging child maltreatment	37,031	47 per 1,000
Child maltreatment victims (1)	18,178	23 per 1,000
Child fatalities	-	-

AGE	Under	1-5 Yrs	6-10 Yrs	11-15 Yrs	16+ Yrs	Unknown	Total	Number
Child victims	4%	31%	32%	24%	8%	1%	100%	18,178

RACE/ETHNICITY	Alaska Native/A.I.	Asian/Pacific Islander	Black	Hispanic	White	Other	Unable to Determine/Missing	Total (2)	Number
Child victims	0%	0%	21%	16%	32%	16%	30%	115%	18,178

MALTREATMENT TYPE

Emotional

Medical Neglect

Neglect

Physical Abuse

Sexual Abuse

Other

Unknown

Total (3)

Number

Child victims

66%

90%

22%

13%

202%

18,178

(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	5,143	5,222	3,682	6,683	10,365
Median length of stay (months)	9.5	N/A	6.4	11.4	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	5%	31%	27%	26%	10%	1%	0%	100%	5,143
Entered care (FY 1998)	10%	26%	24%	31%	8%	0%	0%	99%	5,222
Exited care (FY 1998)	6%	27%	24%	26%	17%	1%	0%	101%	3,682
In care on 9/30/98	4%	29%	28%	28%	11%	1%	0%	101%	6,683

RACE/ETHNICITY	Alaska Native/A.I.	Asian/Pacific Islander	Black	Hispanic	White	Unable to Determine /Missing	Total	Number
In care on 10/1 /97	0%	0%	37%	30%	32%	0%	99%	5,143
Entered care (FY 1998)	0%	0%	31%	36%	32%	0%	99%	5,222
Exited care (FY 1998)	0%	0%	33%	35%	31%	0%	99%	3,682
In care on 9/30/98	0%	0%	35%	32%	33%	0%	100%	6,683

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

OVERVIEW
Children waiting to be adopted	728
• Children whose parents' rights have been terminated (TPR)	728

AGE	Under 1 Yr	1-5 Yrs	6-10 Yrs	11-15 Yrs	16-17 Yrs	Missing	Total	Number
Waiting children	1%	37%	39%	19%	3%	1%	100%	728

RACE/ETHNICITY	Alaska Native/A.I.	Asian/Pacific Islander	Black	Hispanic	White	Unable to Determine /Missing	Total	Number
Waiting children	0%	0%	39%	25%	36%	0%	100%	728

(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	1%	49%	36%	13%	1%	0%	100%	229

RACE/ETHNICITY	Alaska Native/A.I.	Asian/Pacific Islander	Black	Hispanic	White	Unable to Determine /Unknown	Total	Number
Children	0%	0%	31%	12%	44%	13%	100%	229

Connecticut 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	82%
Children with one or more recurrences within 12 months	18%
Total	100%
Number	16,326

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	9%
Guardianship	6%
Reunification	41%
Other	3%
Missing	42%
Total	101%
Number	3,682

Pie Chart

3.2 Exits of Disabled Children
Adoption	0%
Guardianship	0%
Reunification	39%
Other	6%
Missing	55%
Total	100%
Number	110

3.3 Exits of Children Age 12 or Older at Entry
Adoption	2%
Guardianship	2%
Reunification	23%
Other	8%
Missing	66%
Total	101%
Number	1,378

3.4 Exits by Race/Ethnicity	Alaska Native/ A.I.	Asian/Pacific Islander	Black	Hispanic	White	Unable to Determine	Missing
Adoption	0%	0%	12%	5%	9%	0%	0%
Guardianship	7%	0%	6%	6%	4%	0%	0%
Reunification	64%	80%	39%	45%	36%	0%	0%
Other	0%	0%	3%	2%	4%	0%	0%
Missing	29%	20%	39%	41%	47%	0%	0%
Total	100%	100%	99%	99%	100%	0%	0%
Number	14	5	1,218	1,301	1,144	0	0

3.5 Exits to Emancipation
Children age 12 or younger at entry	6%
Children older than 12 at entry	94%
Missing	0%
Total	100%
Number	36

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	71%
At least 12 months, but less than 24 months	16%
At least 24 months, but less than 36 months	8%
At least 36 months, but less than 48 months	3%
48 or more months	1%
Missing	1%
Total	100%
Number	1,494

Chart

4.2 Children Who Entered Foster Care in FY 1998
Children entering care for the first time	68%
Children re-entering care within 12 months of a prior episode	26%
Children re-entering care more than 12 months after a prior episode	6%
Missing	1%
Total	101%
Number	5,222

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

5.1 Time to Adoption
Less than 12 months	55%
At least 12 months, but less than 24 months	34%
At least 24 months, but less than 36 months	2%
At least 36 months, but less than 48 months	1%
48 or more months	3%
Missing	5%
Total	100%
Number	321

5.2 Time to Adoption for Children Age 3 or Older at Entry
Less than 12 months	56%
At least 12 months, but less than 24 months	36%
At least 24 months, but less than 36 months	2%
At least 36 months, but less than 48 months	0%
48 or more months	1%
Missing	5%
Total	100%
Number	247

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%	76%	76%	79%	84%	91%
Children with 3 or more placements	15%	24%	24%	21%	16%	9%
Missing	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%
Total	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%
Number	5,963	2,273	1,119	488	412	110

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	0%
Institutions	7%
Other settings	92%
Missing	0%
Total	99%
Number	3,374

Connecticut State Comments

Kristine Ragaglia, Esq., Director
Connecticut Department of Children and Families
(860) 550-6300

Connecticut joins others in affirming the fundamental principles of safety, permanency, and well-being for children as the basic values of child welfare. We also affirm that our practice must be outcome-based and we must be held accountable in our efforts to achieve those principles. Concurrently, we wish to express our belief that national comparisons are misleading and can influence conclusions that are incorrect. The variance in State statutes, policies, data collection, funding, and social welfare values cannot be over-stated. The role of systems other than the child welfare agency also cannot be ignored in assessing outcomes for children.

Having stated our caution, our comments regarding some of the context data follow. To begin, Connecticut reports all child maltreatment fatalities to DCF, including those victims who were not previously known to the agency.

“Child Victims” is a discrete count of children, but maltreatment types are duplicate counts.

“Children Waiting to be Adopted” in Child Welfare Context Data, Section D, includes all children whose parental rights have been terminated. That total includes children in pre-adoptive homes, children in foster care in which foster parents are adopting, youth in Independent Living, and children who have treatment needs that must be satisfied before placement in a family setting can be effected.

“Children Adopted” in the Child Welfare Context Data, Section E, is discrepant with Child Welfare Outcome Measure 5.1, “Reduce Time in Foster Care to Adoption,” and the latter is more consistent with the actual number of adoptions in Connecticut in FY 1998 (314).

The amount of missing data is an indication of the complexity of the system, and/or a mapping difficulty between the State elements and AFCARS. Connecticut plans to research the missing data and to roll out an additional component of our SACWIS this fiscal year that will include treatment planning. These enhancements will impact on the collection of data. We close requesting acknowledgement that child welfare practice and information systems are dynamic. We must be permitted to comment in depth about the data, the influences of law, policy, and external systems on the measures for which we are held accountable and the goals that we strive to achieve.

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