State Data Pages: Florida

State Data Pages

Florida Context Data

A. Key Context Statistics

GENERAL POPULATION IN 1997
Total children under 18 yrs	3,471,316
• Alaska Native/American Indian	0%
• Asian/Pacific Islander	2%
• Black	21%
• Hispanic	16%
• White	60%
Child population in poverty	20%
Child population living in metropolitan areas	95%
CHILD WELFARE
Child maltreatment victims during 1997	79,785
Children in foster care on 9/30/98	26,320
Children adopted during FY 1998	1,549

B. Child Maltreatment Data
(NCANDS SDC, 1997)

OVERVIEW	Count	Rate
Children subject of an investigated report alleging child maltreatment	184,197	53 per 1,000
Child maltreatment victims (1)	79,785	23 per 1,000
Child fatalities	78	2.2 per 100,000

AGE	Under	1-5 Yrs	6-10 Yrs	11-15 Yrs	16+ Yrs	Unknown	Total	Number
Child victims	8%	29%	27%	21%	5%	9%	99%	79,785

RACE/ETHNICITY	Alaska Native/A.I.	Asian/Pacific Islander	Black	Hispanic	White	Other	Unable to Determine/Missing	Total (2)	Number
Child victims	0%	0%	29%	0%	61%	0%	10%	100%	79,785

MALTREATMENT TYPE

Emotional

Medical Neglect

Neglect

Physical Abuse

Sexual Abuse

Other

Unknown

Total (3)

Number

Child victims

45%

20%

46%

125%

79,785

(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	20,274	13,980	7,934	26,320	34,254
Median length of stay (months)	15.8	N/A	16.1	13.3	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%	31%	30%	24%	10%	1%	0%	100%	20,274
Entered care (FY 1998)	14%	34%	27%	20%	5%	0%	0%	100%	13,980
Exited care (FY 1998)	2%	32%	30%	20%	13%	2%	0%	99%	7,934
In care on 9/30/98	5%	31%	30%	23%	10%	1%	0%	100%	26,320

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%	53%	4%	42%	0%	99%	20,274
Entered care (FY 1998)	0%	0%	45%	5%	49%	0%	99%	13,980
Exited care (FY 1998)	0%	0%	50%	4%	45%	0%	99%	7,934
In care on 9/30/98	0%	0%	50%	5%	45%	0%	100%	26,320

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

OVERVIEW
Children waiting to be adopted	4,203
• Children whose parents' rights have been terminated (TPR)	-

AGE	Under 1 Yr	1-5 Yrs	6-10 Yrs	11-15 Yrs	16-17 Yrs	Missing	Total	Number
Waiting children	3%	32%	37%	25%	3%	0%	100%	4,203

RACE/ETHNICITY	Alaska Native/A.I.	Asian/Pacific Islander	Black	Hispanic	White	Unable to Determine /Missing	Total	Number
Waiting children	0%	0%	50%	4%	44%	0%	98%	4,203

(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%	47%	35%	15%	2%	0%	100%	1,549

RACE/ETHNICITY	Alaska Native/A.I.	Asian/Pacific Islander	Black	Hispanic	White	Unable to Determine /Unknown	Total	Number
Children	0%	0%	40%	10%	49%	0%	99%	1,549

Florida 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	87%
Children with one or more recurrences within 12 months	13%
Total	100%
Number	66,676

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	16%
Guardianship	0%
Reunification	72%
Other	13%
Missing	0%
Total	101%
Number	7,934

Pie Chart

3.2 Exits of Disabled Children
Adoption	-
Guardianship	-
Reunification	-
Other	-
Missing	-
Total	-
Number	-

3.3 Exits of Children Age 12 or Older at Entry
Adoption	4%
Guardianship	0%
Reunification	57%
Other	39%
Missing	0%
Total	100%
Number	1,728

3.4 Exits by Race/Ethnicity	Alaska Native/ A.I.	Asian/Pacific Islander	Black	Hispanic	White	Unable to Determine	Missing
Adoption	7%	11%	13%	11%	19%	25%	0%
Guardianship	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%
Reunification	87%	78%	75%	77%	68%	67%	0%
Other	7%	11%	13%	12%	13%	8%	0%
Missing	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%
Total	101%	100%	101%	100%	100%	100%	0%
Number	15	18	3,937	327	3,601	36	0

3.5 Exits to Emancipation
Children age 12 or younger at entry	28%
Children older than 12 at entry	72%
Missing	0%
Total	100%
Number	684

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	44%
At least 12 months, but less than 24 months	28%
At least 24 months, but less than 36 months	13%
At least 36 months, but less than 48 months	6%
48 or more months	8%
Missing	0%
Total	99%
Number	5,674

Chart

4.2 Children Who Entered Foster Care in FY 1998
Children entering care for the first time	88%
Children re-entering care within 12 months of a prior episode	5%
Children re-entering care more than 12 months after a prior episode	8%
Missing	0%
Total	101%
Number	13,980

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

5.1 Time to Adoption
Less than 12 months	28%
At least 12 months, but less than 24 months	14%
At least 24 months, but less than 36 months	19%
At least 36 months, but less than 48 months	14%
48 or more months	23%
Missing	2%
Total	100%
Number	1,241

5.2 Time to Adoption for Children Age 3 or Older at Entry
Less than 12 months	39%
At least 12 months, but less than 24 months	14%
At least 24 months, but less than 36 months	15%
At least 36 months, but less than 48 months	11%
48 or more months	18%
Missing	3%
Total	100%
Number	694

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	-	-	-	-	-	-
Children with 3 or more placements	-	-	-	-	-	-
Missing	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	-	-	-	-	-	-
Number	-	-	-	-	-	-

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	-
Institutions	-
Other settings	-
Missing	-
Total	-
Number	-

Florida State Comments

Linda Radigan, Assistant Secretary
Family Safety, Florida Department of Children and Families
(850) 488-8762

Florida reports ethnicity in AFCARS but not NCANDS. Ethnicity is available to case workers in the computer system for abuse reports, but not in the legacy reporting extract used for NCANDS. In Florida's foster care data, Hispanic children are under-reported. Ethnicity has only been captured for children having a new abuse report since 1/17/1996.

Florida's high percentage of “Other” maltreatments reflect the State category Threatened Harm. Almost a quarter of these relate to domestic violence.

Child Welfare Outcome Measure 1: When Florida measures recurrence, the follow-up period starts when all State services are closed, and substantiation is determined for each individual child.

Child Welfare Outcome Measures 3.1- 3.4: Florida children who exit foster care to guardianship are included in reunification.

Child Welfare Outcome Measures 6.1 and 7.1: Florida has been tracking placement data locally, not in statewide data systems. Starting with the October 1999-March 2000 reporting period, Florida expects to report these data.

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