State Data Pages: Maine

State Data Pages

Maine Context Data

A. Key Context Statistics

GENERAL POPULATION IN 1997
Total children under 18 yrs	297,266
• Alaska Native/American Indian	1%
• Asian/Pacific Islander	1%
• Black	0%
• Hispanic	1%
• White	97%
Child population in poverty	13%
Child population living in metropolitan areas	33%
CHILD WELFARE
Child maltreatment victims during 1997	3,746
Children in foster care on 9/30/98	3,595
Children adopted during FY 1998	112

B. Child Maltreatment Data
(NCANDS SDC, 1997)

OVERVIEW	Count	Rate
Children subject of an investigated report alleging child maltreatment	10,041	34 per 1,000
Child maltreatment victims (1)	3,746	13 per 1,000
Child fatalities	3	1.0 per 100,000

AGE	Under	1-5 Yrs	6-10 Yrs	11-15 Yrs	16+ Yrs	Unknown	Total	Number
Child victims	5%	29%	32%	27%	7%	0%	100%	3,746

RACE/ETHNICITY	Alaska Native/A.I.	Asian/Pacific Islander	Black	Hispanic	White	Other	Unable to Determine/Missing	Total (2)	Number
Child victims	2%	0%	2%	1%	96%	0%	0%	101%	3,746

MALTREATMENT TYPE

Emotional

Medical Neglect

Neglect

Physical Abuse

Sexual Abuse

Other

Unknown

Total (3)

Number

Child victims

69%

51%

22%

11%

153%

3,746

(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	2,658	1,646	712	3,595	4,304
Median length of stay (months)	26.2	N/A	14.7	18.4	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	2%	21%	26%	30%	17%	2%	2%	100%	2,658
Entered care (FY 1998)	16%	25%	23%	28%	7%	0%	1%	100%	1,646
Exited care (FY 1998)	5%	23%	20%	21%	24%	5%	1%	99%	712
In care on 9/30/98	5%	21%	26%	29%	16%	2%	2%	101%	3,595

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%	0%	2%	1%	93%	2%	99%	2,658
Entered care (FY 1998)	2%	0%	2%	2%	84%	11%	101%	1,646
Exited care (FY 1998)	3%	0%	3%	1%	91%	3%	101%	712
In care on 9/30/98	1%	0%	2%	2%	89%	5%	99%	3,595

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

OVERVIEW
Children waiting to be adopted	1,199
• Children whose parents' rights have been terminated (TPR)	1,353

AGE	Under 1 Yr	1-5 Yrs	6-10 Yrs	11-15 Yrs	16-17 Yrs	Missing	Total	Number
Waiting children	5%	29%	35%	21%	6%	4%	100%	1,199

RACE/ETHNICITY	Alaska Native/A.I.	Asian/Pacific Islander	Black	Hispanic	White	Unable to Determine /Missing	Total	Number
Waiting children	1%	1%	2%	1%	92%	3%	100%	1,199

(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	0%	38%	34%	22%	4%	3%	101%	112

RACE/ETHNICITY	Alaska Native/A.I.	Asian/Pacific Islander	Black	Hispanic	White	Unable to Determine /Unknown	Total	Number
Children	4%	0%	2%	2%	88%	4%	100%	112

Maine 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	4%
Guardianship	1%
Reunification	59%
Other	13%
Missing	24%
Total	101%
Number	712

Pie Chart

3.2 Exits of Disabled Children
Adoption	0%
Guardianship	0%
Reunification	50%
Other	0%
Missing	50%
Total	100%
Number	2

3.3 Exits of Children Age 12 or Older at Entry
Adoption	0%
Guardianship	2%
Reunification	44%
Other	29%
Missing	25%
Total	100%
Number	251

3.4 Exits by Race/Ethnicity	Alaska Native/ A.I.	Asian/Pacific Islander	Black	Hispanic	White	Unable to Determine	Missing
Adoption	0%	0%	6%	14%	4%	0%	17%
Guardianship	10%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%
Reunification	76%	50%	61%	0%	59%	75%	17%
Other	10%	50%	0%	0%	13%	0%	17%
Missing	5%	0%	33%	86%	23%	25%	50%
Total	101%	100%	100%	100%	99%	100%	101%
Number	21	2	18	7	646	12	6

3.5 Exits to Emancipation
Children age 12 or younger at entry	22%
Children older than 12 at entry	78%
Missing	0%
Total	100%
Number	60

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	57%
At least 12 months, but less than 24 months	23%
At least 24 months, but less than 36 months	10%
At least 36 months, but less than 48 months	3%
48 or more months	5%
Missing	1%
Total	99%
Number	420

Chart

4.2 Children Who Entered Foster Care in FY 1998
Children entering care for the first time	89%
Children re-entering care within 12 months of a prior episode	2%
Children re-entering care more than 12 months after a prior episode	0%
Missing	8%
Total	99%
Number	1,646

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

5.1 Time to Adoption
Less than 12 months	0%
At least 12 months, but less than 24 months	7%
At least 24 months, but less than 36 months	20%
At least 36 months, but less than 48 months	10%
48 or more months	60%
Missing	3%
Total	100%
Number	30

5.2 Time to Adoption for Children Age 3 or Older at Entry
Less than 12 months	0%
At least 12 months, but less than 24 months	0%
At least 24 months, but less than 36 months	22%
At least 36 months, but less than 48 months	0%
48 or more months	78%
Missing	0%
Total	100%
Number	9

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	66%	45%	34%	31%	28%	81%
Children with 3 or more placements	33%	55%	66%	68%	71%	10%
Missing	1%	0%	1%	0%	1%	10%
Total	100%	100%	101%	99%	100%	101%
Number	1,737	697	479	358	1,002	31

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	1%
Institutions	2%
Other settings	87%
Missing	9%
Total	99%
Number	1,012

Maine State Comments

Margaret Semple, Director
Bureau of Child and Family Services, Maine Department of Human Services
(207) 287-5060

MACWIS, Maine's SACWIS system became operational statewide in April 1998. The AFCARS submission for March 31, 1998, consisted of data from Maine's legacy system and was incomplete. Data for the March 31, 1998, submission that we know to be under-reported include number of children submitted as adopted; number of children diagnosed as disabled; and number of children discharged from foster care.

Data for the September 1998 submission that we suspect may be under-reported include number of children discharged from foster care by discharge reason and number of children with a previous discharge from foster care.

Also, in Child Welfare Context Data Section D: (“Children Waiting to be Adopted on 9/30/1998,”) it is unclear how this term is defined. If “Children Waiting to be Adopted” means the number of children whose parents' rights were terminated, then the figure of 995 is not far off, but the actual number is probably about 100 children fewer. If the term means the number of children with the goal of adoption, then the number is high by about 200.

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