State Data Pages: Minnesota

State Data Pages

Minnesota Context Data

A. Key Context Statistics

GENERAL POPULATION IN 1997
Total children under 18 yrs	1,250,685
• Alaska Native/American Indian	2%
• Asian/Pacific Islander	4%
• Black	4%
• Hispanic	3%
• White	88%
Child population in poverty	16%
Child population living in metropolitan areas	69%
CHILD WELFARE
Child maltreatment victims during 1997	10,777
Children in foster care on 9/30/98	8,618
Children adopted during FY 1998	429 *

*See State Commentary

B. Child Maltreatment Data
(NCANDS SDC, 1997)

OVERVIEW	Count	Rate
Children subject of an investigated report alleging child maltreatment	26,252	21 per 1,000
Child maltreatment victims (1)	10,777	9 per 1,000
Child fatalities	7	0.6 per 100,000

AGE	Under	1-5 Yrs	6-10 Yrs	11-15 Yrs	16+ Yrs	Unknown	Total	Number
Child victims	6%	30%	36%	24%	5%	0%	101%	10,777

RACE/ETHNICITY	Alaska Native/A.I.	Asian/Pacific Islander	Black	Hispanic	White	Other	Unable to Determine/Missing	Total (2)	Number
Child victims	8%	3%	26%	7%	63%	0%	1%	108%	10,777

MALTREATMENT TYPE

Emotional

Medical Neglect

Neglect

Physical Abuse

Sexual Abuse

Other

Unknown

Total (3)

Number

Child victims

65%

29%

110%

10,777

(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	7,354	11,772	10,512	8,618	19,126
Median length of stay (months)	14.5	N/A	1.1	12.0	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	3%	18%	25%	34%	20%	1%	0%	101%	7,354
Entered care (FY 1998)	5%	15%	15%	41%	24%	0%	0%	100%	11,772
Exited care (FY 1998)	3%	15%	15%	37%	29%	1%	0%	100%	10,512
In care on 9/30/98	3%	16%	22%	35%	22%	1%	0%	99%	8,618

RACE/ETHNICITY	Alaska Native/A.I.	Asian/Pacific Islander	Black	Hispanic	White	Unable to Determine /Missing	Total	Number
In care on 10/1 /97	13%	2%	25%	4%	55%	1%	100%	7,354
Entered care (FY 1998)	10%	2%	20%	4%	61%	2%	99%	11,772
Exited care (FY 1998)	9%	2%	20%	4%	61%	3%	99%	10,512
In care on 9/30/98	13%	2%	24%	5%	56%	1%	101%	8,618

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

OVERVIEW
Children waiting to be adopted	1,636
• 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	2%	22%	36%	28%	8%	3%	99%	1,636

RACE/ETHNICITY	Alaska Native/A.I.	Asian/Pacific Islander	Black	Hispanic	White	Unable to Determine /Missing	Total	Number
Waiting children	11%	1%	34%	5%	48%	0%	99%	1,636

(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%	36%	46%	15%	2%	0%	100%	429

RACE/ETHNICITY	Alaska Native/A.I.	Asian/Pacific Islander	Black	Hispanic	White	Unable to Determine /Unknown	Total	Number
Children	9%	2%	42%	6%	42%	0%	101%	429

Minnesota 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	2%
Guardianship	0%
Reunification	94%
Other	4%
Missing	0%
Total	100%
Number	10,512

Pie Chart

3.2 Exits of Disabled Children
Adoption	4%
Guardianship	0%
Reunification	88%
Other	8%
Missing	0%
Total	100%
Number	1,945

3.3 Exits of Children Age 12 or Older at Entry
Adoption	0%
Guardianship	0%
Reunification	94%
Other	6%
Missing	0%
Total	100%
Number	6,468

3.4 Exits by Race/Ethnicity	Alaska Native/ A.I.	Asian/Pacific Islander	Black	Hispanic	White	Unable to Determine	Missing
Adoption	2%	2%	1%	3%	3%	0%	0%
Guardianship	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%
Reunification	93%	93%	97%	94%	93%	100%	0%
Other	5%	5%	2%	3%	5%	0%	0%
Missing	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%
Total	100%	100%	100%	100%	101%	100%	0%
Number	994	247	2,141	422	6,435	273	0

3.5 Exits to Emancipation
Children age 12 or younger at entry	14%
Children older than 12 at entry	86%
Missing	0%
Total	100%
Number	210

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	79%
At least 12 months, but less than 24 months	7%
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	8%
Total	100%
Number	9,844

Chart

4.2 Children Who Entered Foster Care in FY 1998
Children entering care for the first time	53%
Children re-entering care within 12 months of a prior episode	0%
Children re-entering care more than 12 months after a prior episode	0%
Missing	47%
Total	100%
Number	11,772

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

5.1 Time to Adoption
Less than 12 months	23%
At least 12 months, but less than 24 months	27%
At least 24 months, but less than 36 months	21%
At least 36 months, but less than 48 months	11%
48 or more months	18%
Missing	0%
Total	100%
Number	224

5.2 Time to Adoption for Children Age 3 or Older at Entry
Less than 12 months	24%
At least 12 months, but less than 24 months	27%
At least 24 months, but less than 36 months	21%
At least 36 months, but less than 48 months	9%
48 or more months	18%
Missing	0%
Total	99%
Number	146

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	86%	61%	54%	48%	44%	99%
Children with 3 or more placements	14%	39%	46%	52%	56%	1%
Missing	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%
Total	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%
Number	12,352	2,321	1,126	671	1,870	786

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	4%
Institutions	20%
Other settings	76%
Missing	0%
Total	100%
Number	4,673

Minnesota State Comments

Erin Sullivan Sutton, Acting Assistant Commissioner
Children's Initiative, Minnesota Department of Human Services
(612) 296-2754

A number of factors may affect Minnesota's performance on the outcome measures, and are addressed below.

Child Welfare Context Data: Minnesota's child welfare context data include children who are in placement solely due to delinquency or status offenses, which account for 26 percent of all placements. Also included are emergency placements of less than 72 hours and less than 24 hours. These inclusions may drive up numbers in all areas, and specifically affect areas such as re-entry and reunification.

Delinquency and status offenses also impact exits to emancipation for children age 12 and younger.

The context data count of finalized adoptions is reflected as 429, yet later reflected as 224 in Child Welfare Outcome Measure 5.1, “Time to Adoption.” Neither number matches Minnesota's Adoption 2002 Initiative count of 427 finalized adoptions. It may be helpful to rectify these differences and/or explain reasons for the inconsistencies.

Child Welfare Outcomes Data Measure 4.2: Two calendar years were combined to produce re-entry numbers for children entering foster care in fiscal year 1998. Consequently, outcomes for specific children cannot be tracked between calendar years because child-identifiers are randomly assigned per calendar year.

Child Welfare Outcomes Data, Measures 5.1 and 5.2: Minnesota has two separate systems that track children using separate child-identifiers: (1) entry to foster care through termination of parental rights (TRP) and (2) TRP through adoption. These two systems currently do not allow for tracking from last removal from home, all the way through adoption. The new SACWIS system will improve tracking in this area.

Child Welfare Outcomes Data, Measures 6.1 and 7.1: Eighty percent of the placements in Minnesota's largest county are initially in an emergency shelter setting. It is unclear whether such an emergency shelter setting is described in measure 7.1 as “Institutions” or “Other Settings.” If emergency shelter is considered institutional, then the policy to utilize emergency shelter increases the percentage of institutions.

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