State Data Pages: Wisconsin

State Data Pages

Wisconsin Context Data

A. Key Context Statistics

GENERAL POPULATION IN 1997
Total children under 18 yrs	1,346,376
• Alaska Native/American Indian	1%
• Asian/Pacific Islander	2%
• Black	8%
• Hispanic	4%
• White	85%
Child population in poverty	11%
Child population living in metropolitan areas	73%
CHILD WELFARE
Child maltreatment victims during 1997	14,625
Children in foster care on 9/30/98	10,076
Children adopted during FY 1998	643

B. Child Maltreatment Data
(NCANDS SDC, 1997)

OVERVIEW	Count	Rate
Children subject of an investigated report alleging child maltreatment	43,406	32 per 1,000
Child maltreatment victims (1)	14,625	11 per 1,000
Child fatalities	28	2.1 per 100,000

AGE	Under	1-5 Yrs	6-10 Yrs	11-15 Yrs	16+ Yrs	Unknown	Total	Number
Child victims	4%	26%	28%	33%	10%	0%	101%	14,625

RACE/ETHNICITY	Alaska Native/A.I.	Asian/Pacific Islander	Black	Hispanic	White	Other	Unable to Determine/Missing	Total (2)	Number
Child victims	3%	2%	24%	4%	62%	0%	9%	104%	14,625

MALTREATMENT TYPE

Emotional

Medical Neglect

Neglect

Physical Abuse

Sexual Abuse

Other

Unknown

Total (3)

Number

Child victims

38%

24%

40%

16%

120%

14,625

(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	9,356	5,566	4,846	10,076	14,922
Median length of stay (months)	19.1	N/A	5.3	23.7	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%	24%	26%	29%	16%	1%	0%	98%	9,356
Entered care (FY 1998)	7%	16%	17%	42%	17%	0%	0%	99%	5,566
Exited care (FY 1998)	3%	18%	17%	34%	28%	0%	0%	100%	4,846
In care on 9/30/98	2%	21%	26%	31%	18%	3%	1%	102%	10,076

RACE/ETHNICITY	Alaska Native/A.I.	Asian/Pacific Islander	Black	Hispanic	White	Unable to Determine /Missing	Total	Number
In care on 10/1 /97	3%	1%	50%	4%	41%	0%	99%	9,356
Entered care (FY 1998)	5%	3%	21%	3%	68%	0%	100%	5,566
Exited care (FY 1998)	5%	2%	20%	3%	69%	0%	99%	4,846
In care on 9/30/98	3%	1%	48%	4%	43%	0%	99%	10,076

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

OVERVIEW
Children waiting to be adopted	865
• Children whose parents' rights have been terminated (TPR)	606

AGE	Under 1 Yr	1-5 Yrs	6-10 Yrs	11-15 Yrs	16-17 Yrs	Missing	Total	Number
Waiting children	2%	31%	35%	24%	6%	2%	100%	865

RACE/ETHNICITY	Alaska Native/A.I.	Asian/Pacific Islander	Black	Hispanic	White	Unable to Determine /Missing	Total	Number
Waiting children	7%	0%	33%	4%	56%	0%	100%	865

(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%	43%	38%	16%	3%	0%	101%	643

RACE/ETHNICITY	Alaska Native/A.I.	Asian/Pacific Islander	Black	Hispanic	White	Unable to Determine /Unknown	Total	Number
Children	5%	0%	48%	5%	42%	0%	100%	643

Wisconsin 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	11%
Guardianship	0%
Reunification	68%
Other	22%
Missing	0%
Total	101%
Number	4,846

Pie Chart

3.2 Exits of Disabled Children
Adoption	24%
Guardianship	0%
Reunification	52%
Other	25%
Missing	0%
Total	101%
Number	1,650

3.3 Exits of Children Age 12 or Older at Entry
Adoption	1%
Guardianship	0%
Reunification	66%
Other	34%
Missing	0%
Total	101%
Number	2,625

3.4 Exits by Race/Ethnicity	Alaska Native/ A.I.	Asian/Pacific Islander	Black	Hispanic	White	Unable to Determine	Missing
Adoption	13%	1%	22%	13%	7%	0%	0%
Guardianship	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%
Reunification	62%	77%	58%	68%	70%	0%	0%
Other	25%	22%	19%	19%	22%	0%	0%
Missing	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%
Total	100%	100%	99%	100%	99%	0%	0%
Number	253	112	982	159	3,340	0	0

3.5 Exits to Emancipation
Children age 12 or younger at entry	16%
Children older than 12 at entry	84%
Missing	0%
Total	100%
Number	268

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	13%
At least 24 months, but less than 36 months	4%
At least 36 months, but less than 48 months	1%
48 or more months	2%
Missing	1%
Total	100%
Number	3,273

Chart

4.2 Children Who Entered Foster Care in FY 1998
Children entering care for the first time	69%
Children re-entering care within 12 months of a prior episode	25%
Children re-entering care more than 12 months after a prior episode	6%
Missing	0%
Total	100%
Number	5,566

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

5.1 Time to Adoption
Less than 12 months	5%
At least 12 months, but less than 24 months	16%
At least 24 months, but less than 36 months	19%
At least 36 months, but less than 48 months	26%
48 or more months	34%
Missing	0%
Total	100%
Number	523

5.2 Time to Adoption for Children Age 3 or Older at Entry
Less than 12 months	7%
At least 12 months, but less than 24 months	17%
At least 24 months, but less than 36 months	15%
At least 36 months, but less than 48 months	27%
48 or more months	33%
Missing	0%
Total	99%
Number	235

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	95%	83%	74%	70%	70%	100%
Children with 3 or more placements	5%	17%	26%	30%	30%	0%
Missing	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%
Total	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%
Number	6,403	2,650	1,965	1,210	2,649	45

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	5%
Other settings	89%
Missing	0%
Total	99%
Number	2,725

Wisconsin State Comments

Mark S. Mitchell, Manager
Child Welfare Services Section, Bureau of Programs and Policies, Division of Children and Family
Services, Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services
(608) 267-3905

The out-of-home care data for Wisconsin includes children in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems. At the current time, we are unable to separate those data with any degree of certainty. When our SACWIS system is established statewide, we will be able to make that distinction.

In terms of our child maltreatment data, Wisconsin is unique in terms of the scope of responsibility for child protective services. In essence, any maltreatment of a child, regardless of the maltreater, is a child protective services issue. In most States, child protective services is limited to only those situations where the maltreater is functioning in a caretaker capacity.

Wisconsin exceeds the Nation in the percent of children adopted, and the percent of disabled children adopted, despite the inclusion of juvenile justice children in our out-of-home care population. We exceed national averages in the percentage of American Indian, Black, and Hispanic children leaving foster care to be adopted. Wisconsin completed 643 adoptions in Federal FY 1998 with 57 percent of children aged 5 or older.

Wisconsin has launched a multi-media effort to recruit more adoptive and foster care families, which has had initial success with inquiries from more than 300 interested families in the first 3 weeks. This on-going recruitment effort, including the use of a video before each movie in over 300 theaters statewide, is expected to increase resources for special needs adoptions and provide improved foster care for children in their own communities.

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