General Population	1998	1999
Total children under 18 years	3,187,332	3,181,338
Race/ethnicity (%)
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.1	0.1
Asian/Pacific Islander	3.4	3.5
Black	18.5	18.5
Hispanic	14.4	15.0
White	63.6	63.0
% Child population in poverty	17.5	15.0
% Child population living in metropolitan areas	80.1	88.6

 

Child Welfare	1998	1999
Child maltreatment victims	35,657	33,125
Children in foster care on 9/30	48,737	40,270
Children adopted	4,656	7,028

 

B. Child Maltreatment Data (NCANDS SDC, 1998 & 1999)

	Number		Rate
Maltreatment Information Overview	1998	1999	1998	1999
Children subject of an investigated report alleging child maltreatment	110,658	104,418	34.7 per 1,000	32.8 per 1,000
Child maltreatment victims1	35,657	33,125	11.2 per 1,000	10.4 per 1,000
Child fatalities	58	80	1.8 per 100,000	2.5 per 100,000

Age of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999
Under 1 year	14.6	13.8
1-5 years	32.8	32.9
6-10 years	29.9	30.1
11-15 years	18.9	19.4
16+ years	3.6	3.7
Unknown	0.1	0.1
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	35,657	33,125

 

Race/Ethnicity of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.0	0.0
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.4	0.4
Black	39.3	39.1
Hispanic	8.5	8.5
White	48.6	48.6
Other	2.5	11.2
Unknown	0.6	0.7
Total %2	100.0	108.5
Number	35,657	33,125

 

Maltreatment Type of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999
Emotional abuse	1.3	1.2
Medical neglect	3.5	3.1
Neglect	44.8	40.6
Physical abuse	11.4	11.2
Sexual abuse	10.1	10.2
Other	43.2	42.8
Unknown	-	-
Total %3	114.3	109.0
Number	35,657	33,125

1) Children with more than one report of substantiated or indicated maltreatment may be counted more than once. Back
2) Percentages may total more than 100 percent because Hispanics may be counted both by Hispanic ethnicity and by race. Back
3) Percentages may total more than 100 percent because children could have been victims of more than one type of maltreatment. Back

C. Children in Foster Care
(AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database, FY 1998 & FY 1999)

Number of Children	In Care on 10/1	Entered Care	Exited Care	In Care on 9/30	Total Served
FY1998 (10/1/97-9/30/98)	52,134	9,229	12,627	48,737	61,363
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	46,526	7,856	14,112	40,270	54,382
Median Length of Stay (Months)	<	<	<	<	<
FY1998 (10/1/97-9/30/98)	35.6	N/A	42.7	40.0	N/A
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	40.0	N/A	47.3	40.9	N/A

 

Age of Children in Foster Care (%)	In Care on 10/1/97	In Care on 10/1/98	Entered Care During FY 1998	Entered Care During FY 1999	Exited Care During FY 1998	Exited Care During FY 1999	In Care on 9/30/98	In Care on 9/30/99
Under 1 year	3.1	3.4	24.8	23.5	1.9	1.9	3.4	3.3
1-5 years	29.9	27.8	27.8	28.7	27.5	27.9	27.7	26.0
6-10 years	29.9	29.6	21.1	21.6	29.4	32.2	29.7	27.9
11-15 years	22.9	23.4	19.0	18.5	18.7	19.7	23.7	24.4
16-18 years	11.1	12.2	6.5	6.9	12.9	10.4	12.1	13.8
19+ years	3.0	3.4	0.7	0.8	7.5	5.6	3.3	4.4
Missing	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.0	2.1	2.3	0.1	0.1
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	52,134	46,526	9,229	7,856	12,627	14,112	48,737	40,270

 

Race/Ethnicity of Children in Foster Care (%)	In Care on 10/1/97	In Care on 10/1/98	Entered Care During FY 1998	Entered Care During FY 1999	Exited Care During FY 1998	Exited Care During FY 1999	In Care on 9/30/98	In Care on 9/30/99
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.1
Black	77.6	77.3	64.0	60.5	69.3	72.2	77.2	75.8
Hispanic	4.6	4.8	7.2	6.0	6.1	5.0	4.7	4.9
White	16.3	16.5	26.4	30.8	22.7	21.2	16.5	17.6
Unknown	1.3	1.3	2.2	2.4	1.6	1.4	1.3	1.5
Not applicable	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	52,134	46,526	9,229	7,856	12,627	14,112	48,737	40,270

 

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Overview	9/30/98	9/30/99
Children waiting to be adopted	23,023	13,909
Children whose parents' rights have been terminated (TPR)	6,066	12,706

 

Age of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999
Under 1 year	2.1	2.4
1-5 years	35.5	35.7
6-10 years	39.4	38.9
11-15 years	21.0	21.6
16+ years	1.6	1.1
0.3	0.3	0.3
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	23,023	13,909

 

Race/Ethnicity of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.1	0.1
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.0	0.1
Black	83.3	78.0
Hispanic	4.0	4.2
White	11.6	16.1
Unknown	1.0	1.5
Not applicable	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	23,023	13,909

 

E. Children Adopted
(AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database, FY 1998 & 1999)

 

Age of Adopted Children (%)	1998	1999
Under 1 year	0.8	0.5
1-5 years	39.2	36.6
6-10 years	40.9	41.8
11-15 years	17.0	19.0
16+ years	2.1	2.1
Unknown	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	4,656	7,028

 

Race/Ethnicity of Adopted Children (%)	1998	1999
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.1	0.1
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.1	0.1
Black	75.1	79.9
Hispanic	4.6	4.1
White	18.8	14.7
Unknown	1.3	1.2
Not applicable	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	4,656	7,028

 

 

Illinois [ Outcomes Data ]

 

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1. Reduce Recurrence of Child Abuse and/or Neglect
(NCANDS, DCDC 1998 & 1999)

1.1 Recurrence of Maltreatment Within 6 Months (%)	1998	1999
Children without a recurrence	89.0	89.5
Children with one or more recurrences	11.0	10.5
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	16,960	15,520

2. Reduce the Incidence of Child Abuse and/or Neglect in Foster Care
(NCANDS, DCDC Jan —Sept, AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database Jan —Sept 1998 & 1999)

2.1 Maltreatment in Foster Care (%)	1998	1999
Children maltreated while in Foster Care	0.7	0.6
Children not maltreated while in Foster Care	99.3	99.4
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	58,640	51,374

 

3. Increase Permanency for Children in Foster Care
(AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database FY 1998 & FY 1999)

3.1 Exits from Foster Care (%)	1998	1999
Adoption	27.4	45.6
Guardianship	0.0	3.2
Reunification	45.1	30.8
Other	5.0	10.1
Missing	22.4	10.3
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	12,627	14,112

 

3.2 Exits of Disabled Children (%)	1998	1999
Adoption	32.2	39.7
Guardianship	-	3.0
Reunification	29.1	23.6
Other	8.4	20.5
Missing	30.3	13.2
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	1,687	2,083

 

3.3 Exits of Children Over Age 12 at Entry (%)	1998	1999
Adoption	0.7	2.0
Guardianship	-	0.5
Reunification	30.3	33.9
Other	18.7	47.3
Missing	50.3	16.3
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	2,296	1,925

 

3.4 Exits to Emancipation (%)	1998	1999
Children age 12 or younger at entry	28.1	32.9
Children older than 12 at entry	71.9	66.9
Missing	-	0.2
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	516	1,234

 

3.5 Exits by Race/Ethnicity (%)	Alaska Native/A.I.		Asian/P.I.		Black		Hispanic
	1998	1999	1998	1999	1998	1999	1998	1999
Adoption	13.3	33.3	10.7	17.4	29.3	50.4	22.9	38.3
Guardianship	-	-	-	-	-	3.3	-	0.1
Reunification	53.3	40.0	53.6	60.9	41.7	25.0	56.3	47.5
Other	20.0	20.0	25.0	21.7	4.9	9.5	5.1	6.1
Missing	13.3	6.7	10.7	-	24.1	11.8	15.7	7.9
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	15	15	28	23	8,747	10,187	765	705
	White		Unable to Determine		Not Applicable		Missing
	1998	1999	1998	1999	1998	1999	1998	1999
Adoption	23.4	31.9	26.0	38.1	N/A	-	-	-
Guardianship	0.1	3.6	-	0.5	N/A	-	-	-
Reunification	51.5	45.2	58.5	46.4	N/A	-	-	-
Other	5.1	13.2	3.0	6.7	N/A	-	-	-
Missing	19.9	6.1	12.5	8.2	N/A	-	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	N/A	-	-	-
Number	2,872	2,988	200	194	N/A	-	-	-

 

4. Reduce Time to Reunification Without Increasing Re-entry
(AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database FY 1998 & FY 1999)

4.1 Time to Reunification (%)	1998	1999
Less than 12 mos.	28.7	33.8
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	16.3	18.7
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	15.2	15.9
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	14.8	10.4
48 or more mos.	24.5	19.5
Missing	0.6	1.7
Total (%)	100.0	100.0
Number	5,696	4,343

 

4.2 Children Who Entered Foster Care (%)	1998	1999
Children entering care for the first time	78.3	75.9
Children re-entering care within 12 mos. of a prior episode	13.6	13.6
Children re-entering care more than 12 mos. after a prior episode	6.5	6.7
Missing	1.5	3.7
Total (%)	100.0	100.0
Number	9,229	7,856

 

 

5. Reduce Time in Foster Care to Adoption
(AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database FY 1998 & FY 1999)

5.1 Time to Adoption (%)	1998	1999
Less than 12 mos.	1.2	1.4
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	5.6	5.3
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	13.1	12.8
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	21.9	19.0
48 or more mos.	58.0	60.7
Missing	0.1	0.8
Total (%)	100.0	100.0
Number	3,466	6,441

 

6. Increase Placement Stability
(AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database FY 1998 & FY 1999)

6.1 Number of Placements by Time in Care (%)	Year	Children With 2 or Fewer Placements	Children With 3 or More Placements	Missing Placements	Total %	Number
Less than 12 mos.	1998 1999	79.4 79.8	20.6 20.2	0.1 0.0	100.0 100.0	9,787 8,223
At least 12 mos., but <24 mos.	1998 1999	61.6 60.5	38.4 39.5	- -	100.0 100.0	8,434 7,467
At least 24 mos., but <36 mos.	1998 1999	55.5 52.1	44.5 47.9	- -	100.0 100.0	8,964 7,131
At least 36 mos., but <48 mos.	1998 1999	49.3 44.3	50.7 55.7	- -	100.0 100.0	9,213 7,059
48 or more mos.	1998 1999	37.5 33.2	62.5 66.8	0.0 -	100.0 100.0	24,849 24,278
Missing	1998 1999	56.9 85.3	2.6 1.3	40.5 13.4	100.0 100.0	116 224

 

7. Reduce Placements of Young Children in Group Homes or Institutions
(AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database FY 1998 & FY 1999)

7.1 Most Recent Placement Settings of Children Who Entered Care During the Fiscal Year and Were Age 12 or Younger at the Time of This Placement (%)	1998	1999
Group homes	0.4	0.2
Institutions	3.4	3.9
Other settings	93.9	94.0
Missing	2.3	1.8
Total (%)	100.0	100.0
Number	7,376	6,198

 

Illinois [ State Comments]

 

Jess McDonald, Director
Illinois Department of Children and Family Services
217-785-2509

 

Illinois' dramatic improvements in reducing its substitute care population, and moving children to permanency, are not reflected in DHHS's outcome measures. Illinois strongly disagreed with the methods used to establish national performance indicators during the original comment period and continues to do so.

In March 1997, Illinois' substitute care population was 51,841. In March 2000, the population dropped to 33,527, a decrease of over 35%. During this period, intake into the substitute care population declined from 16,071 to 6,025 placements. Illinois moved over 9,500 children to adoptions or guardianship in FY 1999 and another 7,900 children in FY 2000. Achieving the national standard of adoptions within 24-months will be difficult since a large proportion of adoptions continues to involve children who have been in foster care for lengthy periods of time. While Illinois does need improvements in reunifying children within 12 months, the percentage of children reunified promptly has increased in the last three fiscal years. Children in substitute care are also safer. Linked foster care and abuse records show a decline in the maltreatment of children in care from 3.5% in FY 1995 to .6% in FY 2000.

Differences in state laws, policies, and practices do not allow for valid interstate comparisons and contribute to arbitrary national standards. Illinois registered a re-abuse rate of 11% —twice the imputed national standard. But this standard is based on data from only 20 states. Re-abuse is most common in neglect cases, yet the national standard includes at least one state that excludes general neglect from its reporting law. In some states, a subsequent report during an on-going investigation is not counted as re-abuse. In Illinois, a new investigation is initiated for each subsequent incident. Finally, Illinois is being compared to states that use widely different standards of evidence of abuse and neglect. All of these differences render interstate comparisons precarious.

With regard to Section B: Child Maltreatment Data (NCANDS, 1998-1999), at the time Illinois submitted the data for 1998 and 1999 there were 58 child fatalities in 1998 and 80 child fatalities in 1999. However, there were some pending fatality investigations that eventually resulted in additional findings regarding child maltreatment fatalities. As of this date (March 7, 2001), there were 63 child fatalities from abuse/neglect in Illinois during Calendar Year 1998 and 86 child fatalities from abuse/neglect during Calendar Year 1999.

 

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