General Population	1998	1999
Total children under 18 years	504,210	495,612
Race/ethnicity (%)
Alaska Native/American Indian	11.8	11.9
Asian/Pacific Islander	1.2	1.2
Black	1.7	1.7
Hispanic	48.4	49.2
White	36.9	36.0
% Child population in poverty	30.7	29.7
% Child population living in metropolitan areas	49.6	56.4

 

Child Welfare	1998	1999
Child maltreatment victims	4,241	3,730
Children in foster care on 9/30	821	1,978
Children adopted	197	258

 

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	13,403	12,084	26.6 per 1,000	24.4 per 1,000
Child maltreatment victims1	4,241	3,730	8.4 per 1,000	7.5 per 1,000
Child fatalities	5	7	1.0 per 100,000	1.4 per 100,000

Age of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999
Under 1 year	-	5.5
1-5 years	-	23.0
6-10 years	-	31.1
11-15 years	-	27.1
16+ years	-	9.0
Unknown	-	4.3
Total %	-	100.0
Number	-	3,730

 

Race/Ethnicity of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999
Alaska Native/American Indian	-	8.6
Asian/Pacific Islander	-	0.7
Black	-	3.7
Hispanic	-	45.9
White	-	75.7
Other	-	4.2
Unknown	-	7.1
Total %2	-	145.9
Number	-	3,730

 

Maltreatment Type of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999
Emotional abuse	13.7	16.5
Medical neglect	2.7	2.8
Neglect	52.3	52.4
Physical abuse	24.9	22.3
Sexual abuse	6.3	6.0
Other	0.1	0.0
Unknown	-	-
Total %3	100.0	100.0
Number	4,241	3,730

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)	470	1,480	1,137	821	1,950
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	1,813	1,840	1,739	1,978	3,653
Median Length of Stay (Months)	<	<	<	<	<
FY1998 (10/1/97-9/30/98)	2.1	N/A	0.3	6.9	N/A
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	13.9	N/A	1.2	18.0	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	5.3	4.0	11.4	11.5	8.6	6.5	6.7	3.9
1-5 years	29.6	29.2	32.9	33.9	31.9	34.7	32.9	26.9
6-10 years	33.8	29.1	26.8	27.8	27.4	29.0	30.5	30.2
11-15 years	23.8	24.8	23.2	21.4	24.1	20.0	23.1	25.7
16-18 years	7.2	10.4	5.7	5.3	7.9	7.8	6.7	10.9
19+ years	0.2	2.3	-	-	0.1	1.4	-	2.1
Missing	-	0.1	0.1	0.2	-	0.5	0.1	0.1
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	470	1,813	1,480	1,840	1,137	1,739	821	1,978

 

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	7.2	5.7	12.0	13.3	14.6	14.5	5.5	6.5
Asian/Pacific Islander	-	0.2	0.2	0.4	0.3	0.3	-	0.3
Black	6.2	8.0	5.9	3.8	4.3	4.1	8.2	7.3
Hispanic	55.1	55.6	44.9	49.0	41.0	46.8	56.4	56.3
White	31.3	30.1	28.4	28.5	30.0	29.8	28.0	28.5
Unknown	0.2	-	8.6	4.0	9.9	3.9	1.9	0.3
Not applicable	-	0.3	-	1.0	-	0.5	-	0.8
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	470	1,813	1,480	1,840	1,137	1,739	821	1,978

 

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Overview	9/30/98	9/30/99
Children waiting to be adopted	120	844
Children whose parents' rights have been terminated (TPR)	18	52

 

Age of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999
Under 1 year	5.0	1.8
1-5 years	33.3	32.1
6-10 years	36.7	41.4
11-15 years	23.3	23.7
16+ years	1.7	1.1
Unknown	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	120	844

 

Race/Ethnicity of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999
Alaska Native/American Indian	2.5	6.2
Asian/Pacific Islander	-	0.2
Black	5.0	8.6
Hispanic	69.2	58.9
White	23.3	25.5
Unknown	-	-
Not applicable	-	0.6
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	120	844

 

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

 

Age of Adopted Children (%)	1998	1999
Under 1 year	2.0	1.2
1-5 years	41.1	32.9
6-10 years	36.0	46.1
11-15 years	17.8	17.1
16+ years	2.5	2.7
Unknown	0.5	-
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	197	258

 

Race/Ethnicity of Adopted Children (%)	1998	1999
Alaska Native/American Indian	3.0	-
Asian/Pacific Islander	-	-
Black	4.1	-
Hispanic	47.7	54.3
White	42.1	45.7
Unknown	3.0	-
Not applicable	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	197	258

 

 

New Mexico [ 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	-	91.7
Children with one or more recurrences	-	8.3
Total %	-	100.0
Number	-	915

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	-	-
Children not maltreated while in Foster Care	-	-
Total %	-	-
Number	-	-

 

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	0.2	2.4
Guardianship	3.0	2.8
Reunification	54.6	63.5
Other	4.4	8.0
Missing	37.8	23.2
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	1,137	1,739

 

3.2 Exits of Disabled Children (%)	1998	1999
Adoption	-	2.7
Guardianship	1.3	0.9
Reunification	30.8	61.3
Other	11.5	5.4
Missing	56.4	29.7
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	78	111

 

3.3 Exits of Children Over Age 12 at Entry (%)	1998	1999
Adoption	-	0.9
Guardianship	1.7	1.2
Reunification	48.0	52.4
Other	7.4	18.2
Missing	42.8	27.4
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	229	336

 

3.4 Exits to Emancipation (%)	1998	1999
Children age 12 or younger at entry	-	-
Children older than 12 at entry	100.0	100.0
Missing	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	6	37

 

3.5 Exits by Race/Ethnicity (%)	Alaska Native/A.I.		Asian/P.I.		Black		Hispanic
	1998	1999	1998	1999	1998	1999	1998	1999
Adoption	-	0.4	-	-	-	-	0.4	4.1
Guardianship	3.6	3.2	-	-	-	-	5.4	3.4
Reunification	51.2	60.9	100.0	100.0	51.0	59.7	50.6	59.9
Other	12.7	23.7	-	-	2.0	2.8	2.4	5.0
Missing	32.5	11.9	-	-	46.9	37.5	41.2	27.6
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	166	253	3	6	49	72	466	813
	White		Unable to Determine		Not Applicable		Missing
	1998	1999	1998	1999	1998	1999	1998	1999
Adoption	-	1.5	-	-	N/A	-	-	-
Guardianship	0.9	2.5	-	-	N/A	-	-	-
Reunification	57.8	67.6	60.0	50.0	N/A	100.0	76.6	89.3
Other	5.0	6.2	-	8.3	N/A	-	-	5.4
Missing	36.4	22.2	40.0	41.7	N/A	-	23.4	5.4
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	N/A	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	341	518	65	12	N/A	9	47	56

 

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.	94.0	87.3
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	0.2	7.6
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	0.2	0.1
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	-	-
48 or more mos.	-	-
Missing	5.6	5.0
Total (%)	100.0	100.0
Number	621	1,105

 

4.2 Children Who Entered Foster Care (%)	1998	1999
Children entering care for the first time	90.8	87.3
Children re-entering care within 12 mos. of a prior episode	4.4	7.4
Children re-entering care more than 12 mos. after a prior episode	0.1	1.1
Missing	4.7	4.2
Total (%)	100.0	100.0
Number	1,480	1,840

 

 

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.	-	4.8
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	100.0	40.5
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	-	52.4
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	-	-
48 or more mos.	-	-
Missing	-	2.4
Total (%)	100.0	100.0
Number	2	42

 

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	97.7 88.8	2.3 11.2	- -	100.0 100.0	1,589 1,980
At least 12 mos., but <24 mos.	1998 1999	96.7 66.6	3.3 33.4	- -	100.0 100.0	305 793
At least 24 mos., but <36 mos.	1998 1999	100.0 76.4	- 23.6	- -	100.0 100.0	1 836
At least 36 mos., but <48 mos.	1998 1999	- -	- -	- -	100.0 100.0	- -
48 or more mos.	1998 1999	- 100.0	- -	- -	100.0 100.0	- 1
Missing	1998 1999	100.0 100.0	- -	- -	100.0 100.0	55 43

 

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	13.3	13.9
Institutions	2.3	1.8
Other settings	84.3	84.3
Missing	-	-
Total (%)	100.0	100.0
Number	1,193	1,479

 

New Mexico [ State Comments]

 

Deborah Hartz, Secretary
Children, Youth and Families Department
505-827-7602

 

With respect to key context statistics, after review of the 1998 outcomes data, it was discovered that the AFCARS program was dropping files when the first removal from home was not indicated. This resulted in some under reporting of children in foster care for the 1998 data. A project was initiated in February of 2001 to correct the problem, but because of the deadline for final submission of the 99 data some records may still be under reported.

With respect to children in foster care, a disproportionate number of exits from foster care was noted in the early 1999 AFCARS submissions related to the AFCARS program defaulting to a discharge from all placements when records did not indicate a discharge from all placements. The problem was corrected and most records were corrected in the late February submission, but some over reporting of discharges may remain in the 1999 data. The current SACWIS system was activated in July of 1997 with some cases converted from the legacy system. Some older cases may still reflect a placement begin date of July 1997, which will alter measures that reflect time in care prior to 1997.

The recurrence of maltreatment data (outcome measure 1.1) reflects some over representation of subsequent reports of maltreatment related to duplicate investigation records being created by the state central intake operation. All reports require findings and may have had dispositions of maltreatment entered several days or weeks after the first duplicate report, which may inflate the recurrence of maltreatment calculation.

Regarding the data for outcome measure 2.1 (Maltreatment in Foster Care), New Mexico law requires investigation of reports of maltreatment in foster care to be completed by law enforcement outside of the agency. The reports were routed directly to law enforcement and not accepted in the SACWIS system during 1999. Beginning in 2001, reports will be entered in the system.

 

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