General Population	1998	1999
Total children under 18 years	2,859,828	2,852,520
Race/ethnicity (%)
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.1	0.1
Asian/Pacific Islander	2.0	2.1
Black	12.1	12.2
Hispanic	4.1	4.3
White	81.6	81.3
% Child population in poverty	17.9	12.8
% Child population living in metropolitan areas	84.8	90.0

 

Child Welfare	1998	1999
Child maltreatment victims	5,392	5,076
Children in foster care on 9/30	23,070	22,690
Children adopted	1,516	1,454

 

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	22,589	22,437	7.9 per 1,000	7.9 per 1,000
Child maltreatment victims1	5,392	5,076	1.9 per 1,000	1.8 per 1,000
Child fatalities	52	50	1.8 per 100,000	1.8 per 100,000

Age of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999
Under 1 year	3.1	0.6
1-5 years	22.5	21.0
6-10 years	30.5	28.3
11-15 years	32.1	32.5
16+ years	11.8	17.6
Unknown	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	5,392	5,076

 

Race/Ethnicity of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999
Alaska Native/American Indian	-	-
Asian/Pacific Islander	-	-
Black	-	-
Hispanic	-	-
White	-	-
Other	-	-
Unknown	-	-
Total %2	-	-
Number	-	-

 

Maltreatment Type of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999
Emotional abuse	1.9	2.0
Medical neglect	2.8	2.4
Neglect	3.8	3.8
Physical abuse	41.1	62.1
Sexual abuse	46.4	80.4
Other	5.8	1.8
Unknown	-	-
Total %3	101.8	152.5
Number	5,392	5,076

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)	20,983	13,019	10,933	23,070	34,002
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	21,809	13,299	12,419	22,690	35,108
Median Length of Stay (Months)	<	<	<	<	<
FY1998 (10/1/97-9/30/98)	23.6	N/A	10.4	19.6	N/A
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	20.5	N/A	10.3	19.2	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	3.5	3.4	11.4	10.7	3.4	3.1	4.0	3.9
1-5 years	22.8	21.1	18.8	18.8	20.0	18.9	21.3	20.5
6-10 years	25.0	23.9	16.2	16.8	17.6	16.7	23.3	23.4
11-15 years	30.0	30.7	34.4	34.6	27.3	26.9	30.3	31.3
16-18 years	17.5	19.5	19.1	18.9	29.2	31.6	19.5	19.3
19+ years	1.2	1.4	0.1	0.1	2.5	2.6	1.4	1.5
Missing	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.0
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	20,983	21,809	13,019	13,299	10,933	12,419	23,070	22,690

 

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	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.4	0.5	0.7	0.7	0.5	0.7	0.6	0.5
Black	54.5	52.4	41.4	40.9	43.8	42.6	52.2	51.0
Hispanic	9.7	10.7	11.0	11.1	9.6	10.5	10.5	11.0
White	34.8	36.0	46.3	46.9	45.5	45.6	36.2	37.1
Unknown	0.4	0.3	0.4	0.4	0.5	0.4	0.4	0.3
Not applicable	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	20,983	21,809	13,019	13,299	10,933	12,419	23,070	22,690

 

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Overview	9/30/98	9/30/99
Children waiting to be adopted	4,768	4,891
Children whose parents' rights have been terminated (TPR)	739	846

 

Age of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999
Under 1 year	2.6	2.1
1-5 years	35.9	32.1
6-10 years	37.2	37.5
11-15 years	20.7	24.1
16+ years	3.3	3.6
Unknown	0.4	0.6
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	4,768	4,891

 

Race/Ethnicity of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.0	0.0
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.4	0.4
Black	58.2	54.3
Hispanic	11.1	12.4
White	29.7	32.4
Unknown	0.5	0.4
Not applicable	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	4,768	4,891

 

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

 

Age of Adopted Children (%)	1998	1999
Under 1 year	0.8	1.0
1-5 years	44.2	43.6
6-10 years	38.9	38.2
11-15 years	14.2	14.9
16+ years	2.0	2.3
Unknown	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	1,516	1,454

 

Race/Ethnicity of Adopted Children (%)	1998	1999
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.1	0.1
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.2	0.1
Black	62.2	57.4
Hispanic	4.6	4.7
White	30.3	36.5
Unknown	2.7	1.2
Not applicable	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	1,516	1,454

 

 

Pennsylvania [ 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	97.2	97.5
Children with one or more recurrences	2.8	2.5
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	2,755	2,522

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	12.1	12.4
Guardianship	1.0	1.0
Reunification	70.9	71.2
Other	15.4	15.0
Missing	0.6	0.3
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	10,933	12,419

 

3.2 Exits of Disabled Children (%)	1998	1999
Adoption	14.9	16.7
Guardianship	1.3	1.3
Reunification	64.8	60.3
Other	18.9	21.6
Missing	0.1	0.1
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	2,035	2,526

 

3.3 Exits of Children Over Age 12 at Entry (%)	1998	1999
Adoption	0.2	0.2
Guardianship	1.1	1.0
Reunification	75.9	77.0
Other	21.8	21.3
Missing	1.0	0.5
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	4,688	5,761

 

3.4 Exits to Emancipation (%)	1998	1999
Children age 12 or younger at entry	33.8	30.6
Children older than 12 at entry	66.1	68.9
Missing	0.2	0.4
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	634	702

 

3.5 Exits by Race/Ethnicity (%)	Alaska Native/A.I.		Asian/P.I.		Black		Hispanic
	1998	1999	1998	1999	1998	1999	1998	1999
Adoption	9.1	-	7.8	3.3	16.0	16.4	12.4	10.0
Guardianship	-	-	-	-	0.9	1.1	1.0	1.2
Reunification	81.8	87.5	62.7	71.7	63.8	64.2	64.3	68.9
Other	9.1	12.5	27.5	25.0	18.3	17.9	21.1	19.5
Missing	-	-	2.0	-	1.0	0.4	1.1	0.4
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	11	16	51	92	4,793	5,296	1,050	1,302
	White		Unable to Determine		Not Applicable		Missing
	1998	1999	1998	1999	1998	1999	1998	1999
Adoption	8.4	9.5	5.3	13.3	N/A	-	-	-
Guardianship	1.0	0.9	1.8	2.2	N/A	-	-	-
Reunification	79.2	78.2	82.5	77.8	N/A	-	-	-
Other	11.3	11.2	10.5	6.7	N/A	-	-	-
Missing	0.2	0.2	-	-	N/A	-	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	N/A	-	-	-
Number	4,971	5,668	57	45	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.	66.3	67.1
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	16.5	19.7
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	7.0	5.6
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	3.8	2.5
48 or more mos.	6.0	4.7
Missing	0.4	0.4
Total (%)	100.0	100.0
Number	7,754	8,844

 

4.2 Children Who Entered Foster Care (%)	1998	1999
Children entering care for the first time	77.7	74.6
Children re-entering care within 12 mos. of a prior episode	15.5	18.0
Children re-entering care more than 12 mos. after a prior episode	5.4	7.2
Missing	1.4	0.2
Total (%)	100.0	100.0
Number	13,019	13,299

 

 

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.	2.0	2.3
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	10.3	15.2
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	18.4	21.1
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	21.1	18.1
48 or more mos.	48.3	43.4
Missing	-	-
Total (%)	100.0	100.0
Number	1,324	1,543

 

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	85.6 85.1	13.5 14.9	0.9 0.0	100.0 100.0	14,556 15,210
At least 12 mos., but <24 mos.	1998 1999	66.1 65.3	33.7 34.7	0.2 -	100.0 100.0	5,725 6,593
At least 24 mos., but <36 mos.	1998 1999	55.2 55.4	44.8 44.6	- -	100.0 100.0	3,646 3,695
At least 36 mos., but <48 mos.	1998 1999	48.8 48.8	51.2 51.2	- -	100.0 100.0	2,655 2,466
48 or more mos.	1998 1999	37.5 35.2	62.4 64.7	0.0 0.0	100.0 100.0	7,342 7,050
Missing	1998 1999	89.7 96.8	5.1 3.2	5.1 -	100.0 100.0	78 94

 

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	4.4	4.3
Institutions	9.5	8.5
Other settings	86.1	87.2
Missing	-	-
Total (%)	100.0	100.0
Number	6,856	6,987

 

Pennsylvania [ State Comments]

 

Jo Ann R. Lawer, Esq., Deputy Secretary
Children, Youth and Families
Department of Public Welfare
717-787-4756

 

With regard to Section B, data on the race/ethnicity of child maltreatment victims are not available because Pennsylvania's State Child Protective Services Law prohibits the collection of this information.

Data required to calculate the incidence of child maltreatment in foster care (outcome measure 2.1) were not available for 1998 (or 1999). Pennsylvania will be able to provide the data needed to calculate this measure in the next NCANDS report.

The data in Section C indicate that there were 1,061 fewer children in care on October 1, 1998 (21,809) than on September 30, 1998 (23,070). We believe this difference is due to several factors:

• the way that the federal data files are constructed;

• the way that Pennsylvania applies the extraction rule; and

• the fact that AFCARS data element 21(Date of Latest Removal From Home) can change from episode to episode. For example: a child removed from home on August 10, 1998 and discharged from placement Dec. 10, 1998 would be counted as in placement on 9/30/98. If the same child was again removed from home on Jan 10, 1999 and discharged March 10, 1999, he would NOT be counted on 10/1 even though he was in care at that time.

The data in Section E, which were taken from the Adoption Database, indicate that 1,451 children were adopted in FY 1999, but outcome measures 3.1 and 5.1, which were taken from the AFCARS Foster Care Database, show that 1,543 of the exits from foster care in FY 1999 were reported as discharges to adoption. The difference is caused by the difference between the date the child was discharged from foster care to an adoptive placement and the date the final adoption decree is received by the county. Sometimes counties do not receive official notice of the date of the final adoption decree on a timely basis. The child is discharged from foster care to adoption, but official notice of the legalized adoption date is not received and is not entered into the AFCARS Report prior to export of the AFCARS Adoption Database.

 

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