General Population	1998	1999
Total children under 18 years	959,296	955,930
Race/ethnicity (%)
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.2	0.2
Asian/Pacific Islander	1.0	1.0
Black	36.5	36.1
Hispanic	1.7	1.9
White	60.6	60.8
% Child population in poverty	20.1	17.5
% Child population living in metropolitan areas	63.6	67.9

 

Child Welfare	1998	1999
Child maltreatment victims	8,432	9,580
Children in foster care on 9/30	4,644	4,645
Children adopted	465	456

 

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	38,238	39,902	39.9 per 1,000	41.7 per 1,000
Child maltreatment victims1	8,432	9,580	8.8 per 1,000	10.0 per 1,000
Child fatalities	16	13	1.7 per 100,000	1.4 per 100,000

Age of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999
Under 1 year	3.9	8.2
1-5 years	35.6	26.9
6-10 years	29.9	31.3
11-15 years	24.2	24.9
16+ years	5.7	8.7
Unknown	0.8	0.0
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	8,432	9,580

 

Race/Ethnicity of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.0	0.3
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.2	0.6
Black	47.2	45.9
Hispanic	0.4	1.5
White	49.9	52.6
Other	2.3	0.2
Unknown	0.4	0.6
Total %2	100.4	101.7
Number	8,432	9,580

 

Maltreatment Type of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999
Emotional abuse	0.9	0.5
Medical neglect	4.4	4.1
Neglect	46.5	54.8
Physical abuse	14.7	13.7
Sexual abuse	8.4	6.3
Other	52.1	67.7
Unknown	-	0.1
Total %3	126.9	147.2
Number	8,432	9,580

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)	5,142	3,191	3,689	4,644	8,333
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	4,631	3,036	3,022	4,645	7,667
Median Length of Stay (Months)	<	<	<	<	<
FY1998 (10/1/97-9/30/98)	27.0	N/A	8.1	24.8	N/A
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	24.7	N/A	5.9	20.3	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	4.2	4.9	14.8	14.6	6.3	6.9	4.9	4.5
1-5 years	24.6	23.1	25.7	23.9	26.8	27.3	23.0	22.1
6-10 years	24.5	24.5	25.2	24.5	26.1	24.9	24.5	23.3
11-15 years	28.4	29.8	27.5	31.0	22.3	24.2	29.7	32.0
16-18 years	16.7	15.8	6.2	6.0	16.0	14.0	15.7	16.1
19+ years	1.5	1.9	0.2	0.0	2.1	2.3	1.9	1.9
Missing	0.2	0.0	0.4	-	0.4	0.4	0.3	0.1
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	5,142	4,631	3,191	3,036	3,689	3,022	4,644	4,645

 

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	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.1	0.2	0.3
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.3	0.1	0.3	0.2	0.2
Black	62.7	62.5	51.6	55.1	54.1	55.1	61.9	62.5
Hispanic	0.9	0.9	1.4	1.4	1.3	1.4	0.9	1.0
White	34.9	36.1	45.2	42.8	42.8	43.0	35.7	36.0
Unknown	1.0	0.1	1.6	0.1	1.4	0.1	1.1	0.0
Not applicable	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	5,142	4,631	3,191	3,036	3,689	3,022	4,644	4,645

 

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Overview	9/30/98	9/30/99
Children waiting to be adopted	1,927	2,071
Children whose parents' rights have been terminated (TPR)	704	620

 

Age of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999
Under 1 year	3.0	3.1
1-5 years	29.6	30.1
6-10 years	33.5	31.1
11-15 years	28.1	31.1
16+ years	4.6	4.1
Unknown	1.1	0.5
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	1,927	2,071

 

Race/Ethnicity of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.3	0.4
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.2	0.1
Black	66.4	66.1
Hispanic	0.6	0.6
White	31.1	32.8
Unknown	1.3	-
Not applicable	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	1,927	2,071

 

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

 

Age of Adopted Children (%)	1998	1999
Under 1 year	1.9	2.2
1-5 years	40.4	43.9
6-10 years	39.4	38.2
11-15 years	16.1	14.0
16+ years	2.2	1.8
Unknown	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	465	456

 

Race/Ethnicity of Adopted Children (%)	1998	1999
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.4	-
Asian/Pacific Islander	-	-
Black	68.4	61.4
Hispanic	0.4	0.7
White	29.0	36.6
Unknown	1.7	1.3
Not applicable	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	465	456

 

 

South Carolina [ 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	-	-
Children with one or more recurrences	-	-
Total %	-	-
Number	-	-

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	17.1	15.7
Guardianship	0.4	0.9
Reunification	73.5	73.2
Other	9.0	10.2
Missing	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	3,689	3,022

 

3.2 Exits of Disabled Children (%)	1998	1999
Adoption	32.7	36.8
Guardianship	-	0.5
Reunification	48.9	36.8
Other	18.4	26.0
Missing	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	370	389

 

3.3 Exits of Children Over Age 12 at Entry (%)	1998	1999
Adoption	0.6	0.5
Guardianship	0.2	0.9
Reunification	74.3	73.7
Other	24.9	24.8
Missing	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	871	742

 

3.4 Exits to Emancipation (%)	1998	1999
Children age 12 or younger at entry	35.1	36.1
Children older than 12 at entry	64.9	63.9
Missing	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	285	249

 

3.5 Exits by Race/Ethnicity (%)	Alaska Native/A.I.		Asian/P.I.		Black		Hispanic
	1998	1999	1998	1999	1998	1999	1998	1999
Adoption	16.7	50.0	-	-	20.1	17.0	23.4	9.8
Guardianship	-	-	-	-	0.6	0.9	-	-
Reunification	66.7	-	100.0	100.0	69.4	71.5	74.5	85.4
Other	16.7	50.0	-	-	9.9	10.6	2.1	4.9
Missing	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	12	2	3	10	1,997	1,666	47	41
	White		Unable to Determine		Not Applicable		Missing
	1998	1999	1998	1999	1998	1999	1998	1999
Adoption	12.9	14.2	23.1	50.0	N/A	-	-	-
Guardianship	0.1	0.9	-	-	N/A	-	-	-
Reunification	78.8	75.0	73.1	50.0	N/A	-	-	-
Other	8.1	9.9	3.8	-	N/A	-	-	-
Missing	-	-	-	-	N/A	-	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	N/A	-	-	-
Number	1,578	1,299	52	4	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.	74.2	82.7
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	11.1	10.4
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	5.8	2.8
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	3.8	1.5
48 or more mos.	4.6	2.5
Missing	0.6	0.2
Total (%)	100.0	100.0
Number	2,713	2,212

 

4.2 Children Who Entered Foster Care (%)	1998	1999
Children entering care for the first time	82.2	85.4
Children re-entering care within 12 mos. of a prior episode	9.0	5.6
Children re-entering care more than 12 mos. after a prior episode	8.1	8.6
Missing	0.6	0.3
Total (%)	100.0	100.0
Number	3,191	3,036

 

 

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.	3.2	2.3
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	7.0	8.6
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	17.6	20.8
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	20.8	26.1
48 or more mos.	51.3	42.1
Missing	0.2	-
Total (%)	100.0	100.0
Number	631	475

 

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	86.6 78.8	13.3 19.6	0.1 1.6	100.0 100.0	3,657 3,498
At least 12 mos., but <24 mos.	1998 1999	63.2 55.8	36.7 43.5	0.1 0.6	100.0 100.0	1,085 1,236
At least 24 mos., but <36 mos.	1998 1999	51.9 44.7	48.0 54.1	0.1 1.2	100.0 100.0	902 689
At least 36 mos., but <48 mos.	1998 1999	50.9 38.1	49.1 61.7	- 0.2	100.0 100.0	812 572
48 or more mos.	1998 1999	40.5 36.6	59.5 63.4	- -	100.0 100.0	1,844 1,658
Missing	1998 1999	100.0 85.7	- -	- 14.3	100.0 100.0	33 14

 

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	28.5	4.9
Institutions	1.5	17.8
Other settings	61.5	77.3
Missing	8.5	-
Total (%)	100.0	100.0
Number	2,324	2,137

 

South Carolina [ State Comments]

 

Elizabeth G. Patterson, J.D., State Director
South Carolina Department of Social Services
803-898-7318

 

Data were not available for outcome measures 1.1 and 2.1 for 1998 and 1999. South Carolina was in the process of converting to and implementing a new SACWIS System in 1998. Because of that process and a desire to provide accurate data, the NCANDS-DCDC submission was limited to data available from January 1, 1998 through August 1998 from the prior Central Registry System. We do have the data for Outcome Measure 2. 1. We had 21 foster children identified as victims of child maltreatment out of 6477 children served during 1998. Please see NCANDS SDC data submission for the Relationship of the Perpetrator to the Victim.

The data for outcome measure 7.1 indicate a decrease in placements for children age 12 and younger in group homes from 28.5 % in 1998 to 4.9% in 1999. The 1998 data were due to an error in the coding of private foster homes of private provider agencies, which was corrected for 1999.

We have noted a second issue for this measure which showed an increase from 1.5% in FY 1998 to 17.8% in FY 1999 for children placed in institutions. In South Carolina the majority of children are removed from their homes by law enforcement taking emergency protective custody. Most of these children are placed in an emergency shelter. Our emergency shelters are licensed for more than 12 beds. Any facility, including emergency shelters, with more than 12 children is licensed as an institution. In addition, we have a number of facilities with cottages on a campus setting with the cottage housing less than 12 children each (usually 6 to 8). These are also counted as an institution since we license the campus and not each cottage.

We will continue to monitor the data to determine if we need to make any corrections to our system.

 

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