General Population	1998	1999
Total children under 18 years	5,629,200	5,719,234
Race/ethnicity (%)
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.2	0.2
Asian/Pacific Islander	2.6	2.7
Black	12.4	12.3
Hispanic	38.5	39.1
White	46.4	45.7
% Child population in poverty	24.4	22.1
% Child population living in metropolitan areas	82.9	81.4

 

Child Welfare	1998	1999
Child maltreatment victims	39,925	39,488
Children in foster care on 9/30	17,103	19,680
Children adopted	1,602	2,052

 

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	172,718	170,834	30.7 per 1,000	29.9 per 1,000
Child maltreatment victims1	39,925	39,488	7.1 per 1,000	6.9 per 1,000
Child fatalities	176	143	3.1 per 100,000	2.5 per 100,000

Age of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999
Under 1 year	11.2	10.7
1-5 years	33.2	33.0
6-10 years	31.0	31.3
11-15 years	21.3	21.1
16+ years	3.3	3.9
Unknown	0.1	0.0
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	39,925	39,488

 

Race/Ethnicity of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.3	0.3
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.6	0.7
Black	24.8	24.5
Hispanic	34.9	33.7
White	69.6	73.2
Other	3.7	0.5
Unknown	1.0	0.9
Total %2	134.9	133.7
Number	39,925	39,488

 

Maltreatment Type of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999
Emotional abuse	3.9	3.5
Medical neglect	4.8	5.1
Neglect	57.3	59.6
Physical abuse	29.9	29.3
Sexual abuse	15.7	14.9
Other	3.4	3.5
Unknown	-	-
Total %3	115.0	115.9
Number	39,925	39,488

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)	14,324	6,539	3,760	17,103	20,863
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	14,054	9,668	4,041	19,680	23,722
Median Length of Stay (Months)	<	<	<	<	<
FY1998 (10/1/97-9/30/98)	21.9	N/A	15.5	21.0	N/A
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	20.2	N/A	12.5	15.1	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	5.0	5.0	19.7	20.9	5.5	5.7	5.0	7.1
1-5 years	28.3	25.8	32.6	33.1	30.6	31.3	29.6	29.6
6-10 years	26.2	26.5	24.8	24.1	21.8	20.2	27.6	26.5
11-15 years	27.8	29.0	20.1	18.5	16.8	16.1	26.4	25.8
16-18 years	12.4	13.4	2.9	3.4	24.1	25.9	11.1	10.4
19+ years	0.2	0.2	0.0	-	1.3	0.8	0.3	0.5
Missing	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	14,324	14,054	6,539	9,668	3,760	4,041	17,103	19,680

 

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	0.3	0.2	0.4	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.4
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.4	0.4	0.2	0.2	0.3
Black	34.0	32.9	29.1	27.6	32.6	32.1	32.5	30.5
Hispanic	30.1	30.6	30.4	32.5	28.2	29.2	30.6	31.8
White	32.4	32.7	34.9	32.7	35.3	34.7	32.7	32.3
Unknown	3.0	3.3	5.1	4.7	3.2	3.2	3.8	4.0
Not applicable	-	0.0	-	1.6	-	0.2	-	0.8
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	14,324	14,054	6,539	9,668	3,760	4,041	17,103	19,680

 

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Overview	9/30/98	9/30/99
Children waiting to be adopted	8,017	8,734
Children whose parents' rights have been terminated (TPR)	5,811	6,707

 

Age of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999
Under 1 year	3.0	4.6
1-5 years	35.2	32.9
6-10 years	34.6	33.0
11-15 years	24.1	26.1
16+ years	2.8	3.2
Unknown	0.3	0.3
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	8,017	8,734

 

Race/Ethnicity of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.3	0.3
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.2	0.2
Black	34.2	32.6
Hispanic	31.3	31.8
White	30.1	30.2
Unknown	3.9	4.1
Not applicable	-	0.7
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	8,017	8,734

 

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

 

Age of Adopted Children (%)	1998	1999
Under 1 year	2.8	2.9
1-5 years	51.7	49.2
6-10 years	33.3	32.2
11-15 years	11.4	14.6
16+ years	0.7	1.2
Unknown	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	1,602	2,052

 

Race/Ethnicity of Adopted Children (%)	1998	1999
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.2	0.2
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.3	0.2
Black	34.0	30.1
Hispanic	31.0	35.4
White	29.0	30.5
Unknown	5.5	3.7
Not applicable	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	1,602	2,052

 

 

Texas [ 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	96.3	95.7
Children with one or more recurrences	3.7	4.3
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	20,794	20,929

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	0.3	0.3
Children not maltreated while in Foster Care	99.7	99.7
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	19,915	22,791

 

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	1.4	1.9
Guardianship	-	-
Reunification	72.1	67.6
Other	11.3	10.6
Missing	15.3	19.9
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	3,760	4,041

 

3.2 Exits of Disabled Children (%)	1998	1999
Adoption	1.1	2.7
Guardianship	-	-
Reunification	64.5	54.2
Other	14.5	15.8
Missing	19.9	27.3
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	825	984

 

3.3 Exits of Children Over Age 12 at Entry (%)	1998	1999
Adoption	-	-
Guardianship	-	-
Reunification	44.5	42.0
Other	30.3	24.6
Missing	25.2	33.4
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	812	847

 

3.4 Exits to Emancipation (%)	1998	1999
Children age 12 or younger at entry	42.9	50.2
Children older than 12 at entry	57.1	49.8
Missing	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0
Number	347	333

 

3.5 Exits by Race/Ethnicity (%)	Alaska Native/A.I.		Asian/P.I.		Black		Hispanic
	1998	1999	1998	1999	1998	1999	1998	1999
Adoption	-	-	7.1	-	0.5	1.5	1.4	2.5
Guardianship	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Reunification	57.1	53.8	71.4	75.0	74.3	71.4	73.4	65.8
Other	-	23.1	7.1	-	10.3	9.0	10.0	10.8
Missing	42.9	23.1	14.3	25.0	14.9	18.1	15.2	21.0
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	14	13	14	8	1,224	1,299	1,062	1,180
	White		Unable to Determine		Not Applicable		Missing
	1998	1999	1998	1999	1998	1999	1998	1999
Adoption	2.1	1.7	3.0	4.3	N/A	-	-	-
Guardianship	-	-	-	-	N/A	-	-	-
Reunification	68.6	65.4	79.1	63.8	N/A	33.3	73.6	81.7
Other	14.0	12.2	4.5	10.6	N/A	22.2	3.8	2.4
Missing	15.3	20.7	13.4	21.3	N/A	44.4	22.6	15.9
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	N/A	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	1,326	1,403	67	47	N/A	9	53	82

 

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.	47.6	59.6
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	29.6	27.0
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	10.9	6.0
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	5.1	2.9
48 or more mos.	6.7	4.6
Missing	0.1	-
Total (%)	100.0	100.0
Number	2,710	2,733

 

4.2 Children Who Entered Foster Care (%)	1998	1999
Children entering care for the first time	92.4	93.2
Children re-entering care within 12 mos. of a prior episode	2.0	2.0
Children re-entering care more than 12 mos. after a prior episode	3.1	3.3
Missing	2.6	1.6
Total (%)	100.0	100.0
Number	6,539	9,668

 

 

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.	5.8	16.0
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	38.5	36.0
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	17.3	10.7
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	25.0	17.3
48 or more mos.	13.5	20.0
Missing	-	-
Total (%)	100.0	100.0
Number	52	75

 

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	74.8 75.2	25.2 24.8	- 0.0	100.0 100.0	7,310 10,650
At least 12 mos., but <24 mos.	1998 1999	46.5 44.7	53.5 55.3	0.0 -	100.0 100.0	4,404 4,290
At least 24 mos., but <36 mos.	1998 1999	32.6 31.0	67.4 69.0	- -	100.0 100.0	2,523 2,491
At least 36 mos., but <48 mos.	1998 1999	25.9 23.5	74.1 76.5	- -	100.0 100.0	1,898 1,568
48 or more mos.	1998 1999	15.3 14.2	84.7 85.8	0.0 -	100.0 100.0	4,690 4,698
Missing	1998 1999	86.8 96.0	13.2 4.0	- -	100.0 100.0	38 25

 

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	2.1	3.0
Institutions	10.0	8.7
Other settings	83.1	83.4
Missing	4.8	4.9
Total (%)	100.0	100.0
Number	5,473	7,741

 

Texas [ State Comments]

 

James R. Hine, Executive Director
Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services
512-438-4800

 

There are significant differences between performance data associated with exits from foster care for fiscal year 1999 to be published in the Annual Report and the official data published in Texas.

An analysis of the 1999 Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) data for outcome measures 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3 reflects significant missing data associated with the "reason for discharge" information. Further analysis of the AFCARS extract has revealed that for various reasons the discharge codes were inadvertently omitted from the criteria. Therefore, the extract will be amended to include the missing codes in future reports. The discrepancy in data for outcome measure 5.1, as well as the data in Section E, "Children Adopted," was also a result of missing "reason for discharge" codes.

There remains a difference in the number of exits from foster care when comparing 1999 data in Section C and the official data published in Texas, visible when comparing children in care on September 30, 1998 and October 1, 1998. As published in the federal 1998 Annual Report comments, the 3,760 exits from foster care for the 3.1
outcome measure was significantly lower than the actual Texas count, which exceeded 6,600.

We also have a question in regard to outcome measure 2.1 concerning maltreatment in foster care. The NCANDS DCDC data set includes all investigations of child abuse and neglect by parents or caretakers. It also includes investigations done by our Licensing division of alleged abuse or neglect in non-PRS foster homes or facilities. Therefore, substantiated victims in the NCANDS data set who have a perpetrator who is a foster parent or facility staff person are not in the AFCARS data set, since it includes only children served by the state’s foster care system. To summarize, the numerator includes children not in the state ’s foster care system, but the denominator includes only children who are in the foster care system.

Ensuring that data published in the Annual Report accurately reflect Texas’ performance continues to be a high priority for PRS. The data, as submitted, clearly do not reflect the efforts or successes of the Department. We realize the value of the data and will strive to continue to improve upon the accuracy in reporting.

 

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