California
CALIFORNIA
Glenn Jue
Program Analyst
Case Management System Support Branch
California Department of Social Services
744 P Street, Mail Station 19-75
Sacramento, CA 95814
(919) 445-2752
(919) 322-5191 Fax
glenn.jue@dss.ca.gov
General: During 1997, California implemented its new SACWIS system, Child Welfare Services/Case Management System (CWS/CMS). Due to the varied implementation dates of the 58 counties, some of the reported data were based on estimates using the last reported monthly data under the previous system to complement the remainder of the 1997 reporting year.
Some preliminary observations point to the possibility that a data shift occurred during 1997 due to moving from a reporting system to a case management system. While the States former data sources relied on the same or similar reporting instructions, the precision of CWS/CMS and other factors require that trend analyses be undertaken with caution.
Item 3.1: This number represents the total emergency response dispositions minus all emergency response assessment cases closed, transferred, or determined inappropriate for in-person response.
Item 3.2: The number of children with "Unknown Dispositions" was estimated by subtracting the number of children with "Substantiated" dispositions from the number of children with completed investigations (3.1).
Item 4.1: These numbers are estimates based on the percentage of substantiated maltreatments in California. "Neglect" includes reports of severe neglect, general neglect, and caretaker absence or incapacity. The category "Other" includes exploitation.
Item 4.2: The Department of Justice collects age information using the following categories: 0-1, 2-5, 6-9, 10-13, 14-17, 18+, and unknown. The numbers were allocated equally among the years in each group, with the remainder put in the oldest age in each group.
Items 4.2-4.5: These items are unduplicated counts based on data from the California Department of Justice. They do not include general neglect cases or other cases not reported to the Department of Justice.
Item 5.1: This number from the California Department of Justice is generally thought to be an undercount.
Item 7.1: The number is based on total allocated average monthly Emergency Response FTEs. It includes supervisory FTEs for the 1997/98 fiscal year. The actual number of workers who performed Emergency Response type work is not reported to the State.
