The California Child Welfare System: Data Snapshot

The California Child Welfare System:

Data Snapshot

Barbara Needell, MSW, PhDEmily Putnam Hornstein, MSW

Joseph Magruder, MSWCenter for Social Services ResearchUniversity of California at Berkeley

Beyond the BenchDecember 2005

The Performance Indicators Project at CSSR is supported by the California Department of Social Services and the Stuart

Foundation

CSSR.BERKELEY.EDU/CWSCMSREPORTS (Presentations)

Point in Time

Exit Cohorts

Entry Cohorts

Data

3 Views of Data

California EXAMPLE: Age of Foster Children

(2003 first entries, 2003 exits, July 1 2004 caseload)(2003 first entries, 2003 exits, July 1 2004 caseload)

22

4 5

31 30

2422

24 2420

22

32

5

1916

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

<1 yr 1-5 yrs 6-10 yrs 11-15 yrs 16+ yrs

%

Entries

Exits

Point in Time

April 2005

California: Voluntary and Involuntary Service

Status

1%

47% 53%

4%

96%

14%

86%

Voluntary Involuntary

Family Reunification (22.4% of Services)

Family Maintenance (24.5% of Services)

Permanent Placement (48.9% of Services)Missing

In Home Services Out of Home Services

April 2005In Home Services by County:

(Family Maintenance)Percent Involuntary

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

A

lam

eda

Alp

ine

A

mad

or

But

te

C

alav

eras

C

olus

a

Con

tra

Cos

ta

D

el N

orte

El D

orad

o

Fre

sno

G

lenn

Hum

bold

t

I

mpe

rial

Inyo

Ker

n

Kin

gs

La

ke

Las

sen

L

os A

ngel

es

Mad

era

M

arin

M

ader

a

M

endo

cino

M

erce

dM

odoc

Mon

o

M

onte

rey

Nap

a

Nev

ada

O

rang

e

Pla

cer

P

lum

as

R

iver

side

Sacr

amen

to

Sa

n B

enito

San

Ber

nard

ino

San

Die

go

San

Fra

ncis

co

San

Joa

quin

San

Lui

s O

bisp

o

S

an M

ateo

S

anta

Bar

bara

S

anta

Cla

ra

Sa

nta

Cru

z

Sha

sta

Sier

ra

S

iski

you

S

olan

o

Son

oma

Stan

isla

us

Sut

ter

T

eham

aTr

inity

T

ular

e

T

uolu

mne

Ve

ntur

a

Yo

lo

Yu

ba

Involuntary

<1 yr1-2 yrs

3-5 yrs6-10 yrs

11-15 yrs16-17 yrs

BlackNative

American ALLWhite

HispanicAsian

142

105108

105

91

69

96

88

74

5243

27

61

49555550

40

49

404850

46

36

47

425050

44

36

191519

2017

15

2004 California:

Referrals per 1,000 by Age and Ethnicity

(97.9)*

(52.9) * (51.4) *(45.3) *

(45.7) *(17.7) *

* Series total

2004

California: Substantiated Referrals per 1,000

by Age and Ethnicity

<1yr1-2yrs

3-5yrs6-10yrs

11-15yrs16-17yrs

BlackNative

American ALLWhite

HispanicAsian

61

2725

23

20

13

50

31

25

14

10

5

23

1313

1210

7

22

1212

119

6

20

1213

12

107

8

44

54

3

(23.1)*

(15.6)* (11.5)*(10.5)*

(11.3)*(4.2)** Series total

2004 First Entries California:

Entries to Foster Care per 1,000 by Age and Ethnicity

<1yr1-2yrs

3-5yrs6-10yrs

11-15yrs16-17yrs

BlackNative

American ALLWhite

HispanicAsian

36

11

8

65

3

28

15

7

32

1

12

4

32

21

12

43

22

1

10

43

22

1

4

11

11

0

(7.0)*

(4.6)* (2.8)*(2.7)*


April 2005

California: Children in Care per 1,000

by Age and Ethnicity

<1yr1-2yrs

3-5yrs6-10yrs

11-15yrs16-17yrs

BlackNative

American ALLWhite

HispanicAsian

25

33

2832

43

37

19

25

1613

13

10

897

8108

88

66

86

6877

76

32

22

22

(35.4)*

(13.8)* (8.4)*(7.0)*


1998 to June 2005

California:First Entries by First Placement Type

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

Entry Year

Plac

emen

t Fre

quen

cy

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

TOTAL Frequency

1998 1999 2004 20052001 2002 20032000

Group

Kinship

FFA

Foster

TOTAL

1998 to July 2005

California: Caseload by Placement Type

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

Point in Time

Plac

emen

t Fre

quen

cy

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

TOTAL Frequency

1998 1999 2004 20052001 2002 20032000

Group

Kinship

FFA

Foster

TOTAL

April 1, 2005

California:Child Welfare Foster Care Caseload

by Age and Placement Type

<1yr1-2yrs

3-5yrs6-10yrs

11-15yrs16-20yrs

KinFoster

FFAGroup

3444

4238

30

28

31

16

12

109

9

262325

2523

18

11

15

1417

% of children

(34.5)*

(11.4)*

(23.3)*

(8.7)** Series total

April 1, 2005

California:Child Welfare Foster Care Caseload

by Ethnicity and Placement Type

38

18

10 10

30

25

1311

35

26

11

7

32

27

12

7

30

27

1210

35

23

119

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

% o

f Chi

ldre

n

Black White Hispanic Asian NativeAmerican

TOTAL

GroupFoster

FFAKin

1998 First Entries

California: Placement Stability Over 72 Months

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

3 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60 66 72 3 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60 66 72

1 placement 2 placements 3 placements 4 placements 5+ placements

Kin Non-Kin

Months Months

1998-2002

California: Placement Stability at 24 Months

by Entry Year

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

5+

4

3

2

1

Kin Non-Kin# of placements

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 3 6 12 15 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60 66 72Months from First Entry

<1 yr 1-2 yrs 3-5 yrs 6-10 yrs 11-15 yrs 16-17 yrs

1998 Entries

California Exits Over Time Reunified and Still in Care by Age:

KinIn Care

Reunified

%

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 3 6 12 15 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60 66 72


Months from First Entry

1998 Entries California Exits Over Time

Reunified and Still in Care by Age:Non-Kin

In Care

Reunified

%

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 3 6 12 15 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60 66 72

Black White Hispanic Asian/Other Native American

1998 EntriesCalifornia Exits Over Time Reunified and Still in Care by

Ethnicity:Kin

In Care

Reunified


%

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 3 6 12 15 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60 66 72

Black White Hispanic Asian/Other Native American

1998 EntriesCalifornia Exits Over Time Reunified and Still in Care by

Ethnicity:Non-Kin

In Care

Reunified

%



Reentry following Reunificationwithin 12 months by Age

8.0

4.3

6.2

14.5

5.3

5.9

6.2

5.2

2.4

11.7

4.1

5.0

6.2

5.1

4.8

8.9

5.3

4.1

5.9

3.5

2.0

8.6

3.9

3.9

4.0

5.3

3.3

9.3

4.5

3.5

3.6

1.80.0

5.8

1.70.9

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Kin Non-Kin Kin Non-Kin Kin Non-Kin Kin Non-Kin Kin Non-Kin Kin Non-Kin


Kin

Within 6 months

6-12 months

12-24 months

18.5

25.7

13.8

20.8

16.1

18.3

11.4

16.4

12.6

17.3

5.4

8.4

%


Reentry following Reunificationwithin 12 months by Ethnicity

7.0

6.3

3.6

13.9

5.6

5.6

6.2

5.7

3.5

10.3

4.9

3.6

5.6

3.0

3.1

8.5

3.6

4.4

4.3

2.87.8

3.5

2.0

6.4

6.4

8.5

17.9

4.7

3.6

5.9

4.6

3.4

10.0

4.4

4.1

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Kin Non-Kin Kin Non-Kin Kin Non-Kin Kin Non-Kin Kin Non-Kin Kin Non-Kin

Black White Hispanic Asian Native American TOTAL

%

12-24 months

6-12 months

Within 6 months

16.9

25.1

15.4

18.8

11.7

16.5

7.1

13.3

21.3

26.2

13.9

18.5

The Cycle of Experiences in the Child Welfare The Cycle of Experiences in the Child Welfare SystemSystem

CounterbalancedCounterbalancedIndicators ofIndicators of

SystemSystemPerformancePerformance

PermanencyPermanencyThroughThrough

Reunification,Reunification,Adoption, orAdoption, orGuardianshipGuardianship

LengthLengthof Stayof Stay

StabilityStabilityof Careof Care

Rate of Referrals/Rate of Referrals/Substantiated ReferralsSubstantiated Referrals Home-BasedHome-Based

Services vs.Services vs.Out of HomeOut of Home

CareCare

Positive Positive AttachmentsAttachments

to Family,to Family,Friends, andFriends, andNeighborsNeighbors

Use of LeastUse of LeastRestrictiveRestrictive

Form of CareForm of Care

Source: Usher, C.L., Wildfire, J.B., Gogan, H.C. & Brown, E.L. (2002). Measuring Outcomes in Child Welfare. Chapel Hill: Jordan Institute for Families,

Reentry to CareReentry to Care

DATA ABUSE will not help end CHILD ABUSE

• Beware:County rankings on individual measuresComposite scores that mask issuesSmall populationsInappropriate views

• ConsiderPerformance over timeAge, gender and race/ethnicityLocal Practice and Policy changes needed to impact

outcomes

Data are Your Friends

fin

Documents

The California Child Welfare System: Data Snapshot