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Kimberly Desmond
Program Supervisor
Alabama Department of Human Resources
50 Ripley Street
Montgomery, Alabama 36130-4000
334-353-7983
334-242-0939 Fax
kimberly.desmond@dhr.alabama.gov
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
The estimate of child protective services (CPS) workers is based on current, filled CPS agency positions and the caseload standards set for CPS functions. The response time of the CPS workforce is calculated by days after the initial 12 hours. In serious harm reports, the response time is immediate, but no later than 12 hours. In all other reports, victims must be seen within 5 calendar days. If information received at intake does not rise to the level of child abuse or neglect, the report is screened out. The expressed concerns must meet the child abuse or neglect definitions, as defined in policy.
Perpetrators
State law does not allow a person younger than 14 years to be identified as a perpetrator.
Services
Due to an ongoing conversion of the Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS), data are not available for children who were removed from the home. The State is not able to collect data by individual funding source for children or families due to multiple sources being combined.
Michael Matthews
Research Analyst IV
Office of Children's Services
130 Seward St, Room 4-H
Juneau, AK 99801
907-465-3208
907-465-3397 Fax
michael_matthews@health.state.ak.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Reasonable
Reports
This is the State’s second Child File data submission. Investigations of reports received prior to July 1, 2004, were documented in the Legacy system and were not migrated to the Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS). By excluding investigations of reports received prior to July 2004 that were completed during Federal fiscal year (FFY) 2005, the number of investigations reported in FFY 2005 could have been understated. There are 34 percent more investigations reported for FFY 2006.
Screened-out referrals for FFY 2006 include those created in error; with insufficient information for assessment; within the law enforcement jurisdiction only; multiple referrals of the same incident; with no alleged maltreatment; referred to another State and that are uninvestigated due to being referred to dual track, to the military, or to a Tribe.
Data for response time with respect to the initial investigation or assessment were collected using a stratified sample.
Children
As of June 1, 2004, the State's disposition categories changed from "substantiated," "unconfirmed," "invalid," and "can't locate" to "substantiated," "not substantiated," and "closed with no finding." Prior to the change, children with a finding of "unconfirmed" were counted as victims with an NCANDS disposition of indicated. After the change, only children with a "substantiated" disposition are included in the victim count.
Services data prior to September 2004 are not available, so complete data on children receiving family preservation services and family reunification services within the past 5 years will not be available until FFY 2010.
Fatalities
All fatalities are reported in the Agency File.
Services
FFY 2006 is the first year the State is able to provide services and risk factor data.
Nicholas Espadas
Manager
Evaluation and Statistics Unit
Division of Children, Youth and Families
Arizona Department of Economic Security
1789 West Jefferson
Phoenix, AZ 85005
602-542-3969
602-542-1933 Fax
nespadas@azdes.gov
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Probable cause
Reports
Screened-out referrals are those in which the caretaker(s) reside on an Indian reservation or military base and the State does not have jurisdiction. All other referrals are investigated.
Children
The State considers a report substantiated after an investigation, when there is probable cause to support a finding of abuse or neglect. (Probable cause is defined as that the facts provide a reasonable ground to believe that abuse or neglect occurred).
The State continues to experience a high percentage of CPS worker and supervisor turnover, resulting in a larger than normal number of inexperienced CPS staff for whom the State needs to provide additional training. Efforts are underway to substantially increase training relating to substantiation issues. Because the laws governing substantiating maltreatment and removing children are not integrated, children placed in out-of-home care may not have a substantiated maltreatment allegation.
The State law regarding "substance exposed newborns" was changed. Prior to the change in the law, a substance exposed newborn report could be substantiated if the mother and child tested positive for drugs. The new law added the requirement that a medical doctor must indicate that there is demonstrable harm to the child. This has caused a decrease in the number of child victims when compared to 2004. In addition, the number of reports involving private petitions and court ordered pick-ups of juveniles has increased. Both of these categories have a low incidence of substantiation.
Fatalities
The State reports fatalities in the Agency File when the complexity of the child fatality makes a timely finding difficult. These cases are dependent upon the adjudication of the criminal case and cannot be recorded until the case is complete.
Services
The funding for preventive services has increased.
Darcy Dinning
CHRIS Project Manager
Office of Systems and Technology
Arkansas Department of Human Services
617 Main Street, Slot N101
Little Rock, AR 72204
501-682-2684
501-682-1376 Fax
darcy.dinning@mail.state.ar.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
An investigation is initiated when a worker has a face-to-face interview with the alleged victim(s) without the presence of the offender. If the alleged victim is too young to interview, then the worker must observe the alleged victim(s). The start time to an investigation is captured in hours and minutes.
A referral of child abuse or neglect is screened-out if it does not meet the definition of abuse or neglect, as defined by the Arkansas Child Maltreatment Act. If a referral comes into the hotline and there is an ongoing investigation (pending a finding), the new allegation is added to the pending investigation and the referrals associated with the new referral are identified and screened-out.
Children
The State maps the disposition of "true" to the NCANDS category substantiated. A "true" report is defined as when the preponderance of the evidence supports the allegation of child maltreatment, as defined by the Arkansas Child Maltreatment Act. This is a higher standard of evidence and should be understood to mean that it is more likely than not that the abuse or neglect occurred. The State does not use the NCANDS categories of indicated or alternate response victim.
Fatalities
Child deaths are reported and accepted through the hotline.
Services
Postinvestigation services are considered services that begin during an investigation and continue past the investigation close date up to within 90 days of the investigation close date.
Debbie Williams
Child Welfare Data Analysis Bureau
California Department of Social Services
744 P Street, Mail Station 12-84
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-653-3850
916-653-4880 Fax
deborah.williams@dss.ca.gov
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Credible
Reports
In the past, the State defined an "associated referral" as a subsequent referral that was determined to report the same incident of maltreatment as the primary (or original) referral, and counted all reports. Beginning with the Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2004, the State obtained Federal approval to not count "associated referrals."
The State uses the referral date as the investigation start date for all investigated referrals that are completed or attempted in person within the reporting period. The State no longer includes counselors and therapists as social service personnel, these categories are included in the mental health professional category.
The State tracks the percentage of cases in which face-to-face contact with a child occurs, or is attempted, within the regulatory periods in those situations when a face-to-face contact is determined necessary.
Children
"Substantial risk" allegations are determined to be if the caseworker intends to provide voluntary or preventive services without the requirement that another sibling in the referral was abused. The social worker is not required to select any additional allegations, but is required to select an abuse subcategory to show the type of abuse or neglect for which the child may be at risk. Child living arrangement data are reported only for children in foster care.
The State reports Hispanic ethnicity as a race. Prior to the FFY 2005 data submission, children of Hispanic ethnicity were reported as unable to determine. Beginning with FFY 2005, the State records more than one race per child.
Fatalities
Under the auspices of the California State Child Death Review Council, the California Department of Health Services (DHS) produces an estimate of the number of child abuse and neglect (CAN) fatalities on the basis of an annual Reconciliation Audit conducted with county Child Death Review Teams (CDRTs). The Audit uses four statewide data systems (i.e., DHS Vital Statistics Death Records, Department of Justice Homicide Files and Child Abuse Central Index, and the Department of Social Services Child Welfare Services/Case Management System) and the findings from CDRT reviews. Because the Audits for 2003–2004 are still in progress, the best estimate on the number of fatal child abuse and neglect deaths available for California is the results from the 2002 Audit. The estimate for 2002 is 140 child abuse and neglect fatalities.
Services
Preventive services with other funding sources includes services with combined funding under Child Welfare Services, Promoting Safe and Stable Families, Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, and local funds. The number of families who received services under the Child Abuse and Neglect State Grant is the number of families that participated in a randomized clinical study and received case management services and group intervention.
Sean McCaw
Colorado Department of Human Services
Division of Child Welfare
1575 Sherman Street
Denver, CO 80203
303-866-3446
303-866-4191 Fax
sean.mccaw@state.co.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
The investigation start date is the date the child protection caseworker supervisor recorded into the tracking system an acceptance of an investigation by child welfare. Report dispositions are determined by the child protection caseworker and recorded after child protective services supervisory approval of the disposition. The State does not have an algorithm in the extraction code that determines the report disposition hierarchy. The code changes are expected to be in effect for Federal fiscal year (FFY) 2007 data.
The State has approximately a 5 percent increase in disposed allegations due to extraction code changes that moved the overall file date parameter from the supervisor approval date to the date the caseworker approved the overall disposition.
Children
The State does not have a policy regarding alternative response and only reports on "founded" or "unsubstantiated" abuse. At this time, the State does not record the value intentionally false.
State data contains "youth in conflict" children in the assessment dispositions. These records have no abuse or neglect allegation and are reported with a disposition of unknown or missing for FFY 2006. These children were previously reported with dispositions of "other."
Perpetrators
The State does not have the capacity in the tracking system selection values to discern relative foster parent from relatives, or to discern relative foster parents from nonrelative foster parents.
Services
Services may be underreported as not all intervention services are mapped to NCANDS.
Allon Kalisher
Program Supervisor
Connecticut Department of Children and Families
505 Hudson Street
Hartford, CT 06106
860-723-7218
860-566-7947 Fax
allon.kalisher@po.state.ct.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Reasonable cause
General
The Department of Children and Families (DCF) is a consolidated children's services agency with statutory responsibility for child protection, mental health services, substance abuse treatment, and juvenile justice. It is a State-managed system comprised of 14 area offices. In addition, DCF operates four facilities—a children's psychiatric hospital, an emergency and diagnostic residential program, a treatment facility for children with serious mental health issues, and a juvenile justice facility.
Reports
A centralized intake unit—the Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline—operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. CPS workers receive the reports of suspected abuse and neglect and forward them to a regional office for investigation. Hotline field staff respond to emergencies when the regional offices are closed. Referrals are not accepted for investigation if they do not meet the statutory definition of abuse or neglect. Information on screened-out referrals is from the DCF hotline.
Area office staff investigate reports of abuse and neglect. Investigation protocols include contact with the family, with the children apart from their parents, and with all collateral systems to which the family and child are known. All cases of sexual abuse—as well as serious cases of abuse, neglect, and medical neglect—are referred to the police per departmental policy.
Fatalities
DCF collects data on all reported child fatalities regardless of whether or not the child or family received DCF services. The Special Review Unit conducts an investigation for cases when a child dies and either had an active CPS case or had a prior substantiated report. The medical examiner is responsible for determining the cause of death and the criminal nature of the death. DCF makes the determination concerning abuse and neglect.
Tara L. Tyre
Data Manager
Division of Family Services
Delaware Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families
1825 Faulkland Road
Wilmington, DE 19805
302-633-2538
302-633-2652 Fax
tara.tyre@state.de.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
The State's intake unit requires the collection of sufficient information to access and determine the urgency to investigate the report. The State has a dual response system for investigating cases. Urgent cases require contact within 24 hours and routine cases require contact within 10 days. The calculation of average response time is provided for family abuse investigations only because the State cannot determine the initial contact in institutional abuse investigations.
Children
The State uses 48 statutory types of child abuse, neglect, and dependency to substantiate an investigation. The State code defines the following terms: "abuse" shall mean any physical injury to a child by those responsible for the care, custody, and control of the child, through unjustified force as defined in §468 of Title 11, including emotional abuse, torture, criminally negligent treatment, sexual abuse, exploitation, maltreatment, or mistreatment. "neglect" shall mean the failure to provide, by those responsible for the care, custody, and control of the child, the proper or necessary education as required by law; nutrition; or medical, surgical or any other care necessary for the child's well-being. "dependent child" shall mean a child whose physical, mental, or emotional health and well-being is threatened or impaired because of inadequate care and protection by the child's custodian, who is unable to provide adequate care for the child, whether or not caused by the child's behavior.
Under the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families, children may be placed in residential care from the child welfare program, the juvenile justice program, or the child mental health program. In calculating child victims reunited with their families in the previous 5 years, the State did not include the placements from Child Mental Health and Juvenile Justice as a previous placement in which the child was reunited with their family if there was no placement involvement with the child welfare agency. This is because the Juvenile Justice and Child Mental health placements alone are not the direct result of the caretaker's substantiation of abuse, neglect, or dependency.
Lois Branic
Child and Family Services Agency
District of Columbia Department of Human Services
702 H Street, NW, Ste. 200
Washington, DC 20001
202-434-0027 Office
202-434-0099 Fax
lois.branic@dc.gov
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Credible
Reports
The hotline is a centralized system that receives all referrals of abuse and neglect. All reports are jointly investigated by child protective services and by the Metropolitan Police Department. During 2003, the disposition values were changed to comply with, "The Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect Act of 1977" (DC law 2–22; DC Official Code 4–1301.02). Changes in social work practices based on the new law and other agency initiatives, resulted in the changes in NCANDS maltreatment dispositions and report dispositions for Federal fiscal year (FFY) 2005. This law added a new paragraph (12A) to read as follows: "(12A) "Inconclusive report" means a report…which cannot be proven to be either substantiated or unjustified which results in the use of additional dispositional values."
Services
The District of Columbia Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) contracts with The Healthy Families Thriving Communities Collaborative Council (HFTCC) to provide both post and preventive services community-based services to families referred by CFSA. The number of families referred is available but the specific types of services are not reported to the agency.
Keith A. Perlman
Data Reporting Administrator
Family Safety
Florida Department of Children and Families
1317 Winewood Boulevard
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0700
850-922-2195
850-487-0688 Fax
keith_perlman@dcf.state.fl.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Indicated—credible evidence (offering reasonable grounds for being believed).
Substantiated—preponderance (superiority in weight, most of the evidence supports abuse, or quality and importance. At least one piece of evidence in support of abuse is exceptionally strong, such as DNA findings or a pediatrician's willingness to testify the injuries were from abuse).
Reports
The criteria to accept a report include a child younger than 18 years, who has not been not emancipated by marriage or other order of a competent court, is a victim of known or suspected child abuse, abandonment, or neglect by a parent, legal custodian, caregiver, or other person responsible for the child's welfare, or is in need of supervision and care and has no parent, legal custodian, or responsible adult relative immediately known and available to provide supervision and care. The child must be either a resident of or can be located in the State. Screened-out referrals reflect phone calls received about situations that the caller initially thought were child abuse or neglect, but did not meet the statutory criteria.
The NCANDS category "other" report source includes attorney, spiritual healer, GAL, guardian, human rights advocacy committee, and client relations' coordinator. Multiple reporting sources per report may be entered into the State's system. If so, the first source entered is used for NCANDS and the others are discarded. Foster care provider is not captured as a specific report source.
Response time in the Agency File is based on 151,818 reports. The response commences when the assigned Child Protective Investigator attempts the initial face-to-face contact with the victim. The system calculates the number of minutes from the received date and time to the commencement date and time. The minutes for all cases are averaged and converted to hours. An initial onsite response is conducted immediately in situations in which any one of the following allegations is made: (1) a child's immediate safety or well-being is endangered; (2) the family may flee or the child will be unavailable within 24 hours; (3) institutional abuse or neglect is alleged; (4) an employee of the department has allegedly committed an act of child abuse or neglect directly related to the job duties of the employee, or when the allegations otherwise warrant an immediate response as specified in statute or policy; (5) a special condition referral for emergency services is received; or (6) the facts otherwise so warrant. All other initial responses must be conducted with an attempted on-site visit with the child victim within 24 hours.
The staff figures in the Agency File represent allocated positions as of 9/30/2006. They do not take into account vacancies, overtime or temporary staff. Included are 140 hotline counselors, 17 Hotline Supervisors, 1,100 State full-time equivalent (FTE) Child Protective Investigators, 190 State FTE Investigator Supervisors, 369 Sheriff Office Child Protective Investigators, and 72 Sheriff Office Investigator Supervisors. Hotline staff also take calls related to adult protective services. Child calls represent about 80 percent of their workload.
Workers and supervisors are related to the individual's assignment to a unit. If an individual transfers or is promoted from one unit or agency to another during the year, the worker will not retain the same value in the system.
Children
The Child File includes children alleged to be victims and other children in the household.
The Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) identification number field is populated with the number created for the child regardless of whether that child was removed or reported to AFCARS.
The State maps "threatened harm," including domestic violence situations, as "other" maltreatment. "Threatened harm" is defined as behavior that is not accidental and is likely to result in harm to the child. However, the State does not believe it is appropriate to include these with maltreatments where harm has already occurred due to abuse (willful action) or neglect (omission which is a serious disregard of parental responsibilities).
Perpetrators
By policy, perpetrator data are captured only for substantiated reports, which have a higher level of evidence than indicated reports.
All licensed foster parents and nonfinalized adoptive parents are translated as nonrelative foster parents, although some may be related to the child. Approved relative caregivers (license not issued) are translated as relative foster parents. The value for perpetrator relationship of friends or neighbors is not used. To meet statutory criteria for child abuse or neglect, the adult must be a caregiver. They may be coded as "sitter" and translated to child daycare provider if an unrelated friend or neighbor is caring for the child.
Most data captured for child and caregiver risk factors are only available if there is a services case either already open at the time the report is received, or opened due to the report.
Fatalities
Fatality counts include any report disposed during the year, even those victims whose dates of death may have been in a prior year. Only verified abuse or neglect deaths are counted. The finding was verified when a preponderance of the credible evidence resulted in a determination that death was the result of abuse or neglect. All suspected child maltreatment fatalities must be reported for investigation and are included in the Child File.
Services
Services reported in the Child File are those recommended by the Child Protective Investigator (CPI), based on a safety assessment, at the closure of the investigation. Referrals are made, but services may or may not actually be received. The State does not have an automated system to track actual specific services provided within a case.
Preventive services in the Agency File include, but are not limited to, after school enrichment and recreation, child care and therapeutic care, community facilitation, community mapping and development, counseling and mentoring services, crisis and intervention services, delinquency prevention, developmental screening and evaluation, domestic violence services, family resource or visitation center and full-service schools, Healthy Families America, Healthy Start, home visiting and in-home parent education, information and referral, parenting education and training, prenatal and perinatal services, Project Safety Net, respite care and crisis nursery, self-help groups and support groups, and teen parent and pregnancy program. Counts of preventive services do not include public awareness and education.
The families of the children included in child counts are also counted in the family counts; however, the family counts include additional families whose children were not included in the child counts. By statute, families may include biological, adoptive, and foster families; relative caregivers; guardians; and extended families. A single adult aged 18 years or older and living alone may be counted as one family. If a child does not have a family (because of abandonment, termination of parents' rights, institutional care, or other factors), the child is counted as one family.
Numbers reported as preventive services include families who received services (carryover and new) in the reporting period and children in the families who received services. If a parent received services, (e.g., parent education and training) all children in the family were identified as children served. Children could not be served without the family being served.
For example, if a child attended an after school tutoring program, one child and one family were served. When one of the children in the family received a direct service but the parent did not, siblings were not counted as receiving a service. However, the family was counted. Children and families may have been counted more than once because of the receipt of multiple services or the use of multiple funding sources.
Darlene Kishbaugh
Data Manager, Reporting Section
Division of Family and Children Services
Georgia Department of Human Resources
2 Peachtree Street NW, Room 19.105
Atlanta, GA 30303-3142
404-657-5127
404-657-3325 Fax
dbkishba@dhr.state.ga.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
Federal fiscal year (FFY) 2005 is the first Child File submission by the State. The shift from the SDC File to the Child File may impact the comparability of previous years' data to the present year's data.
The components of a CPS report are a child younger than 18 years, a known or unknown individual alleged to be a perpetrator, and a referral of conditions indicating child maltreatment. Referrals are screened out if they do not contain the components of a CPS report.
Situations in which no allegations of maltreatment are included in the referral and in which local or county protocols do not require a response, are screened out. Such situations could include historical incidents, custody issues, poverty issues, educational neglect or truancy issues, situations involving an unborn child, or juvenile delinquency issues. For many of these, referrals are made to other resources, such as early intervention or prevention programs.
Social services personnel includes Department of Human Resources staff. The "other" report source category includes other nonmandated reporters, religious leaders or staff, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families staff.
Children
Prior to 2004, multiracial victims were included in the NCANDS category of unknown race. As of 2004, a child victim may be counted in more than one racial group and is reported separately for all categories that apply. Also as of 2004, the State collects data on child victim by Hispanic or Latino Ethnicity, and by Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander race.
Services
The State maintains data on services through counts of cases, not children. Thus, estimates were provided. Only data for removals that occurred during an investigation are included. Data on removals that occurred after the investigation decision, or within 90 days of the decision, were unavailable. The Child Placement Project Study (a project of the Georgia Supreme Court) provided the number of victims who received a court-appointed representative.
Ricky Higashide
Acting Research Supervisor
Management Services Office
Hawaii Department of Human Services
1390 Miller Street, Room 210
Honolulu, HI 96813
808-586-5117
808-586-4810 Fax
rhigashide@dhs.hawaii.gov
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Reasonable, foreseeable risk
Reports
Reports to child protective services (CPS) are handled in one of three ways: 1) least severe cases are contracted to Family Strengthening Services (FSS), 2) less severe cases are diverted to Voluntary Case Management (VCM), and 3) the severe cases are sent to investigation. Cases that were previously investigated and confirmed as "threatened harm" may now be diverted to FSS or VCM, without investigation. This results in a drop in reports included in the NCANDS Child File. As a majority of recurrence cases were "threatened harm," this would also result in a reduction in recurrence rate.
Children
The NCANDS category "other" maltreatment type includes "threatened abuse" or "threatened neglect." The State only uses substantiated and unsubstantiated dispositions. The substantiated victim was with one or more of the alleged maltreatments confirmed with more than 50 percent certainty.
Perpetrators
The State CPS system designates up to two perpetrators per child.
Services
The State is not able to report children and families receiving preventive services under the Child Abuse and Neglect State Grant, the Social Services Block Grant, and "other" funding sources because funds are mixed. Funds are allocated into a single budget classification and multiple sources of State and Federal funding are combined to pay for most services. All active cases receive services.
Jeri Bala
Program Systems Specialist
Division of Family and Community Services/FOCUS
Idaho Department of Health and Welfare
450 West State Street
Boise, ID 83720
208-332-7227
208-332-7351 Fax
balaj@idhw.state.id.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
The investigation start date is defined as the date and time the child is seen by a child protective services (CPS) staff member. The date and time is compared against the report date and time when CPS was notified about the alleged abuse.
Children
At this time, the State's Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS) cannot provide living arrangement information to the degree of detail requested.
Services
Court-appointed representative data are not tracked in the State's SACWIS. However, children usually have a Guardian ad Litem assigned to them if they have court involvement.
The State does not distinguish between counseling and mental health services. The State does not maintain information that would differentiate Family Planning Services from similar services.
For the Agency File data, the numbers of children and families who received preventive services under the Community-Based Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect Grants were provided by a manual count from the Children's Trust Fund for Community-Based Family Resource and Support Grant Programs. Also for Agency File data, the numbers of children and families who received services funded by the Family Preservation and Support grant were attached to reports that fell within the reporting period.
For Agency File data, families served from Community Resources for Families School Prevention Program, were counted from the Community Resource Emergency Assistance (CREA) system.
Jim Van Leer
Supervisor, Office of Information Services
Illinois Department of Children and Family Services
1 N. Old State Capitol Plaza, Station SACWIS
Springfield, IL 62701
217-747-7626
217-747-7750 Fax
jim.vanleer@illinois.gov
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Credible
Reports
All calls to the hotline that meet the criteria of an abuse or neglect allegation are referred for a child protective services investigation.
"Other report dispositions" refers to noninvolved children (i.e. children not suspected of being abuse or neglected) who are recorded on a child abuse or neglect report. Because there are no allegations of abuse or neglect for these children, there are no specific dispositions.
The response time to investigation is based on the average between the receipt of a report at the hotline and the time an investigator makes the first contact. The response time is determined both by priority standard and by apparent risk to the alleged victim. All investigations, with the exception of cases involving only lock-out of an adolescent or teenager, must be initiated within 24 hours according to State law. Lock-out cases must be initiated within 48 hours.
The NCANDS category "other" report source includes "administration/subject facility," "staff/ subject facility," "former employee/subject facility," "not noted," "attorney," and "other nonmandated source."
Children
Children who are at risk of physical injury are counted under physical abuse and children who are at risk of sexual injury are counted under sexual abuse.
The NCANDS category "other" living arrangement includes "institution–DCFS, DOC, DMH, private child care facility, rehab services"; "nursing care facility"; "detention facility/jail"; "hospital/ health facility"; "armed service duty"; "college/university"; "guardian successor"; "independent living"; "runaway"; "subsidized guardian"; and "deceased."
Perpetrators
The NCANDS category "other" perpetrator relationship includes "church staff" and "nonstaff person."
Services
Discrepancies in data from year to year can be attributed to reporting forms changes.
Angela Green
Deputy Director of Practice Support
Indiana Department of Child Services
402 W. Washington Street, Room W392-MS47
Indianapolis, IN 46204
317-232-4631
317-232-4490 Fax
angela.green@dcs.in.gov
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Credible
Reports
Per statute, the State has three separate response times dependent on the type of allegation. The NCANDS category "other" report source includes "military" and "other." Inconsistencies with report county may be caused by the report being started in one county and transferred to another.
Children
The NCANDS category "other" living arrangement includes "school," "State institution," "nursing home," "hospital," "other," "registered ministries," and "all unregistered/unlicensed centers." Incident date is not reported.
Fatalities
Fatalities removed from the Child File due to the report date being older than the previous period were included in the Agency File.
Perpetrators
The NCANDS category "other" perpetrator relationship includes "babysitter," "resident," "self," "other," and "unavailable."
Services
The decrease in some preventive services funds is because monies had to be shifted in different funding sources to continue some of the programs. Some of the providers had to use county funds for reimbursement.
Joseph Finnegan
Bureau Chief
Child Welfare Information Systems
Iowa Department of Human Services
Hoover State Office Building, 5th Floor
1305 East Walnut
Des Moines, IA 50319
515-281-5126
515-281-4597 Fax
jfinneg@dhs.state.ia.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance of credible evidence (greater than 50%)
Reports
The investigation start date is determined by the first face-to-face contact with the alleged victim. Dates and days are the smallest units of time maintained in the State's system.
Children
The number of victims associated with prior child abuse assessments decreased with Federal fiscal year (FFY) 2005, due to a change in logic—not to count unknown perpetrators in the prior abuse check and another correction to include only founded, substantiated, or indicated incidents as prior. The removal date logic was reviewed after a suggestion by the Federal team and changed accordingly.
Services
Services include out-of-home placements and community care activities as a direct result of child abuse assessment.
Kendall Darling
Program Administrator
Division of Children and Family Policy
Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitative Services
Docking State Office Building, 5th Floor South, Room 5515
915 SW Harrison
Topeka, KS 66612-1570
785-291-3665
785-368-8159 Fax
kjd@srs.ks.gov
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Clear and convincing
Reports
During July 2004, the Kansas Administrative Regulations for the definitions of abuse and neglect were changed. This change has had an impact on which reports are screened in and screened out for further assessment. A screened-out report is a report to Social Rehabilitative Services (SRS) alleging a child in need of care that was not accepted for investigation or assessment.
The investigation start date is defined as the date of first face-to-face contact with an alleged victim. Dates and days are the smallest units of time maintained in the State's system.
The NCANDS category "other" report source includes "self," "private agencies," "religious leaders," "guardian," "Job Corp," "landlord," "Indian tribe or court," "other person," "out-of-State agency," "citizen review board member," "collateral witness," "public official," "volunteer," and "Crippled Children's services."
Children
Substantiated means the facts or circumstances provide clear and convincing evidence to conclude abuse or neglect did occur based on the Kansas Statutes Annotated and Kansas Administrative Regulations definition of abuse or neglect. Not all victims have an assigned AFCARS ID.
The NCANDS category "other" maltreatment type includes "lack of supervision."
Services
The State does not capture information on court appointed representatives. However, State law requires every child to have a court-appointed attorney.
Bobby Reid
Office of Technology
Client System Server Management
Kentucky Cabinet for Families and Children
151 Elkhorn Court
Frankfort, KY 40601
502-564-0105 Ex. 10630
bobby.reid@ky.gov
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Perpetrators
Perpetrator data were provided in the Child File for substantiated victims, but not for alternative response victims.
Services
Service data were reported for both victims and nonvictims.
Walter G. Fahr
Child Welfare Specialist V
Office of Community Services
Louisiana Department of Social Services
P.O Box 3318
Baton Rouge, LA 70821
225-342-6832
225-342-9087 Fax
wfahr@dss.state.la.us
Data Files Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Reasonable
Reports
The investigation start date is the date and time of the initial face-to-face contact with each identified victim and the victim's parent or caretaker. The State is starting to capture the initial date and time—including hours and minutes—for victims and caretakers.
Referrals are screened in if they meet the three primary criteria for case acceptance: a child victim younger than 18 years, an allegation of child abuse or neglect as defined by the Louisiana Children's Code, and the alleged perpetrator is the legal caretaker of the alleged victim. The State does not capture information on screened-out referrals.
The State is currently unable to provide data on response time to initial investigation in the Agency File.
Children
The State term for a substantiated case is "valid." When determining a final finding of "valid" child abuse or neglect, the worker and supervisor review the information gathered during the investigation carefully, and use the following standard.
The available facts when viewed in light of surrounding circumstances would cause a reasonable person to believe that the following exists:
If the answers to the above are "yes," then the allegation(s) is valid.
The State term for unsubstantiated cases is "invalid." The definition of invalid is as follows:
Article 612 of the Louisiana Children's Code enables the agency to handle incoming referrals of abuse and neglect that are identified as low risk with an assessment of the family needs and referral for necessary services. These cases do not have a finding for child maltreatment for the victims. Therefore, all of these cases are counted as alternate response nonvictim cases.
The NCANDS category "other" dispositions includes:
Perpetrators
The State is unable to capture the perpetrator relationship accurately and therefore reports the code "other" for 99 percent of cases.
Services
The State provides the following postinvestigation services foster, adoptive, in-home family, and family in need of services. The State provides more postinvestigation services than it is able to report to NCANDS. Almost all services provided by other agencies and offices are not reported.
The implementation of two legislative acts during Federal fiscal year (FFY) 2005, Act 148 (Voluntary Placements Discontinued) and Act 338 (Substance Exposed Infants) were the primary cause for the increasing foster care services increases.
Robert Pronovost
Manager, Intake Unit
Bureau of Child and Family Services
Maine Department of Health and Human Services
11 State House Station
221 State Street
Augusta, ME 04333
207-624-8642
207-287-5065 Fax
robert.n.pronovost@maine.gov
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
The State's Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS) is used to document all reports made to child protective services (CPS). Report dispositions include "inappropriate for CPS" (does not meet the criteria for investigation), "appropriate for CPS referred to contract agency," and "appropriate reports assigned for assessment." The State's Child File only includes data on the "reports assigned for assessment."
The report date is defined as the date when the intake unit received the report. The investigation start date is defined as the date when face-to-face contact occurs with the alleged victim. Both of these dates are captured in date, hours, and minutes in the SACWIS, but reported as date only to NCANDS.
The number of children reported to be subjects of a report but not referred for an investigation is an undercount. Only the number of children who were referred to a contract agency for followup is known.
The number of full-time equivalents (FTEs) was taken from the Legislative Line List. Screening and intake staff includes the full-time staff of the Central Child Protection Intake Unit and a proportion of field staff that perform intake and screening functions in the eight district offices.
Children
A Child File record was submitted for any child with the role of alleged victim. Additional children in the family who had a role of "not involved" or "undetermined" were not included in the submission.
Fatalities
Fatality information was provided by the Child Death and Serious Injury Review Panel and reported in the Agency File.
Perpetrators
The State now has an appeals process for perpetrators who do not agree with a specific finding. Practice is changing because of the high overturn rate during the appeals process.
Services
Nine private agencies under contract with the Bureau of Child and Family Services provide preventive and postassessment services in all 16 counties. The number of families referred is available in the SACWIS, but the specific types of services provided are not reported. Services information will show decreasing numbers due to most service cases being referred out to private agencies. The State is making a policy change that restricts State involvement in services cases to only those with high severity findings of abuse and neglect. State involvement will also be limited to 6 months or less unless court action is taken.
David Ayer
Director of Research, Evaluation and Systems Development
Maryland Department of Human Resources
311 West Saratoga Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
410-767-8946
410-333-6556 Fax
dayer@dhr.state.md.us
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
General
The State was not able to submit FFY 2006 data in time for publication in Child Maltreatment.
Rosalind Walter
Director of Data Management
Information Technology
Massachusetts Department of Social Services
24 Farnsworth Street
Boston, MA 02210
617-748-2219
617-748-2419 Fax
ros.walter@state.ma.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Reasonable
Reports
A referral may be screened out because there is no reasonable cause to believe that the child was abused or neglected; the alleged perpetrator was not a caretaker; the specific situation is outdated and has no bearing on current risk to children; the specific condition is known and is being addressed by an ongoing service case; the specific condition was investigated and a duplicate investigation would be unnecessarily intrusive to the family; the reported child is 18 years old or older; or the report is not credible due to a history of unreliability from the same individual. The State has a policy for completing investigations within 24 hours for emergency reports and within 10 days for nonemergency reports.
Currently the role of the reporter is not a mandatory item when entering a protective intake in FamilyNet (the Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System). When the Family Engagement Model changes are made to FamilyNet, reporter role could be made mandatory.
The number of screening, intake, and investigation workers is based on an estimated number of (full-time equivalents) FTEs, derived by dividing the number of intakes and investigations completed during the calendar year by the monthly workload standards. The number includes both State staff and staff working for the Judge Baker Guidance Center. The Judge Baker Guidance Center handles CPS functions during evening and weekend hours when State offices are closed. Because assessments are case-management activities rather than screening, intake, and investigation activities, the number of workers completing assessments was not reported.
The estimated FTE numbers were taken from Reports of Child Abuse/Neglect-Twelve Month Summary and Investigations Completed-Twelve Month Summary. The State uses these numbers for its own management purposes, and they present a clearer picture than would a count of unique individuals who performed these functions. Many Department of Social Services (DSS) social workers perform screening, intake, and investigation functions in addition to ongoing casework.
Children
Living arrangement data are not collected during investigations with enough specificity to report, except for children who are in placement. Child alcohol and drug abuse are not reported because FamilyNet does not distinguish between types of substance abuse. Data on child health and behavior are collected, but it is not mandatory to enter the data during an investigation. Data on caretaker health and behavior conditions are not usually collected. The investigation start date is defined as the date that the intake is screened in for investigation.
Fatalities
The State maintains a database with child fatality information entered by the Case Investigation Unit. The database records information on all child fatalities apparently due to abuse or neglect regardless of whether or not the family was known to the Department of Social Services (DSS) prior to the fatality.
Services
Data are collected only for those services that are provided by DSS. DSS can be granted custody of a child who is never removed from home. When the DSS is granted custody, the child will have an appointed representative, but that data might not be recorded in FamilyNet.
Laurie Johnson
CPS Systems Specialist
Children's Protective Services Unit
Michigan Family Independence Agency
235 South Grand Avenue, Suite 510
Lansing, MI 48909
517-241-3577
517-241-7407 Fax
johnsonl@michigan.gov
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance of evidence
Reports
The State did not report investigation start date.
The NCANDS category "other" report source includes "hospital/clinic," "FIA-operated facility," "DMH-operated facility," "other public agency," "private agency personnel (not social worker, physician or nurse)."
Unsubstantiated cases do not have maltreatment codes for any role. The new CPS system will establish alleged maltreatment at the intake of a complaint and this will be reported in the future.
Children
Maltreatment information is not available for nonvictims in reports. The NCANDS category "other" living arrangement includes "other out-of-home" and "multiple placements."
Fatalities
No fatalities were reported in the Child File.
Perpetrators
The NCANDS category "other" perpetrator relationship includes "other household."
Services
Currently services plans are completed in word templates and are not apart of a system. The new Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS) will capture this information.
Jean Swanson Broberg
Systems Analysis Supervisor
Child Safety & Permanency, SSIS
Minnesota Department of Human Services
444 Lafayette Rd N
St Paul, MN 55155-3862
651-772-3765
651-772-3794 Fax
jean.swanson-broberg@state.mn.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
The State made significant improvements to the ease of recording screened-out referrals during mid-2004. Greater ease of use, training for counties, State quality assurance reviews, and enhanced local supervision during Federal fiscal year (FFY) 2005 all contributed to more complete reporting of screened-out referrals.
The NCANDS category "other" report source includes "clergy," "Department of Human Services birth match," "other mandated," and "other non-mandated."
Children
The NCANDS category "other" living arrangement includes "independent living" and "other."
Fatalities
All fatalities are reported in the Child File.
Perpetrators
The NCANDS category "other" perpetrator relationship includes "other nonrelative."
Shirley Johnson
Program Manager
Division of Family and Children's Services
Mississippi Department of Human Services
750 North State Street
Jackson, MS 39205
601-359-4679
601-576-5026 Fax
shirleyj@mdhs.state.ms.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Credible
Reports
The State made changes to its Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS) to begin collecting living arrangement data. An investigation is initiated with an "alleged victim" or an "attempted contact" narrative entry. This date becomes the investigation start date field. Time is calculated in hours from the time that a report is received by the agency to the time of initiation.
Children
Department of Family and Children Services classifies all reports as "evidenced" or "noevidence." "Evidenced" numbers are mapped to the NCANDS category substantiated.
Meliny Staysa
Program Development Specialist
Children's Division Central Office
Department of Social Services
PO Box 88
Jefferson City, MO 65103-0088
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance of evidence as of August 28, 2004.
Reports
The State records the date of the first actual face-to-face contact with an alleged victim as the start date of the investigation. Therefore, the response time is based on the time from the log-in of the call to the time of the first actual face-to-face contact with the victim for all report and response types, recorded in hours.
The State does not retain the maltreatment type for reports that are classified as "alternative response nonvictim," "unsubstantiated," or "closed with no finding." for children in these reports, the maltreatment type is coded as "other" and the maltreatment disposition is assigned the value of the report disposition.
Children
The State counts a child as a victim of abuse or neglect following a substantiated finding of abuse or neglect based on a preponderance of evidence standard or court adjudicated determination. Children who received an alternative response are not considered to be victims of abuse or neglect. Therefore, the State's rate of prior victimization is not comparable to States who define victimization in a different manner, and may result in a lower rate of victimization than such States. For example, the State prefers to measure its rate of prior victimization by calculating the total number of 2006 substantiated records, and dividing it by the total number of prior substantiated records, not including unsubstantiated or alternate response records.
Medical neglect maltreatments could not be reported due to mapping and data issues.
Fatalities
All fatalities are reported in the Child File.
Perpetrators
Individual findings for perpetrators are associated with individual children. For NCANDS, the value of the report disposition is equal to the most severe determination of any perpetrator associated with the report.
Services
Data were obtained for child contacts with court-appointed special advocates (CASA) from the Missouri CASA Association. Data for child contacts with Guardians ad Litem were not available for 2006. The Children's Trust Fund provided supplemental data regarding preventive services.
Lou Walters
Child and Adult Protective Services System Liaison
Child and Family Services
Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services
1400 Broadway
Helena, MT 59601
406-444-1674
406-444-5956 Fax
lwalters@state.mt.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
The Child and Family Centralized Intake Unit screens each report of child abuse or neglect to determine if it requires investigation, services, placement, or information. Reports requiring immediate assessment or investigation are immediately telephoned to the field office where, by law, they receive an assessment or investigation within 24 hours. All other child protective services (CPS) reports that require assessment or investigation are sent to the field within 8 hours of receipt of the call.
Services
Data for preventive services are collected by State fiscal year.
Frank Fornataro
Business System Analyst
Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, Protection & Safety
11712 South 39th St.
P.O. Box 95044
Bellevue, NE 68123-5044
402-471-6615
402-471-9597 Fax
frank.fornataro@hhss.ne.gov
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
A preponderance of evidence is required for court-substantiated and inconclusive dispositions.
Reports
The State continues to see an increase of reports each year. The State's annual report shows a slight increase between 2005 and 2006 calendar year reports but the data for the NCANDS submission indicates a decrease between Federal fiscal year (FFY) 2005 and FFY 2006. The difference between the State's annual report and the Child Maltreatment report is that the annual report accounts for all allegations of maltreatment, no matter what the finding, while Child Maltreatment report includes only those allegations where a finding date is within the reporting period.
The State places emphasis on safety. This practice is believed to have an impact on more reports being accepted for assessments. The new Intake Report Screening Tool was updated during FFY 2004. Intake workers are more familiar with the tool and are accepting reports that they may have otherwise screened out in the past.
The disposition type "petition to be filed" was recently changed to "court pending." This disposition is mapped to substantiated for NCANDS reporting. If the court does not find enough evidence to substantiate the report, then the disposition is changed to "inconclusive" (substantiated by the department).
"Court pending" is not a final disposition. These reports eventually are changed to either "court substantiated" or "inconclusive" and very rarely "unsubstantiated." During FFY 2005, the State began monitoring reports. When a change or update is made, in most if not all cases the new finding date is entered. Many times this new date causes the report to be included in a subsequent NCANDS reporting period. Research in 2005 showed that 1,166 reports included in the Child Maltreatment 2005 report were also included in previous years' reports. One cause of this was directed at the effort with cleaning up the old reports that were once "court pending."
The report counts for 2005 may have been inflated more than it actually would have been because of this monitoring and clean up effort. When comparing 2006 to 2005 the decrease in report counts may be contributed to this effort as well. The State continues to emphasize reviews of the "court pending" reports and to apply a final disposition as soon as possible, but depending upon the timing, reports may continue to reflect in subsequent reporting years.
The plan is to no longer include "court pending" dispositions in the NCANDS submission starting in FFY 2007. When applied to FFY 2006 data there was a 2 percent decrease across the board.
Children
The State has been more and more diligent in including all children in the reports especially if they live in the home where the abuse is being reported. This kind of reporting causes a disproportionate correlation when comparing report count with the abuse type count changes from one report period to the next.
The State has noticed a recurrence rate increase since FFY 2003. This is attributed to the change in policy and procedures to all reports being recorded and the emphasis on safety. The recurrence measurement as well as the abuse in foster care both uses the report date instead of the incident date. Because all reports are recorded, it is believed that there may be some reports used to calculate these measurements where the same incident or allegation is reflected in both reports. This duplication is being counted as a recurrence and depending on the report date this may look like the child was in foster care when the incident actually occurred prior to the child's removal from the home.
County data and maltreatment level for the child is included in the allegation. Children who are not victims do not have this information included in their report. These two fields have caused a mismatch when comparing two fields where the information is pulled in for the child, i.e. investigation date and report maltreatment level.
Fatalities
During FFY 2005, the State conducted some in-depth analysis of previous reports and found some duplication in reporting. This is caused by a child being reported in the Agency File and appearing in the Child File 1 or 2 years later. In FFY 2005 this was cleaned up so that children would not be counted more than once. Child fatalities for "court pending" disposition reports were not included in the FFY 2006 report, but continue to be monitored to ensure that they are either included in subsequent years or added to the Agency File when it is determined that they will not be included in the current or subsequent reports.
The State continues to work closely with the Child Death Review Team to identify fatalities that are not included in the Child Welfare System but were determined by the Child Death Review Team to have been caused by child abuse and neglect.
Services
The State is analyzing how services are computed. NCANDS only includes services that are implemented or continue after the disposition date. Best practice includes discontinuing services when the service is no longer required or needed. In many instances, this may be prior to the disposition date. In these cases, the number reported in NCANDS does not accurately reflect if a service was provided but if a service was implemented and provided after the disposition date.
The State considers many NCANDS elements as a service, including foster care and court-appointed representative. This is being reviewed for a better and more accurate method.
Kathleen Rubenstein
Agency/Program Information Specialist II
Information Management Services
Division of Child and Family Services
727 Fairview Dr, Suite E
Carson City, NV 89701
775-687-9019
775-687-9025 Fax
krubenstein@dcfs.state.nv.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Credible Evidence
General
The State's CPS ostensibly functions as three regional service areas: the Rural Region operates as a State supervised and State administered delivery system, and the Northern (Washoe County) and Southern (Clark County) Regions operate as State supervised and county administered delivery systems. All three service areas are now using a single data system under the State's Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS)—the Unified Nevada Information Technology for Youth (U.N.I.T.Y.).
Reports
An alternative response program was implemented several years ago, although the data were not reported until the Federal fiscal year (FFY) 2006 submission. Additional county staff were hired during 2006 to increase capability for referrals that otherwise would have been screened out. The State will start reporting incident date beginning in FFY 2007 with full reporting in FFY 2008.
Children and Perpetrators
During 2006, edits were placed in the SACWIS to make data entry of all demographic information (race, gender, etc.) mandatory along with removal of default values on ethnicity. Additionally, reports were developed and training bulletins distributed to ensure accuracy in reporting. Year-to-year changes are generally due to increased accuracy in reporting.
Fatalities
Prior to FFY 2005, the State reported only those child fatalities that were investigated and substantiated by the child welfare agency. Beginning with the FFY 2005 NCANDS submission, the State worked closely with the Health Division as well as Child Fatality Review Team to more accurately report child fatalities that were due to maltreatment. In 2006, a statewide initiative was implemented for more comprehensive investigations of child fatalities. The State does not believe there has been an increase in child fatalities but rather more accurate reporting of child fatalities.
Services
Many of the preventive services are delivered by nonprofit agencies that received State grants. For the 2006 funding cycle, the State's goal was to narrow the scope of service provision in an effort to target the biggest needs and increase the measurable outcome in targeted service categories. Year-to-year changes are due to this focus and will continue to be notable in FFY 2007.
Lorraine Ellis
Program Analyst/Reporting Coordinator
Bureau of Information Systems
New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services
129 Pleasant Street
State Office Park South
Concord, NH 03301
603-271-0837
603-271-4729 Fax
lorellis@dhhs.state.nh.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
The number of screening and intake workers includes 9 intake workers and 2 supervisors. The number of investigation and assessment workers includes 73 assessment workers and 2 workers who specialize in investigating allegations of abuse and neglect in out-of-home placements. This is a point-in-time snapshot taken during September 2006.
The investigation start date is defined as the date the report is approved for assessment. Dates and days are the smallest units of time maintained in the State's system.
The State uses a tiered system of required response time, ranging from 24 to 72 hours, depending on level of risk at the time of the referral. The average for all referrals is reported to NCANDS.
Fatalities
Data for the Agency File were obtained from the Department of Justice. One fatality was included in the Child File. The report was judged to be founded, due to other allegations in the report, however, the fatality itself was not found to be caused by abuse or neglect.
Services
The State combines funding from Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program and the Social Services Block Grant into a Comprehensive Family Support Services Program. The funds are braided, so the families that receive services through the Comprehensive Family Support Services Program are reported in both the PSSFP and SSGB areas. Community-Based Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect data were provided by the New Hampshire Children's Trust Fund.
The NCANDS category "other" funding sources for preventive services includes New Hampshire State Incentive Funds and Family Violence Prevention and Services Act Grant.
A Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) or other Guardian ad Litem (GAL) was appointed for approximately 70 percent of abuse or neglect cases during FFY 2006. CASA of New Hampshire requires a CASA to visit the children to whom they are appointed at least once per month. The average number of contacts was 8.5. However, not all children were served by a CASA for all 12 months of the year. Some cases did not start until part way through the year and other cases closed during the course of it. The agency does not collect data regarding the remaining 30 percent of cases in which children are served by non-CASA GALs.
Donna Perna
Manager
Information Processing
Office of Information Services
Division of Youth and Family Services
New Jersey Department of Human Services
50 East State Street, 5th Floor
Trenton, NJ 08625-0717
609-292-4759
609-292-8196 Fax
donna.perna@dcf.state.nj.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
The Division of Youth and Family Services requires all referrals to receive either an assessment or a CPS investigation.
As of April 1, 2005, the State officially changed the investigation or assessment findings from:
to:
The State did not report FFY 2006 unfounded dispositions to NCANDS and reported unsubstantiated dispositions for reports prior to April 1, 2005. This change significantly reduced the number of reports that were submitted to NCANDS during FFY 2006 from prior years.
The legacy system does not maintain an investigation start date other than the report date and the date the intake is forwarded to a local office from centralized screening.
Children
During FFY 2006, the number of victims increased about 20 percent. The number of neglect victims increased 40 percent and the number of sexual abuse victims increased 19 percent. The increase is likely due to a combination of the addition of "risk" as a CPS allegation type in July 2004 (these were previously recorded as "at risk," which did not receive a CPS disposition) and the removal of the "unsubstantiated" disposition in April 2005. The number of CPS reports, in general, increased due to the new CPS "risk" category and the number of CPS reports that were substantiated increased due to the removal of the "unsubstantiated" finding.
Perpetrators
The legacy system currently does not assign unique IDs to perpetrators. The ID is unique within the case and incident only.
Retta Prophet
FACTS/Research & Evaluation Manager
New Mexico Department of Protective Services
Children, Youth & Families Department
P.O. Drawer 5160 (Room 252)
Santa Fe, NM 87105
505-476-1044
505-827-8480 Fax
retta.prophet@state.nm.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File
Level of Evidence Required:
Credible
With the FFY 2006 NCANDS submission, the State modified mapping and coding to incorporate new or modified Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS) functionality, and to comply with new NCANDS FFY 2006 data submission instructions.
Reports
The SACWIS has been operational since 1997 and achieved SACWIS Tier 1 Status (SACWIS Compliance Achieved) on May 12, 2006. The New Mexico SACWIS system (FACTS) is the data source for all NCANDS child file data.
Data submitted for FFY 2005 had a disproportionately high number of submitted reports. This resulted from the substantial efforts that were directed toward clearing a backlog of pending investigations. This effort began in November 2004, with the largest impact seen during the last 3 quarters of FFY 2005. This resulted in an approximately 23 percent increase in reports for FFY 2005 (when compared to the resubmitted FFY 2004 data). When comparing FFY 2006 to FFY 2004, the number of reports increased by 6 percent.
Prior to 2006, the State did not capture the investigation start date. A new user-entered field—date/time of initiation was implemented during May 2006. This field is a "required field" and is used to identify the actual date and time that the investigation begins. This is defined in policy as the time when the investigation worker has face-to-face contact with all alleged victims in the report. The State is not able to report incident date at this time.
For the FFY 2006 data submission, the State has some errors related to invalid investigation start date. The errors result primarily from 3 conditions:
The NCANDS category "other" report source includes "clergy," "self," "nonrelated," "public agency," and "out-of-State Agency."
A screened-out report is a report that has not met the criteria for "acceptance for investigation" [8.10.2.7 NMAC – Rp, 8.10.2.7 NMAC, 11/15/05].
Children
The State is not able to report the following NCANDS fields: child-living arrangement, mental retardation-caregiver, visually or hearing impaired-caregiver and learning disability-caregiver. The State does not report alternate response victim information. All child protective service (CPS) screened-in reports are addressed through a CPS investigation.
The NCANDS category "other" maltreatment type includes "exploitation-extortion," "exploitation-parasitic relationship," and "exploitation-unexplained disappearance of funds."
From CPS Investigations administrative code 8.10.3.7 NMAC – Rp, 8.10.3.7 NMAC, 6/15/06
"'Substantiation' in a child abuse and/or neglect investigation means the victim(s) is under the age of 18, a caretaker/provider has been identified as the perpetrator and/or identified as failing to protect, and credible evidence exists to support the conclusion by the investigation worker that the child has been abused and/or neglected as defined by the New Mexico Children's Code. Credible evidence upon which to base a finding of substantiation includes:
"'Unsubstantiated' means that the information collected during the investigation does not support a finding that the child was abused and/ or neglected."
The State modified coding for "alcohol abuse (child)," "drug abuse (child)," "alcohol abuse (caregiver)," and "drug abuse (caregiver)" to include generic substance abuse or polysubstance abuse categories. This modification had little effect on the data reported for child drug or alcohol abuse. However, caregiver alcohol abuse increased from approximately 14 percent for FFY 2005 to 61 percent for FFY 2006. Caregiver drug abuse nearly doubled from 39 percent in FFY 2005 to 65 percent in FFY 2006.
Perpetrators
The NCANDS category "other" perpetrator relationship includes "sibling's guardian," "nonrelative," "foster sibling," "reference person," "conservator," "caregiver," and "surrogate parent."
A new field (alleged perpetrator relationship to alleged victim) was implemented May 2006 and is a required field. Perpetrator relationship and perpetrator as parent are now coded from this field for all investigations completed from May 2006 forward.
New Mexico's previous submissions incorrectly coded unknown perpetrator age to "75" instead of "99", resulting in no unknown perpetrator ages being reported. The correction of this error for the FFY 2006 submission resulted in a significant increase in the aggregate perpetrator count.
The newest NCANDS guidance: If the child is not under the care, placement or supervision of the child welfare agency, the State should code the perpetrator relationship as 88 [other] instead of 03, 04, 05, or 33 [foster parent relationship codes] was issued just prior to the State's FFY 2006 submittal. This modification will be made for the FFY 2007 submittal.
Services
For the FFY 2006 NCANDS submittal, the State fine-tuned mapping for foster care services to include clients in care prior to the report date if foster care services continued beyond the investigation completion date. There is a similar modification to the field of Juvenile Court Petition. In addition, the State narrowed the definition of legal actions that are mapped to juvenile court petition.
The State has seen an overall increase in number of children entering foster care during the previous 4 years, with the most dramatic increase being noted during FFY 2005. Methamphetamine use and substance abuse in general, have been noted as significant precipitators of entry into the child welfare system. Other conditions which may influence the number of children entering foster care include economic factors and standardization of the State's intake screening tools. Economic stressors for families result in increased numbers of children entering the child protective service system. Clarification and standardization of the screening tools also may be related to the increased numbers in foster care.
Lillian Denton
Director
Bureau of Management Information
New York State Office of Children & Family Services
52 Washington Street, Rm 313 South
Rensselaer, NY 12144-2796
518-474-6947
518-474-4208 Fax
lillian.denton@dfa.state.ny.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Credible
Reports
There is no policy for screening out hotline calls.
Services
Data elements for NCANDS services fields are not supported completely by the State application at this time.
Joann Lamm
Chief
Family Support Child Welfare Services Section Division of Social Services
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
325 North Salisbury Street Mail Service Center 2408
Raleigh, NC 27699-2408
919-733-9467
919-733-6924 Fax
joann.lamm@ncmail.net
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Mariah Tenamoc
Children and Family Services
North Dakota Department of Human Services
600 East Boulevard, Dept. 325
Bismarck, ND 58505
701-328-8978
701-308-3538 Fax
sotenm@nd.gov
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File, SDC
Level of Evidence Required
Some credible evidence
General
This is the State's first Child File data submission, which includes data for victims only.
Reports
The child neglect and abuse law was amended in 1995 to move from an incident-based investigation method to a service method in which assessments are made of child safety and future risk of harm. The current emphasis is on what services are available to ameliorate any future risk. This approach focuses on identifying and building on the family's capacities and strengths. Upon completion of the assessment of the initial report of child abuse or neglect, a decision must be made whether services are required to provide for the protection and treatment of an abused or neglected child. Reports in which determinations are made that services are not required are expunged from the database and are therefore not reported to NCANDS.
Children
The State uses dispositions of "services required" or "no services required." The State maps "services required" dispositions to the NCANDS category of investigations or assessments in which the allegation of maltreatment was substantiated. The "no services required" dispositions are mapped to the NCANDS category children for whom the allegation of maltreatment was not substantiated but are not reported in the Child File. It is estimated that 5,284 children have allegations of maltreatment that were not substantiated.
Services
Services data are not reported in the Child File.
Perpetrators
The State reports perpetrator relationships, but is unable to report incidences of child abuse or neglect in institutional settings in the Child File. This results in the underreporting of the safety measure, absence of abuse or neglect in foster care.
Julie Writ
CPS Program Administrator
Bureau of Family Services
Ohio Department of Job and Family Services
255 East Main Street, 3rd Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
614-752-1122
wirtj01@odjfs.state.oh.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Credible
Reports
The NCANDS category "other" report source includes "self (other than victim)" and "other." Data on worker and supervisor are not reported. Data are incomplete due to current Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS) conversion activities. The median (rather than the mean) response time in hours was reported in the Agency File.
Children
The State is not able to report child living arrangement data is not available.
Perpetrators
The NCANDS category "other" perpetrator relationship includes "foster child," "private out of home care participant," "public out of home care participant," "non-related adult," and "non-related child." Data are incomplete due to current SACWIS conversion activities.
Services
The reduction in number of children receiving services funded by the Social Services Block Grant was due to one county not submitting its report.
Bill Hindman
Program Administrator
Oklahoma Department of Human Services
P.O. Box 25352
Oklahoma City, OK 73125
405-522-1968
405-521-4373 Fax
bill.hindman@okdhs.org
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Credible
Reports
A report is screened-out if it meets the criteria listed below.
A Priority I investigation response time indicates that the child is in imminent danger of serious physical injury. These instances are responded to within 24 hours after receipt of the report. A Priority II response time indicates that there is no imminent danger of severe injury, but without intervention and safety measures it is likely the child will not be safe. These instances are responded to within 48 hours to 15 calendar days from the report acceptance date.
The decrease in number of hours from report to investigation during FFY 2006 reflects the elimination of Priority III investigation response time, as well as the increase of Priority II reports being responded to within 15 days.
Children
During previous reporting years, prior victims were identified as alleged victims during the reporting year that had a previous substantiated maltreatment during the same reporting year. Starting with the FFY 2005 submission, prior victims are identified as any alleged victim during the reporting year who had a previous substantiated maltreatment anytime back to 1995, the year the SACWIS system was implemented.
Fatalities
The State investigates all reports of child death and near death that may be related to abuse or neglect. Fatalities are not reported in the NCANDS file until the investigation and State office reviews are completed, which may take up to 12 months. Duplicate fatalities may occur when a child attending an unlicensed childcare facility dies and the abuse is confirmed to the childcare facility and failure to protect is confirmed to the parents. The State does not report child fatalities in residential facilities as these referrals are investigated by a separate unit and are not recorded in the SACWIS.
Perpetrators
In previous years, prior perpetrators were identified as perpetrators of substantiated maltreatments who had a previous substantiated maltreatment that occurred during the reporting year. Starting with FFY 2005, prior perpetrators are identified as perpetrators of a substantiated maltreatment within the reporting year who were a perpetrator in a substantiated maltreatment anytime back to 1995, the year the SACWIS system was implemented.
Services
For previous submissions, abuse in out-of-home care was determined by perpetrator relationship. Reporting then shifted to the "out-of-home" referral designation. Programming now examines both fields to determine incidence of child abuse or neglect in foster care, which has resulted in more accurate reporting. CPS program managers attribute the "out-of-home" care abuse rate to an overall increase in removals.
Maria Duryea
Manager, Child Welfare Research and Reporting
Oregon Department of Human Services/Children, Adults and Families
500 Summer Street NE, E-69
Salem, OR 97301
503-945-6510
503-373-7032 Fax
maria.duryea@state.or.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File, SDC
Level of Evidence Required
Reasonable
Reports
This is the State's first Child File data submission. The State does not collect child-level data on nonvictims.
Children
The numbers of children with unsubstantiated and "other" dispositions were estimated. The number of children with unsubstantiated dispositions is estimated to be 17,713. The number of children with "other" dispositions is estimated to be 10,605. The NCANDS category "other" maltreatment type includes "threat of harm." The NCANDS category unknown sex includes "unborn."
Services
The State's legacy system does not collect data on preventive services.
Perpetrators
The State only provides data on perpetrator relationships and demographics. Also, the State is not able to assign unique perpetrator IDs.
Melanie Retherford
Human Services Program Specialist
Office of Children, Youth and Families
Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare
P.O. Box 2675
Harrisburg, PA 17105
717-214-7386
717-346-9663 Fax
mretherfor@state.pa.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Substantial evidence or clear and convincing/beyond reasonable doubt.
General
The State will receive funding through the Child Abuse and Neglect State Grant in 2007.
Reports
Child protective services investigations account for approximately 30 percent of the total reports investigated or assessed by the child welfare system. State policy addresses neglect through a general protective services investigation rather than a child protective services investigation. The neglect cases are not classified as child abuse.
The definition of abuse includes "(i.) any recent act or failure to act by a perpetrator that causes non-accidental serious physical injury to a child less than 18 years old; (ii.) an act or failure to act by a perpetrator that causes non-accidental serious mental injury to or sexual abuse or sexual exploitation of a child less than 18 years old; (iii.) any act or failure to act or series of such acts or failure to act by a perpetrator which creates an imminent risk of serious physical injury to or sexual abuse or sexual exploitation of a child less than 18 years old; (iv.) serious physical neglect by a perpetrator constituting prolonged or repeated lack of supervision or the failure to provide the essentials of life, including adequate medical care, which endangers a child's life or development or impairs the child's functioning."
The State has the following three levels of report disposition.
The State has a county administered child welfare system in which some counties have caseworkers who specialize in child protective services investigations or assessments and other counties have generic caseworkers who perform other child welfare functions in addition to investigations or assessments. Our reported number of workers is the total number of caseworkers performing any direct child welfare function.
Children
The State is not permitted to retain in its statewide central register information pertaining to the race and ethnicity of the subjects of a child abuse report. Imminent risk of physical and sexual abuse are included in the physical abuse and sexual abuse categories, respectively.
Perpetrators
State law requires a perpetrator to be 14 years or older.
Evelyza Crespo Rivera
Administradora Auxiliar de Proteccion Social
Puerto Rico Department of the Family
Edificio Sevilla Plaza, #58, Hato Rey PR 00917
San Juan, PR
00910-787-625-4900
ecrespo@adfan.gobierno.pr
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
General
FFY 2006 is the first time the State has submitted a Child File and Agency File.
David R. Allenson
Programmer/Analyst II Reports and Data Analysis Manager
Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families
101 Friendship Street—MIS Unit 5th Floor
Providence, RI 02903
401-528-3864
401-528-3922 Fax
david.allenson@dcyf.ri.gov
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
Reports that contain the following four criteria are investigated. A report that contains at least one, but not all four criteria, is considered an "early warning report," and is not investigated.
The 20 percent increase in the number of investigations from Federal fiscal year (FFY) 2005 to FFY 2006 is due, in part, to a worsening social climate in the State.
The number of screening, intake, and investigation or assessment workers was based upon a point-in-time count of full-time equivalents (FTEs) for Child Protective Investigators and Child Protective Supervisors who accept and investigate reports meeting the criteria for investigation and screening. The number of screening and intake workers is based upon a point-in-time count of all FTEs for Social Caseworkers II and Social Caseworker Supervisors II who are responsible for screening and intake.
Children
The NCANDS category "other" maltreatment type includes such institutional allegations as "corporal punishment," "other institutional abuse," and "other institutional neglect." During 2004, there was a policy change for investigations of foster children. In the past, all the foster children in the home would be added as victims with a substantiated allegation of neglect even if the incident did not pertain to them. The current policy is that only the named victim has an allegation, and the facility or home is referred to the Licensing Unit to look at licensing violations rather than child abuse or neglect.
Services
The court-appointed special advocate (CASA) organization provided the average number of out-of-court contacts. This number represents the contacts made by CASA volunteers and does not include Gardians-ad-Litem. Contact was made both in-person and via phone. The number of families who received preventive services through the Community Based Grants for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect included secondary or direct services.
Joanne L. Shekel
Child Protective Services Program Specialist
Office of Family Preservation and Child Welfare Services
South Carolina Department of Social Services
P.O. Box 1520
Columbia, SC 29202-1520
803-898-731
803-898-7641 Fax
jschaekel@dss.state.sc.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Jaime Reiff
Program Specialist
Child Protection Services
Department of Social Services
700 Governors Drive
Pierre, SD 57501
605-773-3227
605-773-6834 Fax
jaime.reiff@state.sd.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
There are 107 CPS staff members in the field who carry out the responsibility of intake, screening, and initial family assessments. South Dakota Child Protection Services has become more specialized in intake and workers completing the initial family assessments. Even some of the smaller offices are now assigning the initial family assessment process to be completed by specific workers. The larger offices have specific Initial Family Assessment workers, including Intake Specialists, Screeners, Supervisors, and Initial Family Assessment workers.
The start date for an investigation is the date the report was provided to an Intake Specialist. Initial contact with the victim is to be made in accordance with the Screening Guideline and Response Decision. The response decision is related to whether the report information is "immediate danger" (immediate response), "foreseeable danger" (within 3 calendar days from the date of the report), "determined to be risk and child is 0–6 years old or cannot protect self" (within 7 calendar days from the date of the report), "risk and child is 7–18 years old and there is indication that the child can self-protect" (within 14 calendar days from the date of the report) or "immediate or foreseeable danger or risk and the perpetrator does not have access to child." A report is considered screened out if it does not meet the criteria in the Screening Guideline and Response Decision Tool as described above. The Screening Guideline and Response Decision was implemented statewide July 1, 2004. The guideline has improved workers' response time and initial contact. The State implemented a policy for timeframes related to submitting reports to supervisors or screeners. This also helped to improve the timeliness of agency contact with child. These new policies and procedures were implemented in conjunction with the State's Program Improvement Plan.
The NCANDS category "other" report source includes "clergy," "community person," "coroner," "shelter employee or volunteer," "funeral director," "other State agency," "public official," and "tribal official."
Children
The data include children who were victims of substantiated reports of child abuse and neglect where the perpetrator is the parent, guardian, or custodian.
A policy regarding reports received regarding a new incident of maltreatment within 45 days of a previous assigned report may be screened out as "screen out/initial family assessment pending." The findings from this report are included on the disposition findings on the first report as "additional findings." The policy also includes a report received on the same incident as the previous assigned report, which can be screened out and it is marked as a duplicate report in the Statewide Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS). This policy affected the total investigations assigned.
To substantiate an allegation, the social worker must decide that it is more likely than not that child abuse or neglect occurred—a preponderance of the evidence. There must also be an application of one or more of the subsections of the State statute definition of child abuse and neglect. The statute definitions are as follows:
Fatalities
A child fatality is defined as a child who died due to substantiated child abuse and neglect by a parent, guardian, or custodian. The number of fatalities reported each year includes those victims involved in a report disposed during the report period, even if their date of death may have actually been in the previous year.
Perpetrators
A perpetrator of child abuse and neglect is defined as a parent, guardian, or custodian. The State SACWIS designates one perpetrator per child per allegation.
Services
The Agency File data include services provided to children and families where funds were used from the Community Based Family Resource and Support Grant. This primarily includes individuals who benefited from parenting education classes.
Lance Griffin
Tennessee Department of Children's Services
Cordell Hull Bldg.
436 Sixth Ave North
Nashville, TN 37243
615-532-7887
lance.griffin@state.tn.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Material evidence
Deborah Washington
Systems Analyst
Information and Technology
Texas Department of Family and Protective Services
2323 Ridgepoint Dr.
Austin, TX 78754
Agency Mail Code: Y960
P.O. Box 149030
Austin, TX 78714-9030
512-929-6762
512-339-5816 Fax
deborah.washington@dfps.state.tx.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
The State schema regarding disposition hierarchy differs from the NCANDS disposition hierarchy. The State has "other" and closed with no finding codes as superseding unsubstantiated at the report level. This hierarchy is based on the principle that the two ends of the disposition spectrum are "founded" and "unfounded," with all else in the middle. NCANDS takes a slightly different view that the two "sure" points are "founded" and "unfounded" and everything else is less than either of these two points.
The State's hierarchy for disposition is, from highest to lowest, "RTB-reason to believe," "UTD-unable to determine," "UTC-unable to complete," and "R/O-ruled out." Mapping for NCANDS reporting is: RTB=01, UTD=88, UTC=07, and R/O=05. Analysis on sample cases from the report disposition hierarchy report revealed that this inconsistency occurs for investigations where an alleged victim has multiple maltreatment allegations and one has a disposition of UTD while the other has a maltreatment disposition of R/O. According to the State's hierarchy, the overall disposition for these investigations is UTD. Mapping the report disposition to unsubstantiated as indicated in NCANDS's report disposition hierarchy report would be inconsistent with the State's policy.
There is no child protective services program or State requirement to capture incident date so there is no data field in the SACWIS for this information.
New intake training focused on clear explanations of confidentiality to the reporters of suspected child maltreatment. This resulted in an increase of individuals willing to identify themselves and led to a decrease in the number of anonymous report sources. Also, a State review of the NCANDS data found a 4 percent increase of unknown from FFY 2005 (15,327) to FFY 2006 (15,982). Another factor for the decrease in anonymous report category is a 42 percent increase in Internet reports from FFY 2005 (53,959) to FFY 2006 (76,756). Individuals making reports via the Internet are not anonymous.
Children
An increase of 8.6 percent for substantiated reports corresponds with an 11.5 percent increase in the number of victims from FFY 2005 to FFY 2006. All races or ethnicities, with the exception of American Indian, had increases similar to the increase in African-American counts.
Fatalities
The increase in nonfacility fatalities may be due, in part, to CPS having established a closer relationship with law enforcement. Cases not formerly brought to the attention of CPS, are now being examined for issues of child abuse or neglect.
Screeners were added to CPS staff during FFY 2006 to screen cases prior to referral for investigation. This, coupled with an 8.6 percent increase in substantiated reports together with the ratio of substantiated reports being up 0.4 percent from FFY 2005 to FFY 2006 contributes to the 16.5 percent increase in victims of neglect.
Many of the risk factors are determined based on conditions that must be clinically diagnosed before being entered into the State's information system as characteristics for an individual. During the course of an investigation, it is generally not known if an individual has been diagnosed with specific conditions and therefore, most often no characteristics are entered. The State believes the NCANDS data are an accurate depiction of data based on what is available during the investigation.
Perpetrators
The 12.9 percent increase in perpetrators is due, in part, to the increase in substantiated reports. While the number of perpetrators with an "undetermined" race increased from FFY 2005 to FFY 2006, the ratio remained relatively constant (FFY 2005 2.1% to FFY 2006 2.8%) when compared with the overall number of perpetrators.
Navina Forsythe
Supervisor Data & Research Unit, SAFE Helpdesk
Division of Child and Family Services
120 North 200 West #225
Salt Lake City, UT 84103
801-538-4045
801-538-3993 Fax
nforsythe@utah.gov
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Reasonable
Reports
During 2004, the State initiated an alternative response pilot program for minor cases of child witnesses of domestic violence. This program change increased the number of alternative response children and decreased the number of emotional maltreatment cases.
The investigation start date is defined as the date a child is first seen by CPS. If this is not possible, the State records the date CPS initially contacted any party who could provide information essential to the investigation or assessment as the investigation start date. The data are captured in date, hours, and minutes.
A referral is screened out in situations including, but not limited to, any of the following:
State law defines domestic violence in the presence of a child as abuse. This allegation represents approximately 30 percent of all substantiated cases. This category is mapped to emotional abuse in NCANDS, which accounts for the large volume of emotional abuse in the State's data submission.
The State uses the following findings: "Supported" a finding, based on the information available to the worker at the end of the investigation, that there is a reasonable basis to conclude that abuse, neglect, or dependency occurred, and that the identified perpetrator is responsible. "Unsupported" a finding based on the information available to the worker at the end of the investigation that there was insufficient information to conclude that abuse, neglect, or dependency occurred. A finding of unsupported means that the worker was unable to make a positive determination that the allegation was actually without merit. "Without Merit" an affirmative finding at the completion of the investigation that the alleged abuse, neglect, or dependency did not occur, or that the alleged perpetrator was not responsible. "Unable to Locate" a category indicating that even though the Child and Family Services Child Protective Services worker has followed the steps outlined in Child and Family services practice guideline and has made reasonable efforts, the Child and Family Services Child Protective Services worker has been unable to make face-to-face contact with the alleged victims to investigate an allegation of abuse, neglect, or dependency and to make a determination of whether the allegation should be classified as supported, nonsupported, or without merit.
Fatalities
All maltreatment fatalities, which are reported to CPS, are included in the Child File.
Services
Postinvestigation services include those services provided by the division or resulting from connections and referrals to community services that were set up for the family.
Richard DiMatteo
Systems Developer III
Information Technology
Department for Children and Families
Vermont Agency of Human Services
103 South Main Street
Waterbury, VT 05671-2401
802-241-2107
rdimatteo@srs.state.vt.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Reasonable
Reports
The Family Services Division of the Vermont Department for Children and Families is responsible for investigating allegations of child abuse or neglect by caretakers and sexual abuse by any person. The department investigates "risk of physical harm" and "risk of sexual abuse."
Perpetrators
The State collects both relative and nonrelative foster parent information as it relates to the placement of children. For abuse information, however, there is an option of foster home or relative, but not relative foster home. If a relative foster parent was the perpetrator, the system would capture that as "other relative."
Services
The number of recipients of "other" preventive services is a duplicated count of recipients of at risk childcare, intensive family-based services, and parent education programs.
John Vaughn
Senior Policy Analyst
Division of Family Services
Virginia Department of Social Services
7 North Eighth Street, 4th floor
Richmond, VA 23219
804-726-7645
804-726-7895
john.vaughn@dss.virginia.gov
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Cynthia Ellingson
Program Manager
Children's Administration
Washington Department of Social and Health Services
P.O. Box 45710
14th and Jefferson Street, OB-2
Olympia, WA 98504-5710
360-902-7929
360-902-7903 Fax
elcy300@dshs.wa.gov
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
A referral could be screened out for the following reasons: the child could not be located, the alleged subject was not a caretaker, or the allegation of child abuse and neglect did not meet the State's legal definition. Of the Federal FFY 2006 referrals that were screened in, some were assessed as needing a "high standard of investigation" (face-to-face contact with the victim) and some were assessed as "families in need of services."
Dispositions of referrals are reported based on findings of the alleged victims reported in "high standard of investigation" referrals. A report is substantiated if any alleged victim with any child abuse or neglect was founded; the referral is reported unsubstantiated if all alleged child abuse or neglect was unfounded. The NCANDS category "other" disposition includes the number of reports that resulted in inconclusive investigations. Referrals that have been determined to be of low risk are reported as alternative response nonvictim. During September 2005, there was a system change that defaults low-risk referrals to alternative response, which caused an increase in the number of alternative response referrals.
Children
Dispositions of the alleged victims reported in "high standard of investigation" referrals are based on findings. An alleged victim is substantiated if any of the alleged child abuse or neglect was founded; the alleged victim is reported as unsubstantiated if all alleged child abuse or neglect identified was unfounded. The NCANDS category "other" dispositions includes the number of children in inconclusive investigations.
Fatalities
The State previously counted only those child fatalities where the medical examiner or coroner ruled the manner of death was a homicide. During 2006, the State began counting those child fatalities that were determined to be the result of abuse or neglect by a medical examiner or coroner or if there was a CPS finding of abuse or neglect.
Services
Families received preventive services from the following sources: Community Networks, CPS Child Care, Family Reconciliation Services, Family Preservation, and Intensive Family Preservation Services. The number of recipients of the Community-Based Family Resource and Support Grant is estimated from several community programs.
The Department opens a case for services at the time a CPS referral is screened-in. The automated information system does not distinguish between services provided for the purpose of the investigation and services during the investigation, which are for the purpose of supporting the family or reducing the risk present in the family. By policy, investigations are to be completed within 90 days of the referral. On average, court-appointed representatives spent 38 hours with a client.
Mary Hodge
Department of Health and Human Resources
350 Capitol Street
Charleston, WV 25301
304-558-5856
Maryhodge@wvdhhr.org
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
John Tuohy
Director
Office of Policy, Evaluation, and Planning
Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services
1 West Wilson Street, Room 550
Madison, WI 53703
Data File(s) Submitted:
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required:
Preponderance
Reports
The State data is child-based where each report is associated with a single child. The report date refers to the date when the agency was notified of the alleged maltreatment and the investigation begin date refers to the date when the agency made initial contact with the child or other member of the family. Screened-out reports are those reports where the information provided does not constitute potential maltreatment of a child or risk of maltreatment of a child.
The NCANDS category "other" maltreatment type includes those instances where the child was not alleged or found to have been maltreated, but was alleged or found to be at risk of maltreatment.
Children
A child is considered to be a victim when an allegation is substantiated or when the child is found to be at risk of maltreatment. The NCANDS category "other" disposition for alleged victims includes children who are subjects of reports with a disposition where the critical sources of information cannot be found or accessed to determine whether or not maltreatment as alleged occurred.
Perpetrators
Perpetrator detail is included for allegations where the child was substantiated or found to be at risk of maltreatment. The NCANDS category "other" perpetrator relationship includes perpetrators who are not primary or secondary caregivers to the child, such as another child or a peer to the child victim, school personnel, a stranger, or a family friend.
Fatalities
The count of fatalities includes only those children who died and were subjects of reports of abuse or neglect in which the maltreatment allegation was substantiated.
Debra Hibbard
CPS Consultant
Wyoming Department of Family Services
130 Hobbs Avenue
Cheyenne, WY 82009
307-777-5479
307-777-3693 Fax
dhibba@state.wy.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Credible
Reports
The State uses first face-to-face contact with an alleged child victim to determine incident date. The date the report is made to the office is used to determine the actual date. Dates and number of days are the smallest units of time measure kept by the State's data system. When the data are entered and as the case is made into an incident that becomes the incident start date.
An increase in child protection reports is due to community people becoming more aware of the issues and child protection needs and because some services providers are currently aware that State law prohibits them from being reprimanded for sharing allegations of abuse to the Department. There also was an increase of medical personnel inquiring about Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) violations versus mandatory reporting.
Children
Governor Dave Freudenthal and the First Lady Nancy Freudenthal developed and promoted several initiatives for the safety of children and families. In the last 2–3 years, they have promoted the "Children and Families Initiative," which is one of the most significant actions being taken to assure a positive future for the families who will live in and lead this State in the coming years. For more than 2 years a group of citizens, parents, teachers and many others have discussed the needs of families and their children.
The First Lady has also promoted the "Wyoming First Lady's Family Night" event that started Sept. 26, 2005 and she has advocated occurring every Monday night amongst families. Churches, community sites, and schools helped bring the message that eating together as a family creates strong bonds that can help both parents and teens through tough times. Studies have shown that frequent family dinners are associated with a decreased risk of teenagers smoking, drinking and using illegal drugs. Another initiative from the First Lady is her "Underage Drinking Initiative" which is a collective responsible to keep children safe and sober. The particular focus is on the 9–15 age group.
The other major initiative across the State of Wyoming is the Methamphetamine Initiative, which includes developing and eventually implementing a long-term residential treatment facility, establishing and supporting intensive outpatient drug supervision programs, creating and distributing information for parents and addicts about available resources for addicts, developing a specialized foster care program for mothers in need of treatment for methamphetamine and other drug addictions.
The State has had an increase in child protection reports and investigations because people have become more aware of issues and child protection needs. The FFY 2006 data also show an increase in alternative responses by the Department because some of the CPS allegations don't rise to the level of an investigation per State statutes and Department of Family Services Child Protection Rules and policies. The Prevention and Assessment Track responses offer services for the family but will not a victim or perpetrator because the allegations do not have a finding or rise to a level of a finding.
Footnote
1 State terms are displayed within quotation marks. With the exception of the NCANDS term "other," NCANDS terms are not displayed within quotations. back
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