Foster Care Case File Findings

AFCARS Assessment Review: Foster Care Case File Findings
State: Washington
AFCARS Report Period Ending September 30, 2002

AFCARS Element

Data in AFCARS Matches Case File

Data in AFCARS Does Not Match Paper File

Questionable/Not Veriviable

Comments

#5 Most Recent Periodic Review Date

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Of the 16 cases that are incorrect, ten of the records were missing data and all of the children had been in care at least six months. There was one record for a child in care six months and the reviewer found a periodic review report. In another record the child had been in care for nine months but the reviewer was unable to find a periodic report in the case file. The remaining records were for children that had been in care for more than a year. Some have been in care for nine years.

#6 Child Birth Date

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#7 Child Sex

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#8 Child Race

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In all four cases, additional races were noted by the reviewer than what were reported to AFCARS.

a. American Indian or Alaskan Native

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b. Asian

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c. Black or African American

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d. Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander

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e. White

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f. Unable to Determine

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#9 Child Hispanic Origin

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The incorrect cases indicated in AFCARS "unable to determine" and the reviewers were able to determine whether the child was of Hispanic origin or not.

#10 Has Child Been Diagnosed with Disability?

In every record the response was "no" for the AFCARS report. In 24 cases the reviewers found diagnosed conditions.

#11 Mental Retardation

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#12 Visually/Hearing Impaired

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#13 Physically Disabled

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#14 Emotionally Disturbed

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#15 Other Diagnosed Condition

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#16 Has Child Ever Been Adopted?

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The incorrect records indicated in AFCARS that the child had never been previously adopted and the reviewers found that the child had been previously adopted.

#17 Age at Previous Adoption

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#18 Date of First Removal from Home

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#19 Total Number of Removals from Home

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#20 Date of Discharge from Previous Episode

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#21 Date of Latest Removal

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The majority of errors were data entry.

#23 Date of Placement in Current Setting

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There were four records that were incorrect due to data entry errors, dates were off by one day. In two records, the actual dates of placement were later than what was reported in AFCARS. Two records had dates reported in AFCARS that occurred after the report period end date.

#24 Number of Previous Placement Settings in This Episode

There was about an equal distribution between the number of records where the reviewers found fewer placement moves (7) and more placement moves (5) than was reported to AFCARS. The decreases were generally attributed to respite placements being counted in AFCARS when they should not have been included.

#25 Manner of Removal From Home for This Episode

There were two records indicating "not yet determined" in the AFCARS file. In one case the child had been in care 24 days, but it was under a voluntary placement agreement. In the other record, the child had been in care since November 1998. The remaining six cases that were incorrect were due to children entering foster care under a voluntary placement agreement and then the agency needing to obtain a court order after the 180 day timeframe to obtain custody of the child. The AFCARS reports reflected a "court order" for manner of removal, not a "voluntary placement agreement."

#26 Physical Abuse

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For elements #26 - 40, all but three instances were incorrect because not all applicable conditions were selected by the workers.

#27 Sexual Abuse

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#28 Neglect

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#29 Parent Alcohol Abuse

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#30 Parent Drug Abuse

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#31 Child Alcohol Abuse

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#32 Child Drug Abuse

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#33 Child Disability

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#34 Child's Behavior Problem

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#35 Death of Parent

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#36 Incarceration of Parent

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#37 Caretaker Inability to Cope

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#38 Abandonment

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#39 Relinquishment

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#40 Inadequate Housing

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#41 Current Placement Setting

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In one case, the reviewer indicated the placement setting should have been a "pre-adoptive home." Another record indicated the child was in a group home, but the child was in a foster family home under an umbrella placing agency. One record should have indicated the child on a "trial home visit" not in a foster home, and another should have indicated the child was on "runaway" status.">

#42 Out of State Placement

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#43 Most Recent Case Plan Goal

The incorrect records reflected case plan goals that had not been updated. The results are:

AFCARS	Documentation	Frequency
Reunify Adoption	2	blank cell
Reunify Guardianship	3	blank cell
Reunify Emancipation	1	blank cell
Reunify Live w/Relative	1	blank cell
Reunify Long Term FC	2	blank cell
Guardianship/Long Term FC	1	blank cell
Long Term FC/Independent Living	1	blank cell

In three of the cases that indicated a goal of reunification in AFCARS also had dates of TPR on the parents.

#44 Caretaker Family Structure

In eight of the incorrect records, the AFCARS data indicates "unable to determine," but the reviewers found the information in the case file.

#45 1st Primary Caretaker's Birth Year

See the notes in element #44. There were several records that indicated the caretaker structure was a single female but there was no data reported to AFCARS for the birth year.

#46 2nd Primary Caretaker's Birth Year

See the notes in element #44.

#47 Mother's Date of TPR

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#48 Father's Date of TPR

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#49 Foster Family Structure

In three instances the AFCARS file indicated a "single male/female" but the reviewer indicated the structure as "married couple." One record was incorrect because the child was on runaway status. Another record was incorrect because the child was actually in a foster home, not a group home, so this data was missing in AFCARS. One record had missing data reported to AFCARS, but the reviewer indicated the foster parents were a "married couple."

#50 1st Foster Caretaker's Birth Year

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#51 2nd Foster Caretaker's Birth Year

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#52 1st Foster Caretaker's Race

There was one instance where more than one race applied, but wasn't recorded on the system.

#53 1st Foster Caretaker's Hispanic Origin

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#52 1st Foster Caretaker's Race

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#55 2nd Foster Caretaker's Hispanic Origin

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#56 Date of Discharge

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Two of the records indicated dates of discharge in the AFCARS file, but the children were still in care.

#58 Reason for Discharge

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See note in element #56.

#59 Title IVE Foster Care

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#60 Title IVE Adoption

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#61 Title IVA AFDC

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#62 Title IVD Child Support

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#63 Title XIX Medicaid

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#64 SSI

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#65 None of the Above

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#66 Monthly Amount

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This information was not reviewed.

US DHHS/ACF/ACYF/Children's Bureau October 2003

Number of cases reviewed: 47 Number of cases analyzed: 47 Number of Juvenile Justice Cases: 0

Adoption Case File Findings
State: Washington
AFCARS Element	Data in AFCARS Matches Case File	Data in AFCARS Does Not Match Paper File	Questionable/Non-verifiable	Comments
#4 State Agency Involvement 1 = Yes 2 = No	24	0	blank cell	blank cell
#5 Child Date of Birth	24	0	blank cell	blank cell
#6 Child Sex	24	0	blank cell	blank cell
#7 Child Race	blank cell	blank cell	blank cell	blank cell
a. American Indian or Alaska Native	21	3	blank cell	blank cell
b. Asian	24	0	blank cell	blank cell
c. Black or African American	23	1	blank cell	blank cell
d. Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	24	0	blank cell	blank cell
e. White	22	2	blank cell	blank cell
f. Unable to Determine	24	0	blank cell	blank cell
#8 Child Hispanic Origin	20	2	2	blank cell
#9 Has Agency Determined Special Needs	15	3	6	In the three cases that did not match, the AFCARS data indicates "no" and the reviewer indicated the response is "yes."
#10 Primary Basis for Determining Special Needs 0 = Not Applicable 1 = Racial/Original Background 2 = Age 3 = Membership in a Sibling Group 4 = Medical Conditions or Mental, Physical or Emotional Disabilities 5 = Other	15	3	6	blank cell
#11 Mental Retardation	18	0	6	blank cell
#12 Visually/Hearing Impaired	17	1	6	blank cell	blank cell
#13 Physically Disabled	18	0	6	blank cell	blank cell
#14 Emotionally Disturbed	16	2	6	blank cell
#15 Other Diagnosed Condition	18	0	6	blank cell
#16 Mother's Birth Year	22	2	blank cell	blank cell
#17 Father's Birth Year	11	11	2	Reviewers noted that this information could be found on the child's birth certificate.
#18 Mother Married at Time of Birth 1 = Yes 2 = No 3 = Unable to Determine	0	9	15	All of the records indicated "unable to determine" to AFCARS. In nine cases the reviewers were able to find the information; the remaining records were marked as "not found in file."
#19 Date of Mother's TPR	21	3	blank cell	blank cell
#20 Date of Father's TPR	20	3	1	In two of the incorrect files, the father was deceased, but this date was not used for a TPR date.
#21 Date Adoption Legalized	22	1	1	blank cell
#22 Adoptive Family Structure 1 = Married Couple 2 = Unmarried Couple 3 = Single Female 4 = Single Male	23	1	blank cell	blank cell
#23 Adoptive Mother's Year of Birth	12	0	12	blank cell
#24 Adoptive Father's Year of Birth	12	2	10	blank cell
#25 Adoptive Mother's Race	blank cell	blank cell	blank cell	blank cell
a. American Indian or Alaska Native	10	0	14	blank cell
b. Asian	10	0	14	blank cell
c. Black or African American	10	0	14	blank cell
d. Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	10	0	14	blank cell
e. White	10	0	14	blank cell
f. Unable to Determine	10	0	14	blank cell
#26 Adoptive Mother's Hispanic Origin	9	1	14	blank cell
#27 Adoptive Father's Race	blank cell	blank cell	blank cell	blank cell
a. American Indian or Alaska Native	9	1	14	In one record the family structure was "unmarried couple," but the responses to the "father's race" was "no" to all items. The reviewer noted this was a same sex couple. The extract should have reported the information on the other parent.
b. Asian	9	1	14	blank cell
c. Black or African American	9	1	14	blank cell
d. Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	9	1	14	blank cell
e. White	8	2	14	blank cell
f. Unable to Determine	9	1	14	blank cell
#28 Adoptive Father's Hispanic Origin	8	2	14	blank cell
#29 Relationship of Adoptive Parent to Child - Stepparent	21	0	3	blank cell
#30 Relationship of Adoptive Parent to Child - Other Relative	17	4	3	In four records, the relationship of the adopting parent to the child was a relative. This item was marked as "does not apply" and element #32 marked as "applies."
#31 Relationship of Adoptive Parent to Child - Foster Parent	21	0	3	blank cell
#32 Relationship of Adoptive Parent to Child - Other Non-Relative	17	4	3	In two cases the reviewers noted that the adoptive parents were also foster parents.
#33 Child Was Placed from 1 = Within State 2 = Another State 3 = Another Country	21	0	3	blank cell
#34 Child Was Placed by 1 = Public Agency 2 = Private Agency 3 = Tribal Agency 4 = Independent Person 5 = Birth Parent	20	1	3	blank cell
#35 Receiving Monthly Subsidy	13	1	10	blank cell
#36 Monthly Amount	5	5	14	blank cell
#37 Adoption Assistance	15	0	9	blank cell

US DHHS/ACF/ACYF/Children's Bureau September 2003

Number of cases reviewed: 30 Number of cases analyzed: 24