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| << Appendix C | Appendix E >> |
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 to no later than 12 hours. In all other reports, alleged 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 concerns expressed 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.
Marcus Gho
Research Analyst IV
Alaska Office of Children's Services
130 Seward Street, Room 4–G
P.O. Box 110630
Juneau, AK 99811–0630
907–465–3292
907–465–3397 Fax
marcus.gho@alaska.gov
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Reasonable
Reports
Screened-out referrals for Federal fiscal year (FFY) 2007 include those created in error, with insufficient information for assessment, with multiple referrals of the same incident, with no alleged maltreatment, and referred to another entity for investigation. Other entities include other States, the military, the police, a tribe, and dual track.
The disposition date of a report is established when the findings of the investigation are formally approved by the investigator's supervisor. Due in part to the pressure of caseload issues and other priorities, final approval of an investigation does not always correspond to when investigation work is completed; some children may have been removed and placed prior to the final disposition of an investigation.
While the State has the capability to record time and date of initial face-to-face contact between investigators and alleged victim(s), documentation of this variable is currently inconsistent to a level that time to investigation is not reported in this year's submission.
Fatalities
The Alaska Office of Children's Services investigates only those fatalities with at least one sibling or other children potentially at-risk of harm.
Services
This is the first NCANDS submission with data solely from the State's SACWIS. Complete data on children receiving family preservation services and family reunification services within the past 5 years will not be available until FFY 2010. Continued improvements to the SACWIS will enhance data quality in subsequent submissions.
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
A substantiated report is defined as probable cause to support a finding of abuse or neglect. (Probable cause is defined as the facts provide a reasonable ground to believe that abuse or neglect occurred).
There was a change in State law regarding substance exposed newborns. Previously, 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. A finding of demonstrable harm is rare.
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
Although there are fewer children and families who received preventive services under the Community-Based Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect Grant for 2007, the overall numbers of clients receiving preventive services in the State increased when compared to 2006.
Darcy Dinning
SACWIS (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
Investigation start date is defined as the first face-to-face contact with the alleged victim. The State Police hotline receives all child maltreatment referrals. If a referral does not meet the definition of child abuse or neglect it is not screened in for investigation.
Children
The State does not use the NCANDS categories of indicated or alternate response victim.
Services
Postinvestigation services include an open child protective or supportive service case from the investigation.
Debbie Williams
Child Welfare Data Analysis Bureau
California Department of Social Services
744 P Street, Mail Station 19-84
Sacramento, CA 95814
916–928–2262
916-653-4880 Fax
deborah.williams@dss.ca.gov
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
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 rolled into the mental health professional category.
The State tracks the percentage of investigations in which face-to-face contact with a child occurs, or is attempted, within the regulatory time frames in those situations when a face-to-face contact is determined to be necessary. For the quarter ending September 2007, the immediate response compliance rate was 96.3 percent and the 10-day response compliance rate was 91.8 percent.
Children
"Substantial risk" allegations are used in the instances when 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. These allegations are not reported to NCANDS.
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, the race of children of Hispanic ethnicity was reported as "unable to determine." 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 Service (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 2003–2005 are pending finalization, the number provided is an estimate based on an estimate for 2005. The estimate of fatal child abuse and neglect deaths available for 2007 is 184.
Perpetrators
The State associates up to three perpetrators per report-child pair. The decrease in the number of foster parent and residential facility staff perpetrators is due, in part, to a change in programming.
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 who participated in a randomized clinical study and received case management services and group intervention.
Greg Smith
Data Analyst/Researcher
Colorado Department of Human Services
1575 Sherman Street
Denver, CO 80203
303–866–4322
303–866–4191 Fax
greg.smith2@state.co.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
The investigation start date is defined as the date the child protection caseworker supervisor recorded an acceptance of a referral into the SACWIS. Report dispositions are determined by the child protection caseworker and recorded after CPS supervisory approval of the disposition.
Children
The State does not have an alternative response program and only reports data on "founded" or "unsubstantiated" abuse. The State does not use the NCANDS category intentionally false. State data contains "youth in conflict" children in the assessment dispositions. These records do not have an abuse or neglect allegation and are reported to NCANDS with an unknown disposition. These children were previously reported with dispositions of "other."
Fatalities
Child fatalities are reviewed by the State Fatality Review Board, which can result in a delay in inputting the disposition of such referrals into the SACWIS. Such instances are reported in the Agency File.
Perpetrators
The State recently obtained the capability to discern relative kinship providers from nonrelative kinship providers.
Services
Services may be underreported as not all intervention services are mapped to NCANDS.
Barbara F. Reese
SACWIS Program Manager
Connecticut Department of
Children and Families
505 Hudson Street
Hartford, CT 06106
860–560–6424
860–550–6728 Fax
barbara.reese@ct.gov
Data File(s) Submitted
Child 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 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. 128 Child
Tylesha Rumley
Family Services Support Administrator
Division of Family Services
Delaware Department of Services for Children,
Youth and Their Families
1825 Faulkland Road
Wilmington, DE 19805
302–633–2674
302–633–2652 Fax
tylesha.rumley@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. The State will examine further ways to effectively map investigation start dates for all family abuse and institutional abuse investigations to the date of initial contact by CPS staff.
Children
The State uses 48 statutory types of child abuse, neglect, and dependency to substantiate an investigation. The State code defines the following terms:
Fatalities
Fatalities reported in the Child File and Agency File are only counted if the fatalities were as a result from maltreatment (abuse, dependency, or neglect).
Services
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.
Lori Peterson
Supervisor, Information Management
District of Columbia, Child and
Family Services Agency
702 H St. NW
Washington, DC 20001
202–434–0055
lori.peterson@dc.gov
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Credible
Children
Race data are currently under-reported in the SACWIS. The District is taking steps to ensure that race information is documented by training social workers on the importance of recording the data.
Perpetrators
Perpetrator relationship data are currently under-reported in the SACWIS. The District reviewed the current relationship code mapping and will update the mapping form for this data element to accurately report relationships. The revised mapping logic will be reflected in the FFY 2008 NCANDS submission.
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
No Indication: As a result of an investigation, a determination that there is no credible evidence to support the allegations of abuse, neglect, or threatened harm.
Some Indication: As a result of an investigation, a determination that there is credible evidence which does not meet the standard of being a preponderance to support that the specific injury, harm, or threatened harm was the result of abuse or neglect that occurred.
Verified: As a result of an investigation, a determination that a preponderance of the credible evidence supports the conclusion that the specific injury, harm, or threatened harm was the result of abuse or neglect that occurred.
Beginning with the FFY 2007 NCANDS submission, all reports with a disposition of "some indication" were mapped to the NCANDS category "other." This resulted in a change in the number of substantiated reports. The State believes it is appropriate to separate these reports from those mapped to substantiated as there is not a preponderance of credible evidence that abuse or neglect occurred.
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 either must be a resident or can be located in the State. Screened-out referrals reflect phone calls received about situations that did not meet the statutory criteria.
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 of the report 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:
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, they will not retain the same worker value in the system.
Children
The Child File includes both 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 that would be created for the child regardless of whether that child has actually been removed or reported to AFCARS.
The State maps threatened harm, including domestic violence situations, to the NCANDS category "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).
Most data captured for child risk factors are only available if there is an ongoing services case—either already open at the time the report is received, or opened due to the report.
Fatalities
Fatality data include any report closed 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.
Perpetrators
By policy, perpetrator data are captured only for verified reports, which have a higher level of evidence than indicated reports. Most data captured for caregiver risk factors are only available if there is an ongoing services case–either already open at the time the report is received, or opened due to the report.
All licensed foster parents and nonfinalized adoptive parents are mapped to the NCANDS category of nonrelative foster parents, although some may be related to the child. Approved relative caregivers (license not issued) are mapped to the NCANDS category other relatives.
Services
Services reported in the Child File are those recommended by the Child Protective Investigator, based on their 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 under 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
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. Screened-out referrals were those that did not contain the components of a CPS report.
Situations in which no allegations of maltreatment were included in the referral and in which local or county protocols did not require a response, were screened out. Such situations could have included 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 were made to other resources, such as early intervention or prevention programs.
The NCANDS category social services personnel includes Department of Human Resources staff. The NCANDS category "other" report source includes other nonmandated reporters, religious leaders or staff, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) staff.
Services
Data concerning services are provided by Healthy Families in Georgia, Safe/Stable Families and the Governor's Office for Children and Families. 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.
Ricky Higashide
Research Supervisor
Management Services Office
Hawaii Department of Human Services
1390 Miller Street, Room 210
Honolulu, HI 96813
808-586-5109
808-586-4810 Fax
rhigashide@dhs.hawaii.gov
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Reasonable, foreseeable risk
Reports
The investigation date is defined as the face-to-face contact date and time of the child victim by a CPS staff member.
Children
The NCANDS category "other" maltreatment type category includes "threatened abuse" or "threatened neglect." The State only uses two disposition categories—substantiated and unsubstantiated. A child is categorized as substantiated if one or more of the alleged maltreatments is confirmed with more than 50 percent certainty.
The State instituted a differential response system in December 2005. The system is an intake process that assesses each report to child welfare services to determine the most appropriate, most effective, and least intrusive response that can be provided by child welfare services or community partners to a report of child abuse or neglect. If a case presents a safety concern, child welfare services will always conduct an investigation and take action to protect the child. If the report presents a risk concern, families will be offered voluntary services with a community provider.
Perpetrators
The State CPS system designates up to two perpetrators per child.
Services
The State is not able to report children and families who received 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. The numbers of victims receiving family preservation and family reunification services are unique counts.
Jeri Bala
FACS/FOCUS
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
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
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 CPS investigation.
The NCANDS category "other" report disposition refers to noninvolved children (i.e., children not suspected of being abused 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 per the instructions provided for this year's submission.
The NCANDS category "other" child 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," and "subsidized guardian."
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 changes in reporting forms.
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 county.
Children
The NCANDS category "other" living arrangement includes "school," "state institution," "nursing home," "hospital," "other," "registered ministries," and "all unregistered/unlicensed centers." The State does not report incident date.
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 "baby sitter," "resident," "self," "other," and "unavailable."
Services
Due to information system limitations, services data are not complete. The redesign of the system will enable capture of this information because the Family Case Manager will have to enter the service referral in Indiana Child Welfare Information System (ICWIS) to enable the bookkeeper to pay the vendor for the service.
Jeff Regula
Program Manager
Division of Child and Family Services
Iowa Department of Human Services
Hoover State Office Building, 5th Floor
1305 East Walnut
Des Moines, IA 50319
515–242–5103
515–281–6248 Fax
jregula@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 number of reports declined during FFY 2007; however, the proportion of substantiated reports has remained steady.
Children
The State has experienced a rise in the number of child victims in recent years. Beginning in 2007, data suggests that this trend is leveling off or reversing, but it is still too early to be sure. The State is in the third year of the Better Results for Kids initiative. This new model of practice puts greater emphasis on preserving family relationships and finding alternatives to prevent the need for removal of children from the home. As indicated by the drop in children who entered care as a result of an abuse investigation, it appears that the initiative is achieving the desired results, although it is still too soon to tell if the trend will continue.
Services
The State is in the process of changing the service array and the methods used for purchasing services from a per-unit model to a pay-for-results model. The new model is designed to provide more flexibility in meeting the needs of child and families. Transitioning to the new service array may cause services-related data anomalies.
Deanne Dinkel
Program Administrator
Division of Children and Family Services
Kansas Department of Social and
Rehabilitative Services
Docking State Office Building, 5th Floor
915 SW Harrison
Topeka, KS 66612–1570
785–291–3665
785–368–8159 Fax
deanne.dinkel@srs.ks.gov
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Clear and convincing
Reports
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," and "volunteer."
Children
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 (GAL).
Postinvestigation services are provided to those cases that have an open plan for services such as family services, family preservation, foster care, etc.
Dilip Penmecha
Family Services Systems Management Branch
Cabinet for Health and Family Services
151 1/2 Elkhorn Ct
Frankfort, KY 40601
502–564–0105 Ext 10634
502–573–2076 Fax
dilip.penmecha@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 and indicated 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.
The investigation start date is defined as the date and time of the initial face-to-face contact with each identified victim and the victim's parent or caretaker.
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 capture information on screened-out referrals, but is unable to provide data on them at this time.
FFY 2007 was the first full year of data from the State's new information system. Because of the change to the new system, there will be some differences if comparing data from prior years. The new system uses case open date and the previous system used the transaction date. Some notable differences in data from prior years:
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:
For cases in which the investigation findings do not meet the standard for "invalid" or "valid" additional contacts or investigative activities should be conducted to determine a finding. When a finding cannot be determined following such efforts, an inconclusive finding is considered. It is appropriate when there is some evidence to support a finding that abuse or neglect occurred but there is not enough credible evidence to meet the standard for a "valid" finding. The inconclusive finding is only appropriate for cases in which there are particular facts or dynamics that give the worker or supervisor a reason to suspect child abuse or neglect occurred. Staff are expected to use caution when using this finding as it not to be used as a "catchall" finding.
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:
For alternative response nonvictims, there was a significant decrease in cases because the program was only operational in the New Orleans area prior to Hurricane Katrina. The large population shifts and disruptions following Katrina caused a closure of the Orleans alternative response program and reduction in staff of the Jefferson Parish alternative response program. The agency implemented a statewide alternative response program in 2008. The 2008 data will have a significant increase in alternative response nonvictim cases.
The victim race data show an increase in the number of Hispanic victims (59.1%). This increase is related to the increase in Hispanic workers (and families) in the area as part of the post-Hurricanes Katrina/Rita rebuilding effort.
The number of victims who suffered sexual abuse and the number of victims who suffered emotional maltreatment decreased. These decreases are also a direct result of the decrease in total number of investigations.
Perpetrators
The number of perpetrators decreased (as a result of the decrease in total number of investigations). The State is not able to capture the perpetrator relationship accurately and therefore reports the code "other" for 95 percent of cases.
Services
The State provides the following postinvestigation services: foster care, 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.
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 SACWIS is used to document all reports made to 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 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 designated as an alleged victim. Additional children in the family who were designated as "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 has an appeals process for perpetrators that do not agree with a specific finding. The findings practice is changing because of the high overturn rate.
Services
Nine private agencies under contract with the Bureau of Child and Family Services provide preventive and postassessment services for 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.
Gloria Sinclair
Analyst, Research, Evaluation and
System Development
Maryland Department of Human Resources
311 West Saratoga Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
410–238–1252
410–238–1279 Fax
gsincla2@dhr.state.md.us
Data File(s) Submitted
The State was not able to submit FFY 2007 data in time for publication in Child Maltreatment.
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
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 investigation start date is defined as the date that the intake is screened in for investigation.
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 the State's SACWIS titled FamilyNet. However, this could change in the future.
The number of screening, intake, and investigation workers is based on an estimated number of 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 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 risk factors are not reported because FamilyNet does not currently 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 caregiver health and behavior conditions are not usually collected.
Fatalities
The State maintains a database with child fatality information entered by the Case Investigation Unit. This database records information on all child fatalities allegedly due to abuse or neglect regardless of whether or not the family was known to the Department of Social Services prior to the fatality.
Services
Data are collected only for those services that are provided by the Department of Social Services. The Department of Social Services can be granted custody of a child who is never removed from home and placed in substitute care. When the department is granted custody of a child, the child will have an appointed representative, but that data might not be recorded in FamilyNet.
George Noonan
Data Analysis and Information
Management Unit
Michigan Department of Human Services
235 South Grand Avenue
Lansing, MI 48909
517–335–7756
noonang@michigan.gov
Data File(s) Submitted
The State was not able to submit FFY 2007 data in time for publication in Child Maltreatment.
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
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
Each year, as a greater proportion of reports receive a family assessment response, rather than an investigative response, the unsubstantiated rate decreases. The more serious reports that receive the investigative response are more likely to be substantiated than the low-risk reports, which now receive a family assessment response.
The NCANDS category "other" report source includes "clergy," "Department of Human Services birth match," "other mandated," and "other nonmandated."
Children
The NCANDS category "other" living arrangement includes "independent living" and "other."
Fatalities
All child victims known to the social services agencies to have died as a result of child maltreatment are included in the Child File.
Perpetrators
The NCANDS category "other" perpetrator relationship includes "other nonrelative."
Services
The increase in the number of children who received preventive services is due to a new query (system change) in place.
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 implemented a safety assessment program as a part of an investigation. The assessment program has three levels. Level 1 is screened out. Level 2 is screened in and a safety assessment is initiated within 72 hours. Level 3 is screened in and a full investigation is initiated within 24 hours. A Level 2 can escalate to a Level 3. Level 3 is a felony report and Level 2 is any other abuse and neglect concern where the caregiver is the perpetrator. If not screened in, the intake supervisor has 24 hours to screen. After that, the worker's time starts from assignment times.
Children
The Department of Family and Children Services classifies all reports as "evidenced" or "no evidence." "Evidenced" numbers are mapped to the NCANDS category substantiated.
Perpetrators
State law does not allow a person younger than 12 years to be identified as a perpetrator.
Fatalities
The State previously counted only those child fatalities where the medical examiner or coroner ruled the manner of death was a homicide. During FFY 2007, the State began counting those child fatalities that were determined to be the result of abuse or neglect if there was a CPS finding of abuse or neglect. All fatalities are reported in the Child File.
Meliny Staysa
Program Development Specialist
Children's Division Central Office
Department of Social Services
PO Box 88
Jefferson City, MO 65103-0088
573–522–8620
573–526–3971 Fax
meliny.j.staysa@dss.mo.gov
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance of evidence
General
The State recently integrated a SACWIS for the data used for NCANDS reporting. Therefore, variances in data compared to previous years may occur.
Reports
The investigation start date is defined as the date of the first actual face-to-face contact with an alleged victim. Therefore, the response time indicated is based on the time from the login 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. State policy allows multidisciplinary team members to make the initial face-to-face contact for safety assurance; however, Children's Division staff are required to have face-to-face contact with the alleged victim and all household children within 72 hours. Data provided for FFY 2007 includes contacts made by multidisciplinary team members.
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 was coded as "other" and the maltreatment disposition was 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 rate of prior victimization is not comparable to States that define victimization in a different manner, and may result in a lower rate of victimization than such States. For example, the rate of prior victimization is calculated by taking the total number of 2007 substantiated records, and dividing it by the total number of prior substantiated records, not including unsubstantiated or alternate response records.
Cases involving medical neglect were not reported in the FFY 2007 data submission 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 2007.
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 only. 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 CPS reports that require assessment or investigation are sent to the field within 8 hours or receipt of the call.
Due to the State's rural nature, the majority of workers perform both intake and assessment functions. This number includes social workers, case aides, permanency workers, and supervisors. The number of FTEs was calculated by gathering data for a 2-week period as to the number of calls to each field office and the time of day those referrals were received. The State also gathered data as to the number or reports that were entered into the system during the same timeframe. The State developed a weighted formula to determine the number of individuals required to handle the number of referrals.
Services
Data for preventive services are collected by State fiscal year. There was a significant increase in the numbers of children and families who received preventive services under the Community-Based Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect Grant.
Frank Fornataro
Business System Analyst
Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, Protection & Safety
301 Centennial Mall South
PO Box 95044
Lincoln, NE 68509–5044
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 in reports from calendar year to calendar year, but a decrease in reports for the NCANDS submissions for FFY 2006 and FFY 2007. The difference between the State's annual report and the NCANDS submission is that the State's report accounts for all allegations of maltreatment, no matter what the finding, while the NCANDS submission includes only those allegations where a finding date is within the reporting period.
Beginning in FFY 2007, the State has discontinued reporting to NCANDS records with "court pending" dispositions. "Court pending" is not a final disposition and is changed to a final disposition after the court has made final judgment. Previous reports included this disposition and categorized these records as a substantiated disposition.
The State implemented a new safety model during FFY 2007. The Nebraska Safety Intervention System (NSIS) placed greater emphasis on the safety of the child and is a comprehensive assessment of the family. It is expected that the NSIS will have only a minor impact on the data submission because the methods used to determine if an abuse occurred is not changing.
Children
The decrease of nearly 33 percent in the number of victims is due to the State no longer reporting child victims with a final disposition of "court pending."
Also during FFY 2007, 513 victims' records only had basic demographic data. An analysis determined that these children had a final disposition of "unable to locate." The State will make changes to the future reports to include the abuse types and, if possible, the demographics of the perpetrator.
The recurrence rate for the State continues to increase from year-to-year. The State treats each reporter's call as a separate report hence, reports of the same incident and child may be counted more than once. This reporting practice has impacted Nebraska's recurrence rate. Twenty percent of the children in this years report reflect in more than one report and 8.4 percent of those children were identified as victims.
The State has proposed to adopt a rollup practice used by many other States. This new practice is projected to be implemented for FFY 2008 reporting.
Fatalities
Fatalities with "court pending" disposition reports were not included in the FFY 2007 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 child fatalities that are not included in the child welfare system, but were determined by the review team to have been caused by a child abuse and neglect action.
For FFY 2007, 16 child deaths were reported in the Child File and the Agency File. There were 3 children reported in the Child File (1 child died in December 2005 and the other 2 died in calendar year 2006).
The 13 children reported in the Agency File all died in calendar year 2007. These incidents were investigated by agencies external to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, Protection and Safety Division.
There were two additional abuse and neglect victims whose deaths occurred in FFY 2007. These two deaths will be reported in the FFY 2008 file because the final disposition was determined after the reporting period.
Services
The 10 percent decrease in services is due to the Nebraska Safety Intervention System (NSIS) implementation. The State is attempting to find a method to collect the informal services provided to the family similar to they way this use to be completed in the Safety Plan. NCANDS includes services that are implemented or continued after the disposition date. Best practice in includes discontinuing services when the service is no longer required or needed. In many, instances this may be prior to the disposition date.
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
In the State, CPS 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 use a single data system under the State's SACWIS— the Unified Nevada Information Technology for Youth (UNITY).
Reports
The State began reporting alternative response data during FFY 2006. Additional staff were hired to address referrals that otherwise would have been screened out.
Per State policy, the investigation start date allows for attempted contacts, therefore, this outcome will typically be less that 100 percent for face-to-face contact. The State began reporting incident date in FFY 2007.
Children
The NCANDS risk factors fields coding was modified to be more accurate during FFY 2007. While some improvement will be noted for these fields in the FFY 2007 submission, more significant improvement should be noted in the FFY 2008 submission.
Fatalities
The State's fatality reporting is more accurate after a statewide effort to enter child fatality data into UNITY. Also, the case-review process was formalized through legislation and policy. The activities related to reporting, collaborative investigations, education of forensic interviewing, and training provided to law enforcement and CPS throughout the State during the prior year resulted in a better assessment of causative factors of child death and abuse in care. An increase in child fatality case reviews in service areas and improved investigatory protocols through staff training has contributed to more accurate reporting.
Services
Many preventive services are delivered by nonprofit agencies that received grants from the State. The grants for the 2007 funding cycle provided more skills-based training to students statewide while providing outreach to a significant number of children and youth.
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 intake workers and supervisors. The number of investigation and assessment workers includes assessment workers and workers who specialize in investigating allegations of abuse and neglect in out-of-home placements. This is a point-in-time snapshot taken in 2007.
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 for NCANDS reporting. The State uses a tiered system of required response time, ranging from 24–72 hours, depending on level of risk at the time of the referral. The reported data are the average for all referrals.
Fatalities
Data for the Agency File were obtained from the Department of Justice. One child fatality was included in the Child File.
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 families that receive services through the Comprehensive Family Support Services Program are reported in both grant 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 State Incentive Funds, and Family Violence Prevention and Services Act Grant.
A CASA or other GAL is appointed to represent the interests of children in all abuse and neglect cases. CASA of New Hampshire requires a CASA to visit the children to whom they are appointed at least once per month. 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 cases in which children are served by non-CASA GALs.
Donna Younkin
Director, Office of Information Technology and
Reporting
New Jersey Department of Children and
Families
50 East State Street, 5th Floor
Trenton, NJ 08625–0717
609–292–3035
donna.younkin@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 of abuse and neglect to undergo a CPS investigation.
The State did not report FFY 2006 "unfounded" dispositions to NCANDS and reported unsubstantiated dispositions only for reports received prior to April 2005. This change significantly reduced the number of reports that were submitted to NCANDS during FFY 2006 as compared to prior years.
Beginning in FFY 2007, all child abuse and neglect reports, including those with "unfounded" dispositions, are reported to NCANDS. Also beginning in FFY 2007, the state no longer reports to NCANDS at-risk alternate response nonvictim assessments as had been done in prior years.
In addition to data systems changes related to the implementation of SACWIS in August 2007, the State has seen significant changes in organizational structure; tracking and monitoring of outcomes; implementation of new case practice protocols; and reduced caseloads for workers. Comparison of FFY 2007 data to prior fiscal years needs to consider the recent SACWIS implementation.
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, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required:
Credible
Reports
The investigation start date is a user-entered field that is defined as the time when the investigation worker had face-to-face contact with all alleged victims in the report. Beginning with FFY 2007, if the child welfare agency is unable to locate a family, an investigation start date is not reported. The State does not report incident date.
A screened-out report is a report that has not met the Children, Youth & Families Department's criteria for "acceptance for investigation" [8.10.2.7 NMAC-Rp, 8.10.2.7 NMAC, 11/15/05]. The State administrative code does not use alternate response victim. All screened-in reports are addressed through a CPS investigation [8.10.3.7 NMAC-Rp, 8.10.3.7].
Children
The State is not able to report the victim's living arrangement. The NCANDS category "other" maltreatment type includes "exploitation-extortion," "exploitation-parasitic relationship," and "exploitation-unexplained disappearance of funds."
From CPS Investigations administrative New Mexico Administrative Code (NMAC), 6/15/06:
"Substantiation in a child abuse 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."
Fatalities
Due to a lengthy investigation process, three child deaths that occurred during FFY 2007 will be reported in the FFY 2008 Child File.
Perpetrators
The State is not able to report the following NCANDS perpetrator fields: mental retardation caregiver, visually or hearing impaired caregiver, and learning disability-caregiver.
An on-line change to specifically define perpetrator relationship was implemented in May 2006. FFY 2007 is the first full NCANDS submission incorporating this change. The availability of perpetrator relationship data increased from 88 percent for FFY 2006 to 99 percent for FFY2007.
The State does not report residential staff perpetrators as any report of alleged abuse or neglect that occurs at a facility is screened out. CPS does not have jurisdiction via policy and procedure to investigate allegations of abuse or neglect in facilities. All screened-out referrals are cross reported to law enforcement having jurisdiction over the incident and such reports are cross reported to Licensing and Certification.
If the alleged maltreatment involves a child in Children, Youth & Families Department's custody, then a safety assessment is conducted for that child to ensure that the placement is safe.
The NCANDS category "other" perpetrator relationship includes "sibling's guardian," "nonrelative," "foster sibling," "reference person," "conservator," "caregiver," and "surrogate parent." Also, beginning in FFY 2007, the perpetrator relationship is coded to the NCANDS category "other" if the perpetrator is a foster parent, but the child is not under the care, placement, or supervision of the child welfare agency.
Services
Postinvestigation services are reported for any child or family involved in a CPS report with an identified service documented in the SACWIS system as service delivered, a payment for service delivered, or a component of a service plan.
The State is not able to report the following NCANDS fields: home-based services, information and referral services, legal services, respite care services, special services-juvenile delinquent, and "other" services.
As of the FFY 2007 submission, the special services- juvenile delinquent field is not reported, as these data do not meet the NCANDS definition of services that began or continued "as a result of the CPS response to reported allegations." Juvenile justice services are delivered under the authority of the Children, Youth and Families Department, but within a separate division from the child welfare system and in response to a law enforcement referral based on an offense by the child. There is no relationship between CPS reports and investigations and decisions to provide juvenile justice services within the Children, Youth and Families Department.
Beginning with the FFY 2007 submission, some services are coded "unknown" instead of "no" if no information exists in the SACWIS to identify the service. This change in coding more accurately represents services received by families. The affected services include: postinvestigation services, family support services, counseling services, educational and training services, employment services, family planning services, health and home health services, housing services, mental health services, pregnancy and parenting services for young parents, special services-disabled, substance abuse services, and transportation services.
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.
Children
The NCANDS category "other" maltreatment type includes and, is mostly comprised of, "parent's drug/alcohol misuse." The State is not able to report the NCANDS risk factor fields at this time.
Services
The State is not able to report the NCANDS services fields at this time.
Charisse Johnson
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 2406
Raleigh, NC 27699–2406
919–733–9467
919–733–6924 Fax
charisse.johnson@ncmail.net
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
During FFY 2006, the State implemented, statewide, an alternative response program. After receiving reports of alleged child maltreatment, the allegations are screened by the county agency to determine if they meet the statutory definition of abuse, neglect, or dependency. A child is considered a dependent child if he or she does not have a parent or caretaker or if the parent or caretaker is unable to provide for the care or supervision of the child. Once reports are accepted by the county agency because the allegations meet statutory definitions, it is assigned to either an Investigative Assessment or a Family Assessment track.
Family Assessments place a greater emphasis on globally assessing the underlying issues of maltreatment rather than focusing solely on determining whether or not the incident of maltreatment occurred. In a Family Assessment the family is engaged using Family-Centered Principles of Partnership throughout the entire assessment. Case decision findings at the conclusion of a Family Assessment do not indicate whether a report was substantiated or not, rather a determination of the level of services a family may need is made. Perpetrators are also not listed for Family Assessments.
Legislation requires that for all allegations of abuse, neglect, or dependency with regard to any child in a family, all minors living in the home must be treated as alleged victims. The staffing numbers were provided by an annual survey of the 100 social services departments in the State
Fatalities
Data about child fatalities are only reported via the Chief Medical Examiner's Office. Due to the process in which this information is reported, the most recent data available is for 2006 therefore, the State did not report fatality data for FFY 2007.
Children
The NCANDS category "other" maltreatment type includes "dependency" and "encouraging, directing, or approving delinquent acts involving moral turpitude committed by a juvenile."
Tara Muhlhauser
Deputy Director
Children and Family Services
North Dakota Department of Human Services
600 East Boulevard
Bismarck, ND 58505
701–328–3587
701–328–2359 Fax
sopomt@state.nd.us
Data File(s) Submitted
SDC
Level of Evidence Required
Some credible evidence
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.
Services
Services data are not reported in the SDC.
Leslie McGee
Program Administrator
Bureau of Family Services
Ohio Department of Job and Family Services
50 W. Town Street, 6th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
614–752–1089
mcgeel@odjfs.state.oh.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Credible
Reports
Beginning with each agency's implementation of SACWIS, there were two new dispositions available in addition to the other four dispositions that were a part of the State's legacy system. The additional dispositions are "family moved– unable to complete assessment/investigation (A/I)" and "family moved–referred to appropriate public children services agency (PCSA)." These dispositions and "unable to locate" are mapped to the NCANDS category "closed with no finding."
The NCANDS category "other" report source includes "self (other than victim)" and "other."
The rolling implementation of the State's SACWIS, which began during January 2007, made it difficult to obtain consistent data on workers and supervisors, screened-in and screened-out referrals and children, and mean response time in hours.
Services
Beginning in September 2006, the State began implementing a new assessment model that provides systematic decision-making criteria for opening cases for ongoing agency services.
Beginning with the SACWIS implementation, agencies can record the use of services at any point during the life of a case, including services provided during assessment or investigation.
Due to the rolling implementation of the SACWIS, data are not collected on the number of families receiving services through the Social Services Block Grant.
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 Priority I investigation indicates the child is in imminent danger of serious physical injury. Allegations of abuse and neglect may be severe and conditions extreme. The situation is responded to immediately, the same day of receipt of the report. A Priority II investigation indicates there is no imminent danger of severe injury, but without intervention and safety measures it is likely the child will not be safe. This level has a response time of 2 to 15 calendar days from the date the report was accepted. The investigation level Priority III was discontinued as of July 2006. The average response time has decreased as a result of this change.
A report is screened out if it meets the criteria listed below:
The State uses the investigation findings listed below.
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 review are completed, which may take up to 12 months and result in out of range reporting. 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 the child confirmed to the parents. The State does not report child fatalities in residential facilities as these referrals are investigated by a separate unit and not documented in the SACWIS.
Perpetrators
Prior perpetrators are defined as perpetrators of a substantiated maltreatment within the reporting year who were a perpetrator in a substantiated maltreatment back to 1995, the year the SACWIS was implemented.
Services
Postinvestigation services is defined as services that are provided during the investigation and continue after the investigation or services that begin within 90 days of closure of the investigation.
Maria Duryea
Research, Reporting and Quality Assurance
Manager
Department of Human Services/Children,
Adults and Families
500 Summer Street NE, E72
Salem, OR 97301
503-945-6510
503-373-7032 Fax
maria.duryea@state.or.us
Data File(s) Submitted
SDC
Level of Evidence Required
Reasonable
Reports
The investigation start date is defined as is the date of actual child or parental contact.
A report is screened-out when:
Children
The numbers of children with unsubstantiated and "other" dispositions are estimated. The NCANDS category "other" disposition includes "unable to determine."
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; therefore, it does not currently have NCANDS-level reporting on these services.
Perpetrators
The State only provides data on perpetrator relationships. Unique perpetrators between reports cannot be identified.
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.
Reports
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."
Although response time is not reported at the State level, the State's Child Protective Services Law mandates that upon receipt of a report of suspected child abuse, the investigating agency shall immediately commence an appropriate investigation and see the child immediately if emergency protective custody is required or has been taken, or if it cannot be determined from the report whether emergency protective custody is needed. Otherwise, the investigating agency shall commence an appropriate investigation and see the child within 24 hours of the receipt of the report. The county agency, which is responsible for the investigation, documents all contacts with the alleged victim.
The State has a county administered child welfare system in which some counties have caseworkers that specialize in CPS investigations and assessments and other counties have generic caseworkers that perform other child welfare functions in addition to CPS investigations. The 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.
The NCANDS category physical abuse maltreatment type includes "imminent risk of physical abuse" and the NCANDS category sexual abuse maltreatment type includes "imminent risk of sexual abuse."
Perpetrators
State law defines a perpetrator as a person who has committed child abuse and is parent of a child, a person responsible for the welfare of a child, an individual residing in the same home as the child (the individual must be 14 years of age or older), or a paramour of a child's parent.
Services
The Child Abuse and Neglect State Grant funding was used to establish and operate citizen review panels, develop and provide training to mandated reporters under the Child Protective Services Law, and purchase the Ages and Stages Development and Social and Emotional questionnaires for all county children and youth agencies and numerous private children and youth agencies.
The Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention Program data are from various fiscal reporting documents. Family Centers provided preventive services to approximately 8,845 families, on average, per month. There are 20 Fatherhood programs located within Family Centers throughout the State. These services are provided through a combination of Federal, State, and local funding sources.
The NCANDS category "other" funding source includes such data as 31 Children's Trust Fund grantees served approximately 2,500 families and 190 early childhood education practitioners. Also, 3,947 families were served through 23 Nurse- Family Partnership programs in 39 counties.
Evelyza Crespo Rivera
Administradora Auxiliar de Proteccion Social
Puerto Rico Department of the Family
P. O. Box 194090
San Juan, P.R. 00919–4090
787–625–4900
ecrespo@adfan.gobierno.pr
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
General
FFY 2006 was the first time the Commonwealth submitted a Child File and an Agency File.
Children
The numbers of substantiated children and reports in have decreased when compared to prior years because of better identification of children and families with allegations of maltreatment not reaching the level of a full investigation. These children and families are referred to community based services.
The number of FFY 2007 children with "other" dispositions increased 61 percent when compared to FFY 2006. This is due, in part, because duplicate referrals are mapped to the NCANDS category "other" disposition.
Services
The Commonwealth was not able to report foster care services for FFY 2007.
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 "information and referral," and is not investigated.
While RICHIST (the State's SACWIS) can link more than one report source per report, only one person can be identified as the person who actually makes the report. If more than one report is linked to an investigation, the person identified as the reporter in the first report is used in the Child File.
The number of screening, intake, and investigation or assessment workers was based on a point-in-time count of 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 on a point-in-time count of all FTEs for Social Caseworkers II and Intake Casework Supervisors II.
Children
The NCANDS category "other" maltreatment type includes such institutional allegations as "corporal punishment," "other institutional abuse," and "other institutional neglect." Per State policy, only the named victim in a foster home has an allegation of abuse or neglect and the facility or home is referred to the Licensing Unit to look at licensing violations rather than child abuse or neglect.
Services
The 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. These contacts are both in person and by phone.
Judy Seals
Project Coordinator
South Carolina Department of Social Services
P.O. Box 1520
Columbia, SC 29202
803–98–864
803–98–875 Fax
judy.seals@dss.sc.gov
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 81 CPS staff members in the field who carry out the responsibility of intake, screening, and initial family assessments. This number has decreased from the prior years, due to the State having specific staff who complete these responsibilities. In the past, the State would count CPS staff that cover intake for a few hours or complete only one or two initial family assessments. South Dakota Child Protection Services has become more specialized in intake.
The State has specific Family Services Specialists who complete the initial family assessment process. In larger metropolitan areas, the State has Family Services Specialists that complete the screening process and in smaller areas, the Family Services Specialist Supervisors are responsible for the screening process. The Child File includes Family Services Specialists that are responsible for intake, screening, supervising, and completing Initial Family Assessments.
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 2004. The guideline has improved Family Service Specialists response time and initial contact. The State implemented a policy for time frames related to submitting reports to Family Services Specialists Supervisors or Screeners for screening. This has also helped to improve the timeliness of agency contact with child. These policies and procedures were implemented in conjunction with South Dakota's Program Improvement Plan.
The start date for an investigation is defined as the date the report is provided to a Family Services 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 (face-to-face contact with the child must be immediate–same day response), foreseeable danger (face-to-face contact with the child within 3 calendar days from the date of the report), risk and child is 0–6 years old and/or cannot protect self (face-to-face contact with the child 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 (face-to-face contact with the child within 14 calendar days from the date of the report) or immediate or foreseeable danger or risk and abuser does not have access to child.
The State implemented policy in January 2008 regarding diligent efforts in making initial contact with the children, as staff at times are unable to locate a family through no fault of their own and these efforts have not been accurately reflected with the State findings of timeliness.
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 SACWIS. This policy affected the total investigations assigned.
To substantiate, the Family Services Specialist 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 reported each year are 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
Perpetrators of child abuse and neglect are parents, guardians, or custodians. The State information system designates one perpetrator per child, per allegation.
Services
The Agency File data includes services provided to children and families where funds were used from the Community Based Family Resource and Support Grant. This primarily includes individuals who received benefit from parenting education classes or services from our Parent Aide program.
Lance Griffin
Tennessee Department of Children's Services
Andrew Jackson Building 14th Floor
500 Deaderick Street
Nashville, TN 37243
615–532–5394
lance.griffin@state.tn.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance of evidence
Reports
The increase in alternative response nonvictims is due to the continued implementation of a multiple response system. This number will continue to grow during the next two or three report cycles as additional regions bring their programs on line.
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 investigation start date is defined as the point at which the first actual or attempted contact is made with a principal in the investigation. The investigation start date is captured in MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM. A worker may begin an investigation on a family in an open CPS case in which maltreatment is suspected. There are also instances in which workers begin their investigation when families and children are brought to or walk-in an office or 24 hour shelter. In both situations, the worker would report the maltreatment incident after the first face-to-face contact initializing the investigation had been made. Because the report date is recorded as the date the suspected maltreatment is reported to CPS, these situations would result in the report date being after the investigation start date.
The State's CPS schema regarding disposition hierarchy differs from the NCANDS disposition hierarchy. The State has "other" and "closed-no finding" codes as superseding "unsubstantiated" at the report level. The State works 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 overall disposition is, from highest to lowest, RTB–reason to believe, UTD– unable to determine, UTC–unable to complete, and R/O–ruled out. These State codes are mapped to the following NCANDS dispositions: RTB to substantiated, UTD to "other," UTC to closed with no finding, and R/O to unsubstantiated. Analysis on sample cases from the Report Disposition Hierarchy report revealed that this inconsistency occurs in investigations where an alleged victim has multiply 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 the Report Disposition Hierarchy report would be inconsistent with the State's policy.
There is no CPS program requirement or State requirement to capture incident date so there is no data field in the SACWIS system for this information.
Children
The State does not make a distinction between substantiated and indicated victims. A is designated as "designated victim" when he or she is named as a victim in an allegation that has a disposition of "reason to believe," but is not named as a perpetrator in another allegation that has a disposition of "reason to believe."
A person (child or adult) is designated as "unknown (unable to determine)" when he or she is named in an allegation that has a disposition of "unable to determine," but is not named in another allegation that has a disposition of "reason to believe."
A person (child or adult) is designated as "unknown (unable to complete)" when he or she is named in an allegation that has a disposition of "unable to complete," but is not named in another allegation that has a disposition of "reason to believe" or "unable to determine."
A person is designated as "not involved" when:
Living arrangement data are provided only for children investigated while in a substitute care living arrangement. All others living arrangements are reported as unknown.
Services
All cases that are opened for services are included in postinvestigation services.
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
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:
Children
State law defines domestic violence in the presence of a child as abuse. This allegation represents approximately 45 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:
Fatalities
All maltreatment fatalities are included in the Child File.
Services
The new Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention Program and Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program contracts emphasize direct service more than networking therefore serve more individuals.
Postinvestigation services include those provided by the division or connections and referrals to community services that were set up for the family.
Aaron Pelton
Systems Developer III
Information Technology
Department for Children and Families
Vermont Agency of Human Services
103 South Main Street
Waterbury, VT 05671–2401
802–241–2108
aaron.pelton@ahs.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 under "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.
Nan McKenney
CPS Policy Supervisor
Virginia Department of Social Services
7 North Eighth Street, 4th Floor
Richmond, VA 23219
804–726–7569
804–726–7895 Fax
nan.mckenney@dss.virginia.gov
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
Reports placed in the investigation track receive a disposition of "founded" (substantiated) or "unfounded" (unsubstantiated) for each maltreatment allegation. Reports placed in the family assessment track receive a family assessment; no determination is made as to whether or not maltreatment actually occurred. The report disposition for family assessments is coded as "other" in the Child File.
The response time is determined by the priority assigned to the valid report based on the information collected at intake. It is measured from the date of the report. The department continues to seek improvements to the automated data system and to provide technical assistance to local departments of social services to improve documentation of the initial response to the investigation or family assessment.
Children
The NCANDS category "other" disposition type includes disposition levels for all allegations in the family assessment track that are coded as "other." The NCANDS category "other" maltreatment type includes those maltreatment allegation types that are not covered in the State's child abuse and neglect law.
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
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.
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
Beginning in 2006, the State included those child fatalities who 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. The State previously counted only those child fatalities where the medical examiner or coroner ruled the manner of death was a homicide.
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.
Brenda Howell
Families and Children Tracking System
Office of Management and Information Services
West Virginia Department of Health and
Human Resources
350 Capitol Street, Room 730
Charleston, WV 25301–3711
304–558–7980
bhowell@wvdhhr.org
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Michelle Rawlings
Research Unit Supervisor
Bureau of Program Integrity
Division of Safety and Permanence
Wisconsin Department of Children and Families
1 West Wilson Street
Madison, WI 53708
608–264–9846
608–267–6836 Fax
michelle.rawlings@wisconsin.gov
Data File(s) Submitted:
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required:
Preponderance
Reports
The State's data are 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 date refers to the date when the agency made initial contact with the child or other member of the family. Screen-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 refers to those instances when the child was not alleged or found to have maltreated, but was alleged or found to be at risk of maltreatment.
In the State's CPS system, several maltreatment reports for a single child may be assessed in a single investigation. Beginning with the FFY 2007 NCANDS submission, the State corrected its coding for report disposition to not calculate the report disposition for all the child's allegations that were assessed across multiple reports as part of a single investigation. Instead, report disposition is calculated based only on the allegations in each unique report.
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 "unsubstantiated" maltreatment disposition includes instances where the allegation was unsubstantiated for that child, when that child was not found to be at risk or maltreatment, or when critical sources of information cannot be found or accessed to determine whether or not maltreatment as alleged occurred. Beginning with FFY 2007, the State discontinued the report disposition of closed with no finding as State policy dictates that all reports have a substantiated or unsubstantiated finding.
Perpetrators
Perpetrator data are 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 (i.e. noncaregivers) such as another child or peer to the child victim or a stranger.
Fatalities
The number of fatalities includes only those children who were subjects of reports of abuse or neglect in which the maltreatment allegation was substantiated.
Services
The State is planning to enhance its SACWIS to better facilitate the assessment and case planning process and to ensure greater consistency in services reporting. The State will review how to modify the NCANDS file to incorporate service reporting for future data submissions.
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 investigation start date is defined as the first face-to-face contact with an alleged child victim. Report date is defined as the date the report is made to the office. The numbers of days are the smallest units of time kept by the State's data system. Per State law, face-to-face contact with the victim is required within 7 days of an intake or referral to start the investigation.
The State has seen an increase in CPS reports and investigations because the community has become more aware of child protection needs. The State has seen an increase in alternative response dispositions because some of the increased CPS allegations did not rise to the level of an investigation per State statutes and Department of Family Services Child Protection rules and policies.
Children
During the previous 3–4 years, the State developed and promoted several initiatives for the safety of children and families. The Children and Families Initiative, is one such program involving citizens, parents, teachers, and others who discuss the needs of families and their children. The Methamphetamine Initiative created a foster care program for mothers in need of treatment for methamphetamine and other drug addictions.
Perpetrators
Improved caseworker training may have resulted in better reporting of abuse in care.
Services
The Prevention and Assessment Track responses offer services for the family, but not a victim or perpetrator because the allegations do not have a finding or rise to a level of a finding.
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