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Summary of the Results of the 2001 and 2002 Child and Family Services Reviews

Introduction

During Federal fiscal years 2001 and 2002, the Administration on Children and Families (ACF) conducted Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSR) in the following 32 States:

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia

Indiana Kansas Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Montana Nebraska New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota

Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania South Dakota Tennessee Texas Vermont West Virginia Wyoming

ACF issued final reports of each State's CFSR and is posting the final reports on the Children's Bureau website. The individual State reports provide State-specific results.

Findings on the Outcomes

Table 1 shows the number of States determined to be in substantial conformity on each of the seven outcomes in the CFSR and the strength and area needing improvement ratings on the indicators for each outcome. States' performance was weakest in helping children achieve their permanency goals on a timely and appropriate basis (permanency outcome 1) and in helping families with the services they need to care for their children (well being outcome 1). States' performance was slightly stronger in the safety outcomes than in the permanency and well being outcomes, with the exception of well being outcome 2, concerning educational needs. Seven (7) States were in substantial conformity for meeting the educational needs of children.

Table 1

Outcomes and Indicators	States in Substantial Conformity	States not in Substantial Conformity	Strength		Area Needing Improvement
Safety Outcome 1: Children are, first and foremost, protected from abuse and neglect.	5	27	blank cell		blank cell
Item 1. Timeliness of initiating investigations	blank cell	blank cell	15		17
Item 2. Repeat maltreatment	blank cell	blank cell	13		19
Safety Outcome 2: Children are safely maintained in their own homes whenever possible and appropriate.	4	28	blank cell		blank cell
Item 3. Services to protect children & prevent removal	blank cell	blank cell	16		16
Item 4. Risk of harm to children	blank cell	blank cell	11		21
Permanency Outcome 1: Children have permanency and stability in their living situations.	0	32	blank cell		blank cell
Item 5. Foster care re-entries*	blank cell	blank cell	8	8	8	8
Item 6. Stability of foster care placements	blank cell	blank cell	5		27
Item 7. Permanency goal for child	blank cell	blank cell	5		27
Item 8. Reunification, guardianship, relative placement*	blank cell	blank cell	8	3	9	12
Item 9. Adoption	blank cell	blank cell	5		27
Item 10. Other planned permanent living arrangement	blank cell	blank cell	14		18
Permanency Outcome 2: The continuity of family relationships and connections is preserved for children.	5	27	blank cell		blank cell
Item 11. Proximity of foster care placement	blank cell	blank cell	31		1
Item 12. Placement with siblings	blank cell	blank cell	24		8
Item 13. Visiting with parents and siblings in care	blank cell	blank cell	12		20
Item 14. Preserving connections	blank cell	blank cell	17		15
Item 15. Relative placement	blank cell	blank cell	18		14
Item 16. Relationship of child in care with parents	blank cell	blank cell	17		15
Well Being Outcome 1: Families have enhanced capacity to provide for their children's needs.	0	32	blank cell		blank cell
Item 17. Needs/services of child, parents, foster parents	blank cell	blank cell	1		31
Item 18. Child/family involvement in case planning	blank cell	blank cell	5		27
Item 19. Worker visits with child	blank cell	blank cell	10		22
Item 20. Worker visits with parents	blank cell	blank cell	7		24
Well Being Outcome 2: Children receive appropriate services to meet their educational needs.	7	25	blank cell		blank cell
Item 21. Educational needs of child	blank cell	blank cell	7		25
Well Being Outcome 3: Children receive adequate services to meet their physical and mental health needs.	1	31	blank cell		blank cell
Item 22. Physical health of child	blank cell	blank cell	12		20
Item 23. Mental health of child	blank cell	blank cell	2		30

* The two data elements, Items 5 and 8, were modified between the 2001 and 2002 reviews. The results are not comparable from one year to the next. Thus, we report here the 2001 and 2002 results in separate columns.

Table 2 shows the number of States that met the national standards associated with the six aggregate data indicators used in the CFSR.

Table 2

Indicator	National Standard	Number of States Meeting the National Standard
Recurrence of maltreatment	6.1% or less	13
Child abuse and neglect in foster care	0.57% or less	17
Foster care re-entries	8.6% or less	16
Length of time to reunification	76.2% or more	11
Length of time to adoption	32% or more	9
Stability of placement	86.7% or more	9

Findings on the Systemic Factors

Table 3 shows the number of States determined to be in substantial conformity on each of the seven systemic factors in the CFSR. States' performance was weakest in the case review system. In particular, they were weak in having written case plans for children developed jointly with the child's parents and in having timely and effective permanency hearings. In addition, States were weak in having a process to ensure termination of parental rights. Within the service array, the accessibility of services was a particular weakness as many services are either not available statewide or have long waiting lists or other barriers to accessibility. Diligent recruitment of foster and adoptive families that represent the racial and ethnic backgrounds of children in the State needing placement was an especially weak area.

Table 3

Systemic Factor	Number of States in Substantial Conformity	Required Elements	Number of States that met the requirement
Statewide Information System	28	Information system that can identify specific information for each child in foster care	28
Case Review System	12	Written case plan developed jointly with parents	6
		Periodic reviews of case plans	28
		Permanency hearings for children	16
		Process for termination of parental rights	19
		Notification of foster and pre-adoptive parents of hearings and reviews	21
Quality Assurance System	27	Standards for quality services	29
		Identifiable quality assurance system	21
Staff and Provider Training	23	Initial staff training	24
		Ongoing staff training	19
		Training for foster and adoptive parents	27
Service Array	21	Array of services	22
		Accessibility of services	9
		Ability to individualize services	21
Agency Responsiveness to Community	31	Collaboration with other agencies	31
		Develops annual progress reports	25
		Coordinates services and benefits with other agencies	27
Foster and Adoptive Parent Licensing, Recruitment, Retention	27	Standards for foster and adoptive homes	31
		Standards applied to all homes	27
		Criminal background checks	30
		Diligent recruitment	12
		Use of cross-jurisdictional resources	28