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Sherry Roberts
Functional Analyst
Family Services Partnership/Assist Unit
Alabama Department of Human Resources
50 Ripley Street
Montgomery, AL 36130-1801
334-353-1033
334-353-1177 Fax
sroberts@dhr.state.al.us
Data File(s) Submitted
SDC
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
The estimate of child protective services (CPS) workers was based on currently filled Agency positions and the caseload standards set for CPS functions.
Victims
As a result of the recent conversion from a legacy mainframe to a Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS), there might be a variation in statistics related to victim counts and a possible undercount of victims. In the old system, the disposition was recorded from both the perspective of the child and the perpetrator. If the investigation showed that the child was a victim of abuse or neglect, but no evidence indicated that the alleged perpetrator was responsible for this act, the child would receive a disposition of "indicated" and the perpetrator would receive a disposition of "not indicated." Last year, Alabama used the disposition of the child to determine the NCANDS reporting status. With the SACWIS, only one disposition is recorded for each allegation. This disposition indicates whether the perpetrator actually committed the alleged crime. Because of data conversion, only the disposition of the perpetrator was converted from the legacy system. Therefore, the victim counts are skewed in the direction of "not indicated" and "unable to complete."
Kristen Tromble
Research Analyst
Division of Family and Youth Services
Alaska Department of Health and Social Services
130 Seward Street, Room 406
Juneau, AK 99811
907-465-3208
907-465-3397 Fax
kristen_tromble@health.state.ak.us
Data File(s) Submitted
SDC
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
The State uses child-based reporting. There is one report or investigation per child, per incident. Reasons for screening out reports include non-CPS issue, insufficient information, workload adjustment (used when not enough staff are available to respond to the lowest priority reports), dual track (assessed by an organization that this agency has contracted with to provide assessment and referral services to low priority reports of harm), tribal jurisdiction (a tribe has assumed jurisdiction, has custody of the child, and conducts the investigation), and military (referred to the military for followup). During this reporting period, 796 reports were referred to dual track, 4 to tribes, and 8 to the military. Separate categories of tribal jurisdiction and military were added early in 2002; so for 2001 most of these reports are counted in one of the other nonassigned categories.
"Social Services Personnel" includes CPS agencies, human service agencies, and Native American agencies or tribes. "Medical Personnel" includes mental health personnel. "Parents" includes custodial and noncustodial parents. "Friends and neighbors" includes partners of custodial and noncustodial parents. "Other" includes community members, grant agencies, and the military.
There has been a chronic problem of getting investigations properly closed and entered into the State information system. Unfortunately, for some cases the date of entry was entered for the disposition date rather than the actual closing date. This error tends to overstate the number of investigations closed during 2001.
Staff positions for CPS functions and for screening and intake functions may not have been actively staffed for the entire year. Due to a miscount in one region, staff levels were overreported in 2000. There was no significant change in staffing levels from 2000 to 2001.
In regard to response time to investigation, the State records the date received, date screened, date assigned for investigation, and date disposed for reports. The times or date of actual contact are not available. For the 18,422 reports disposed during the year, the average time in days was 2.3 from receipt to referral.
The response time with respect to the provision-of-services average is based on the 3,915 reports for which children were reported as receiving services.
Victims
"Substantiated" reports are those where the available facts indicate a child has suffered harm as a result of abuse or neglect as defined in State statute. "Indicated" includes "unconfirmed" reports, defined as when the worker is unable to determine if a child has suffered harm as a result of abuse or neglect."Unsubstantiated" includes "Intentionally False" and "invalid" reports. "Invalid" reports are defined as those where there are no facts to support the allegation that a child has suffered abuse or neglect.
The State has a very high proportion of "Substantiated" and "Indicated" dispositions, compared to "Unsubstantiated" dispositions. One reason may be that the definition of "Indicated" is broader than that used by many States and the definition of "Unsubstantiated" is narrower. However, even when adjustments are made for different definitions, Alaska still has a higher substantiation rate. Another aspect of this difference may be the way the State defines harm. For instance, in 1998, the child protection statute was changed to include exposure to domestic violence (which is reported as psychological or emotional abuse or neglect). This increased the rate of "Substantiated" reports.
In 2001, children were counted once for each report disposed during the year. In prior years, children were counted only once regardless of the number of reports where the child appeared. Thus, comparisons to prior years' data are not appropriate.
"Neglect" includes medical neglect. The "Other" maltreatment type includes abandoned children.
A report where more than one type of abuse is "Substantiated" or "Indicated" is recorded in the most serious category based on the seriousness of the finding and of the abuse. In prior years, a child was counted only once, regardless of the number of reports disposed, in the category that had the most serious disposition. Comparisons to prior years' data are not appropriate.
The State's information system requires the entry of a birthdate. If the actual date is unknown, an estimated date is entered. Alaska does not report on victims 18 or older as the reporting agency does not have jurisdiction. Each child is counted once per report in the age group at the time of the report.
Only one race or ethnicity is recorded. No child has both a Hispanic ethnicity and race.
Fatalities
The number of fatalities is the total number in the State resulting from maltreatment regardless of whether the child or family had any prior contact with the Division of Family and Youth Services.
Services
Children and family preventive services data are estimated from information in the grants and are for State fiscal year July 1, 2000 through June 30, 2001. Children and families may be counted more than once. Information for some grantees was not available and is not included in the counts.
For 2001, additional revisions were made to the methodology for calculating elements for children who did or did not receive services, for those removed from the home, for those reunited, or those for whom court action was taken.
The number of children receiving services includes children who were placed in out-of-home care during the investigation or had a continuing or new family case opened for services.
The State does not collect the information needed to calculate the number of child victims who were reunited with their families in the previous five years.
The count of child victims for whom court action was taken includes only children for whom temporary custody was requested during an investigation that was disposed during the reporting period. Other court actions are not included.
The State does not collect information on child victims who received court-appointed Representatives. State law mandates the appointment of a Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) in every court case in which abuse or neglect is alleged. However, a shortage of GALs in some remote areas mean this requirement is not always met. The Office of Public Advocacy estimates that GALs are appointed in 95-99 percent of all cases.
A Statewide average of out-of-court contacts was not collected. The Office of Public Advocacy indicated that in the more populous areas of Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Bethel, caseloads are so large that GALs may only see children three or four times per year outside of court. GALs in rural areas may see children twice as often. Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) volunteers are required to see their child clients at least twice per month.
Nicholas Espadas
Manager
Evaluation and Statistics Unit
Division of Children, Youth and Families
Arizona Department of Economic Security
P.O. Box 6123, Site 940-A
1789 West Jefferson
Phoenix, AZ 85005
602-542-3969
602-542-3330 Fax
nicholas.espadas@mail.de.state.az.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Probable cause
Reports
The number of reports not referred for investigation included those in which the alleged abuse/neglect occurred on a reservation or military base and those that were referred to a private contractor in the Family Builders program. The reports selected for this program show a low risk of harm to the reported victims associated with the allegations. The families involved are taught a variety of skills, including crisis and anger management.
The number of CPS workers was based upon data from the Chief Financial Officer of the Department.
"Other" dispositions consists of low-priority reports (with a proportionately larger number of children) directly referred to social services agencies for voluntary services. These reports were not assigned to a local office for investigation.
Perpetrators
The State information system is limited to the designation of one perpetrator per child per allegation.
Darcy Dinning
CHRIS Project Manager
Office of Systems and Technology
Arkansas Department of Human Services
P.O. Box 1437 Slot N101
617 Main Street
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
General
Pursuant to a contractual agreement between the Department of Human Services (DHS) and the Arkansas State Police (ASP), in 1997 the ASP Family Protection Unit (FPU) assumed responsibility for the Child Abuse Hotline and some child maltreatment investigations. The ASP Hotline receives child maltreatment calls Statewide to screen out or accept for investigation.
The Division of Children and Family Services Agency Staff investigators are involved in "priority 1" and "priority 2" reports. The FPU Crimes Against Children Division investigates all "priority 1" reports. "Priority 1" reports are those that describe abuse with a deadly weapon, bone fractures, brain damage/skull fracture, burns, scalding, immersion/suffocation, internal injuries, poison/noxious substances, oral sex, sexual contact, sexual exploitation, sexual penetration, subdural hematoma, or death.
Reports
The ASP had 22 staff in 2001.
Services
Preventive services includes Intensive Family Services, Resource Centers, Respite Care for In-Home, Latchkey, Human Service Workers in the Schools, Supportive Services, Homemaker Services, and Day Care. The children numbers were included with the family numbers.
Glenn Jue
Manager
Children's Services Branch
California Department of Social Services
744 P Street, Mail Station 19-90
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-445-2752
916-445-2832 Fax
glenn.jue@dss.ca.gov
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Credible
General
The data are from the Child Welfare Services/Case Management System (CWS/CMS), the State version of the Federal Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS).
Reports
The total number of CPS reports attributed to parents as report sources is exceptionally low, possibly due to the current design of the information system. The integrity of this number is being investigated.
The number of CPS workers is an estimate based on the average of the emergency response full-time equivalents (FTEs) per month, including supervisors, for a year. The actual number of FTEs who performed emergency response work is not reported to the State.
Donna J. Pope, Ph.D.
Child Welfare Analyst
Child Welfare Services
Colorado Department of Human Services
1575 Sherman Street
Denver, CO 80203-1714
303-866-5976
303-866-4191 Fax
donna.pope@state.co.us
Data File(s) Submitted
SDC
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
General
The State staged a rollout of its SACWIS system between January and April of 2001. Therefore, 25 percent of the referral data is missing for calendar year 2001 SDC. The data has been artificially modified to include this missing 25 percent by using the partial DCDC data that was extracted from the system and dividing by .75. Calendar year 2001 data should not be used for any trend analysis due to the transition to the SACWIS system.
The contrived approximate 25 percent of absent data has been added to the "Unknown" disposition total. This results in the sum total of children subject to an investigation or assessment by disposition equaling the estimated children referred for CPS Investigation or Assessment.
Reports
The contrived approximate 25 percent of absent data has been added to "Unknown" or "Anonymous" reporters. This results in the sum total of reports referred for investigation or assessment equaling the estimated report sources referred for CPS Investigation or Assessment.
Previous years' data indicated a substantiated rate of 17 percent for 2000, 20 percent for 1999, and 18% for 1998 of each year's total assessments. Therefore, 18 percent of the number of children referred for investigation (30,983), was used to determine the number of victims. All previous year's data were based on the year of the report filing not on the disposition date of the investigation; therefore previous year's data will be higher in comparison.
Central Registry data was used to calculate the SDC. The count of allegations not substantiated was determined by subtracting the substantiated assessments from the total assessments disposed. In keeping with this methodology for the 2001 data, the sum total reflects the calculated total dispositions minus the calculated substantiated assessments.
Victims
"Other" includes court-ordered services for child protection; and "Unknown"maltreatment type includes all other program targets with abuse or neglect report dates.
Fatalities
Previous year's data reflected a calendar year count that was calculated by totaling all child deaths as determined by a fatality review board. Also, the previous year's number was based on incident date. The number of fatalities for 2001 was calculated by calendar year report disposition date and the determination of the investigation disposition as founded as the child having died as the result of maltreatment.
Eileen Breslin
Program Director
Commissioner's Office
Connecticut Department of Children and Families
505 Hudson Street
Hartford, CT 06106
860-550-6349
860-566-7947 Fax
eileen.breslin@po.state.ct.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Reasonable cause
General
The Department of Children and Families (DCF) is a consolidated children's services agency with statutory responsibility for child protection, mental health services, substance abuse treatment, and juvenile justice. It is a State-managed system comprised of five regions. Each region has a main office with one or two suboffices. In addition, DCF operates four facilities —a children's psychiatric hospital; an emergency and diagnostic residential program; a treatment facility for children with serious mental health issues; and a juvenile justice facility.
Reports
A centralized intake unit —the Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline —operates 24-hours a day, 7 days a week. CPS workers receive the reports of suspected abuse and neglect and forward them to a regional office for investigation. Hotline field staff responds to emergencies when the regional offices are closed. Reports are not accepted for investigation if they do not meet the statutory definition of abuse or neglect. Information on reports not accepted is from the DCF Hotline.
Regional investigations 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. Serious cases of abuse, neglect, and medical neglect are referred to the police, as are all cases of sexual abuse, according to departmental policy.
The Consent Decree Monitoring Division, the Human Resources Division, and the DCF Hotline provided information for screening, intake, investigation, and assessment workers.
Fatalities
DCF collects data on all reported child fatalities regardless of whether or not the child or family received DCF services. A Special Review Unit collects and analyzes the data and conducts investigations when a child has died as the result of maltreatment and there is an active case or prior substantiated report. The Medical Examiner is responsible for determining the cause of death and the criminal nature of the death. DCF makes determinations concerning abuse and neglect.
Services
The DCF staff responsible for monitoring Federal- and State-funded grants and performance-based contracts for prevention programs gathered data on preventive services. The number of clients served through established child abuse/neglect prevention contracts, including primary and secondary prevention programs is estimated.
Primary prevention services are provided to prevent child abuse/neglect before the family becomes known to DCF. Secondary prevention services are provided to prevent recurrence of maltreatment after the family has come to the attention of DCF.
The information on prevention services is garnered from community agency monthly or quarterly utilization reports that are received by the Research Division (for performance-based contracts) and reviewed by the Strategic Planning Division, the Children's Trust Fund, the Adolescent Services Division, or the Substance Abuse Division.
The number of service recipients is duplicated because children and families may receive services from more than one source. The numbers refer to actual services utilized rather than the number of slots available.
Preventive services programs include all Healthy Families, First Steps, Nurturing Programs, Lengthening the Ropes, Therapeutic Child Care, Early Childhood, Parent Education and Support Centers, Alcohol and Drug Prevention for Youth, Substance Abuse Screening and Evaluation, Intensive Family Preservation, Parent Aide, Young Parents' Program, and mentoring activities. Many of these preventive programs receive "Other" sources of funding.
The State has selected to use the Basic Grant allocation to fund multidisciplinary teams to improve the investigation and prosecution of sexual abuse cases. Connecticut, in conjunction with a local hospital, also uses this allocation to fund a High Risk Newborn Program, but the reports are family based, not child based.
The Community-Based Family Resource and Support Grant is administered by the Children's Trust Fund. Examples of the types of creative local prevention services supported by these minigrants include parent education, mental health consultation, and satellite Family Resource Centers.
The Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program, under the Strategic Planning Division, supports such preventive services as Family Centers, Community Collaboratives, and Family Day activities.
Carla Bloss
Management Analyst
Division of Family Services
Delaware Department of Services for Children, Youth, and Their
Families
1825 Faulkland Road
Wilmington, DE 19805
302-892-6401
302-633-2652 Fax
cbloss@state.de.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
The number of screened-out referrals is approximately 24 percent of the number of referrals that were received in 2001 (7,982). The number of children in these screened-out referrals is estimated to be 2,645, using 1.4 children per referral as the multiplier.
The Division of Family Services' policy is that referrals classified as "urgent" are contacted within 24 hours, and that referrals classified as "routine" are contacted within 10 days or 240 hours. These standards are met over 90% of the time.
Of the full-time equivalents (FTEs), 5 were assigned to intake and 51 were assigned to investigation at the end of 2001. In addition there were persons who were assigned to be on call as After-Hours Staff or Weekend-Holiday Staff, but they rarely conducted investigations.
Victims
The State uses 28 statutory types of primary or secondary allegations to record substantiated child abuse and neglect. "Other" includes "dependency" and "adolescent problems." "Dependency" includes abandonment, nonrelative placement, parental mental incapacitation, or parental physical incapacitation. "Adolescent problems" includes abandonment, parent-child conflict, runaway, truant, and uncontrollable behavior. Adolescent problems, many of which do not clearly meet the usual definition of child abuse and neglect, have decreased in the past several years.
Services
Approximately 40 percent of victims (327 out of 825) were opened for treatment and received case management services.
The numbers of children and families served by the Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program are estimated based on a combination of surveys, written reports, and the number of persons served by the Family Resource Coordinators.
The State held its annual 2-day conference, Prevention and Early Intervention Forum, to provide education for those who work to prevent child abuse and neglect, substance abuse, delinquency, and mental health problems in children. More than 400 people attended this event, partially funded by title IV-B.
In 2001, 660 children were assigned to CASA volunteers at some point during the year. A random sample of reports showed that CASAs had an average of five contacts with their assigned children between hearings. This number is lower than the number reported in 1999 because court hearings are now held more frequently as a result of the implementation of the Court Improvement Initiative. Under this initiative, a hearing occurs for each child at least once every 3 months, and more frequently in the early stages of a case.
Lois Branic
Program Specialist, FACES
Information Management
Children and Family Services
District of Columbia Department of Human Services
955 L'Enfant Plaza, SW
Washington, DC 20024
202-651-3510
202-651-3580 Fax
lbranic@cfsa-dc.org
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Credible
Reports
The hotline is a centralized system that includes all reports of abuse and neglect. Some abuse cases are jointly investigated by CPS and by the Metropolitan Police Department (MDP).
The hotline enters all referrals into the system.
Victims
Many records are missing race and ethnicity data.
Services
The range of service codes that have been mapped to Family Preservation includes Academic Guidance, Case Management, Family Therapy, Housing Subsidies, Family Conferencing, Parent Support Groups, Psychological Services, and Concrete Services.
Susan K. Chase
Data Support Administrator
Family Safety
Florida Department of Children and Families
1317 Winewood Boulevard, Building 8
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0700
850-922-2195
850-488-3748 Fax
susan_chase@dcf.state.fl.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
The criteria to accept a report are that a child less than 18 years old at the time of the report has been harmed or is at risk of harm by an adult caretaker or household member and the child is either resident or can be located in the State. Screened-out reports reflect phone calls received about situations that the caller initially thought were child abuse/neglect related, but did not meet the statutory criteria.
"Other" report source includes attorney, spiritual healer, GAL, guardian, human rights advocacy committee, and client relations' coordinator.
The number of "Intentionally False" dispositions is suspected to be underreported. The coding method was changed in October 1995, and the new method has not been used consistently.
Response time is based on 166,318 reports. The response commences when the CPS investigator or another person who is designated to respond, attempts the initial face-to-face contact with the victim. The system calculates the number of minutes from the Received Date and Time to the Commencement Date and Time. The minutes for all cases are averaged and converted to hours. An initial onsite response is conducted immediately in situations in which any one of the following allegations is made: (1) a child's immediate safety or well-being is endangered; (2) the family may flee or the child will be unavailable within 24 hours; (3) institutional abuse or neglect is alleged; (4) an employee of the department has allegedly committed an act of child abuse or neglect directly related to the job duties of the employee, or when the allegations otherwise warrant an immediate response as specified in statute or policy; (5) a special condition referral for emergency services is received; or (6) the facts otherwise so warrant. All other initial responses must be conducted with an attempted on-site visit with the child victim within 24 hours.
The staff figures provide allocated positions as of December 31, 2001. They do not include vacancies, overtime, or temporary staff. Staff consist of 142 hotline counselors, 19 hotline supervisors, 1,401 child protective investigators, and 238 investigator supervisors. Hotline staff also take calls related to adult protective services. Child calls represent about 80 percent of their workload.
Victims
The child file includes only children alleged to be victims, not other children in the household.
A child is not counted in more than one racial category.
Counts of child victims whose families received family preservation services in the previous five years and child victims who were reunited with their families in the previous five years are not available for 2001 due to the transition from a legacy system to a new Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS).
Fatalities
Fatality counts include any report disposed during the year, even those victims whose dates of death may have been in a prior year. Only verified abuse/neglect deaths are counted. The finding was verified when a preponderance of the credible evidence resulted in a determination that death was the result of abuse or neglect. All suspected child maltreatment fatalities must be reported for investigation and are included in the Child File.
Services
Preventive services includes, but is not limited to, afterschool enrichment/recreation, child care/therapeutic care, community facilitation, community mapping/development, counseling/mentoring services, crisis and intervention services, delinquency prevention, developmental screening/evaluation, domestic violence services, family resource or visitation center/full-service schools, Healthy Families America, Healthy Start, home visiting/in-home parent education/parent support, information and referral, parenting education and training, prenatal/perinatal services, Project Safety Net, respite care/crisis nursery, self-help groups/support groups, and teen parent/pregnancy program. Figures for preventive services exclude Public Awareness/Education.
By statute, "families" may include biological, adoptive, and foster families, relative caregivers, guardians, and extended families. A single adult 18 years old or older 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 afterschool 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. A small amount of Social Services Block Grant funds was used and is counted in "Other."
Shirley B. Vassy
Unit Chief, Evaluation and Reporting
Division of Family and Children Services
Georgia Department of Human Resources
2 Peachtree Street NW, Room 19.202
Atlanta, GA 30303-3142
404-657-5133
404-657-3325 Fax
sbvassy@dhr.state.ga.us
Data File(s) Submitted
SDC
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
Screened-out referrals were those that did not contain the components of a CPS report. These components are a child less than 18 years old, a known or unknown individual reported to be a perpetrator, and a report of conditions indicating child maltreatment. Situations in which no allegations of maltreatment were included in the report 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/truancy issues, reports from a reporter who had reported three previously unfounded reports, situations involving an unborn child, or juvenile delinquency issues. For many of these reports, referrals were made to other resources, such as early intervention or prevention programs.
The "Social Services Personnel" count includes DHR staff and professional counselors. "Other" report sources includes other nonmandated reporters and religious leaders or staff.
Staff numbers were taken from the staff allocation for State fiscal year 2002. The total number of positions allocated for CPS was 1,064. According to a workload study conducted in August 1998, the proportion of staff time for screening, intake, and investigation/assessment was 37 percent, which resulted in an estimate of 394 positions. The proportion of staff time for screening and intake only was 6 percent, which resulted in an estimate of 64 positions.
Victims
Race and Hispanic ethnicity are captured as a single field in which only one of the following codes can be chosen: "Black," "White," "Hispanic," "Asian," "American Indian/Alaskan," or "multiracial."
Fatalities
The number of child fatalities is based on the Georgia Child Abuse and Neglect Report, which is filled out at the completion of an investigation.
Services
The State maintains data on services through counts of cases, not children. Thus, estimates were provided for data on services for the same units as data on dispositions.
The current source can provide only data for removals that occurred up to the time an investigation decision was made (policy requires that the investigation be completed within 30 days of receipt of the report). Data on removals that occurred after the decision, or within 90 days of the decision, were unavailable.
The number of children served by CASA volunteers represents the average number of out-of-court contacts which enable the CASA to obtain first hand understanding of the situation and needs of the child victim, and to make recommendations to the court concerning the best interests of the child.
The Child Placement Project Study (a project of the Georgia Supreme Court) provided the number of "Victims Who Received Court-Appointed Representative." The program count is for the period FFY 2001.
Edward Nishimura
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
enishimura2@dhs.state.hi.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
No Information
Services
The Basic State Grant funds diversion, but the State definition of diversion services does not match the definition and scope of NCANDS preventive services category and definition.
Jeri Bala
Program Systems Specialist, Automated
Division of Family and Community
Services/FOCUS
Idaho Department of Health and Welfare
450 West State Street
Boise, ID 83720
208-334-5511
208-332-7351 Fax
balaj@idhw.state.id.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
For 2001 the State submitted NCANDS data using the Child File rather than the SDC as in previous years. This resulted in a drop in the "Other" disposition category because the Child File looks to the disposition date to help select the reports which will fall in the submission year. Only those reports which had a disposition were included in the Child File. For past submissions, reports were included that had referral reasons that would not have required a disposition, such as "third-party referrals," "voluntary service need," and "emergency assistance."Also contributing to the higher counts for "Other" disposition is that there was no system monitoring in place to prompt a staff person to ensure that the disposition was recorded before closing the report. Submissions using the Child File may undercount the number of reports due to missing dispositions, but this should diminish with time as some system prompts have been put in place.
Services
Because some Regions had not yet entered their service plans in the SACWIS system during conversion, there may be an undercount of children receiving services.
The number of families served from the Children's Trust Fund Grants and the number of families served from Community Resources for Families School Prevention Program are counted manually.
Children and families receiving family preservation and support funded services are attached to reports that fell within the reporting period.
Fatalities
As the State Mortality Review Team is two years in arrears, only Child File fatalities have been reported.
Carl L. Sciarini
Manager, Office of Quality Assurance
Illinois Department of Children and Family Services
406 East Monroe Street, Station 222
Springfield, IL 62701-1498
217-524-2035
217-524-2101 Fax
csciarini@idcfs.state.il.us
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/neglect allegation are referred for a CPS investigation.
"Medical Personnel" report source includes mental health personnel. "Other" report source includes substitute care providers and alleged perpetrators.
"Other" report dispositions are those situations involving noninvolved children (i.e. children not suspected of being abuse and/or neglected) who are recorded on a child abuse/neglect report. Since there are no allegations of abuse/neglect for these children, there is no specific disposition.
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. The priority standard, which mandates a particular response time by law, is related to the type of child abuse/neglect allegation and the investigative activities required for each priority. For example, an allegation of sexual abuse is considered a "priority 1" allegation, an allegation of lack of supervision is considered a "priority 2" allegation, and an allegation of inadequate housing is considered a "priority 3" allegation. The response time related to initiating a report of suspected abuse/neglect is mandated by law for a given priority standard (e.g., within 24 hours) or by the apparent risk to the alleged victim(s). For example, an immediate response is required if the victim is alleged to be in immediate danger. Thus, response time is not determined only by the priority of the investigation.
Victims
"Other" maltreatments are defined as substantial risk of physical injury or substantial risk of sexual injury. These involve situations where the parent, caregiver, immediate member, other person residing in the home, or the parent's paramour has created a real and significant danger of sexual abuse or physical injury to the child which would likely cause disfigurement, death or impairment of physical health, or loss or impairment of bodily functions.
Sandy Lock
Program Manager, SACWIS
Division of Family and Children
Indiana Family Social Services Administration
132 E. Washington Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204
317-234-0691
317-234-0687 Fax
slock@fssa.state.in.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Credible
Reports
Per State statute, there are three separate response times dependent on the type of allegation.
Fatalities
The Agency File fatality count is by State fiscal year of July 1 through June 30.
Rebecca Meyer
Data Research Analyst
Division of Developmental, Behavioral and
Protective Services for Families, Adults, and Children
Iowa Department of Human Services
1305 E. Walnut
Des Moines, IA 50319-0114
515-242-6890
512-281-4597 Fax
rmeyer@dhs.state.ia.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
Referrals were not accepted for assessment if they did not meet the criteria for assessment or if they had been previously assessed.
Services
"Postinvestigation services" refers to services opened for indicated children within 90 days of the assessment. Foster care refers to children who entered foster care within 90 days after completion of the assessment. State law requires that every child who appears in juvenile court have a GAL.
Tanya Keys
Program Administrator
Docking State Office Building
SRS Children and Family Policy
915 SW Harrison 5th Floor South
Topeka, KS 66612-1570
785-296-3912
785-368-8159 Fax
txxk@srskansas.org
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Reasonable
Reports
There were 15 screening and intake workers and 447 staff members who conducted the investigation and assessment of reports.
Data were submitted for only the reports that had at least one "Substantiated" victim finding for any allegation contained in a report. The State did not submit data for "Unsubstantiated" reports.
Services
Service delivery may be through direct contact or aggregate community awareness campaigns.
Denis E. Hommrich
Program Specialist
Division of Protection and Permanency
Department for Community Based Services
Kentucky Cabinet for Families and Children
908 West Broadway, 4-E
Louisville, KY 40203
502-595-5492
502-595-4789 Fax
denis.hommrich@mail.state.ky.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
The State does not screen out referrals alleging abuse or neglect by a relative caretaker or a nonrelated individual in a caretaker role. Referrals alleging abuse or neglect by a noncaretaker are referred to local law enforcement. This also includes noncaretaker reports in which law enforcement requested CPS assistance.
The response time is an average time from date of report to initial investigation based on 28,297 reports received during calendar year 2001.
The number of staff responsible for screening, intake, and investigation/assessment during the year includes both workers and supervisors. It is based on the worker identification and supervisor identification in the NCANDS Child File at the time of report disposition based on case manager designation and the supervisor of the case manager. Multiple workers and supervisors could have been involved at various times in the intake and investigation of a referral. Some counties have different staff processing an intake while different staff conducts the investigation. In other counties the same worker does both intake and investigation referrals.
Larger offices in the State have specialized intake and investigation teams or workers. Smaller offices have generic teams or workers. The State SACWIS can link the role of the worker/supervisor in a referral to the function type (intake or investigation) but to date this has not been done. It may be considered in the future.
Victims
"Neglect" includes medical neglect.
The number of child victims who were reunited with their families in the previous five years is probably low due to the inability to link individual children in the NCANDS file with children who received family preservation services. The State's SACWIS system is able to capture individuals and families receiving family preservation services, but the information is not always entered in the system.
Fatalities
The "Child Maltreatment Fatalities not Reported in the Child File" includes only fatalities reported to the Child Fatality Review Committee where there was a suspicion of abuse or neglect by a person in a caretaker role that required a child fatality review, but were determined not due to abuse or neglect by a caretaker after the review.
The "Child Victims Who Died as a Result of Maltreatment and Whose Families Had Received Family Preservation Services in the Previous Five Years" number may not be accurate due to lack of historical information and incomplete reporting.
Services
The "Children Funding Source: Child Abuse and Neglect State Grant" number includes only the period of 7/1/2001 to 12/31/2001.
The "Children Funding Source: Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program" number is probably low due to the inability to link clients in the SACWIS with children served through this program.
The "Children Funding Source: Social Services Block Grant" number does not include children who received services during the investigative phase of a CPS case and only includes CPS clients served between 7/1/01 and 12/31/01.
With respect to the "Children Funding Source: Other" number, TANF funds have been used to provide family reunification services, family preservation services, and services to families where children are at risk of removal. The number of children served may be duplicated because a child may receive more than one type of service.
The "Families Funding Source: Child Abuse and Neglect State Grant" number includes only families served between 7/1/01 and 12/31/01.
The "Families Funding Source: Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program" number is probably low due to the inability to link clients in the State's SACWIS system with families served through this program.
With respect to the "Families Funding Source: Other" number, TANF funds have been used to provide family reunification services, family preservation services, and services to families where children are at risk of removal. The number of families served may be duplicated because a family may receive more than one type of service.
Walter G. Fahr
Program Manager, Child Protective Services
Louisiana Office of Community Services
Department of Social Services
P.O. Box 3319
Baton Rouge, LA 70821
225-342-6832
225-342-9087 Fax
wfahr@dss.state.la.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Reasonable
Reports
There were 229 first line workers, which does not include supervisory or clerical staff. The calculation was based on the number of authorized investigative and intake staff in the agency budget.
There were 18 staff responsible for the screening and intake of reports. This figure was based on the number of staff allocated for intake responsibility or after hours on call in the agency budget. The FTE was based on a Random Moment Sampling of worker's time.
Services
Preventive services provided through the State Child Abuse and Neglect Grant included 98 children and 31 families who received services from FACES, a comprehensive case management program for families with a child or parent infected with HIV.
The State Grant also covered 56 children and 258 families from the Prevent Child Abuse Louisiana Nurturing Program. The Prevent Child Abuse Louisiana program also served 2,780 in the First Steps program for first time parents, 724 in the Parenting Workshops, and 2,000 on the Parent HELPLINE assistance to parents.
There were 790 children and 6,480 families served by the Office of Public Health/Maternal & Child Health through the Healthy Families America and Public Health Visiting Nurses Program. The Child Protection Resource Centers served 1,176 children and 1,418 parents. The Agency's Family Services Program served 7,264 children and 3,977 families.
The Louisiana Children's Trust Fund provided single units of services (primarily public awareness presentations) to 30,499 children, 24,991 families and 13,386 parents. In addition, the Community-Based Family Resource and Support Grant covered 24,491 children, 8,819 parents and 2,768 families.
The 1,661 child victims with a CASA-appointed representative were the basis for calculating the 2.2 average out of court contacts per month. The data were from 7 CASA programs that reported for a full year, two CASA programs that only tracked data from October-December 2001 and one CASA program with one case.
Robert Pronovost
Supervisor
Child Protection Intake
Bureau of Child and Family Services
Maine Department of Human Services
State House, Station 11
Augusta, ME 04333
207-287-2978
207-287-5065 Fax
robert.n.pronovost@state.me.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
Screened-out referrals fall into several categories. Some of the reports were appropriate for CPS, but were referred to a community agency for follow up. These agencies do not make a determination regarding substantiation and do not provide information to the SACWIS. Other screened-out referrals did not contain allegations of child abuse or neglect involving a responsible caretaker and thus, were deemed inappropriate for CPS investigation or assessment.
The number of children reported to be subject of a report but not referred for investigation is an undercount, because only the number of children who have been referred to a community agency for followup is known.
The number of FTEs is from the Legislative Line List. Screening and intake staff includes the fulltime staff of the Central Child Protection Intake Unit and a proportion of field staff in the eight district offices performing intake and screening functions.
Fatalities
The three reported fatalities are from the Death and Serious Injury Report.
Services
Nine private agencies under contract with the Bureau of Child and Family Services provide prevention services as community intervention programs in all 16 counties. Families referred to these agencies are at high risk of child abuse and neglect.
Stephen K. Berry
Manager
In-Home Services
Social Services Administration
Maryland Department of Human Resources
311 West Saratoga Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
410-767-7112
410-33-6556 Fax
sberry@dhr.state.md.us
Data File(s) Submitted
SDC
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
The number of staff reflects FTE positions allotted for CPS. The State office does not designate screening, investigations, or continuing service tasks for these positions. Local departments determine use, based on their needs.
Services
The number of recipients of preventive services is an estimate of the number of families who received such services as "Continuing CPS," "Intensive Family Services," or "Families Now." Each family could have received any number of additional support services (e.g., addiction counseling, day care, or crisis intervention). The data collection system does not track preventive services provided by community service agencies outside the Department of Human Resources system.
Massachusetts
Tony Felix
Data Analyst
Office of Management, Planning and Analysis
Massachusetts Department of Social Services
24 Farnsworth Street
Boston, MA 02210
617-748-2356
617-261-7438 Fax
antone.felix-iii@state.ma.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Reasonable
Reports
A screened-out referral is a determination that there is no reasonable cause to believe that a child was abused/neglected; the alleged perpetrator was not a caretaker; the specific situation being reported 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 being reported 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 reporter.
The number of screening, intake, and investigation workers is an estimated number of FTEs that is derived by dividing the number of intakes and investigations completed during the calendar year by the monthly workload standards. The monthly workload standards are 75 screenings per FTE and 12 investigations per FTE. 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. (Since 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 are from Reports of Child Abuse/Neglect —Twelve Month Summary and Investigations Completed —Twelve Month Summary. The State uses these numbers for its own management purposes, and they present a clearer picture than would a count of unique individuals who performed these functions.
Many Department of Social Services (DSS) social workers perform screening, intake, and investigation functions in addition to ongoing casework.
Fatalities
The State maintains a database with child fatality information entered by the Case Investigation Unit. The number of fatalities represents only those children from families known to DSS including families with an open case status; families being investigated as the result of a maltreatment report received prior to the child's death; families who had an open case within the 6 months preceding the child's death; and families who had a substantiated maltreatment report within 6 months preceding the child's death, but the case was not opened for services. As of 2001, a revised version of this database is recording information on all child fatalities regardless of whether the family was known to DSS prior to the fatality or not.
Laurie Johnson
Children's Protective Services Unit
Michigan Family Independence Agency
235 South Grand Avenue, Suite 510
Lansing, MI 48909
517-241-3577
517-241-7407 Fax
johnsonl@michigan.gov
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance of evidence
Reports
Reports not referred for investigation include transferred to another county, State, agency or organization for investigation (9,437); linked to an existing investigation or open CPS services case (8,049); rejected (42,103); and pending (517).
The source is reports from the local office intake system for Wayne County and SWSS for the other 82 counties. These were complaint dispositions for fiscal year 2001 (not calendar year 2001).
Response time data are from the Protective Services Management Information System (PSMIS) based on hours to first contact field. This is the number of hours from the time the complaint is received to the time the agency commences an investigation rounded to the nearest whole hour. Commencing an investigation requires contact with someone other than the referring person to assess the safety of the child and determine the agency response. This is a two digit field on the database so if the time exceeds 99 hours, staff are instructed to enter 99 hours. Investigations which had 0 entered should be dropped from the average: these include cases in which the family could not be located. In 2001, there were 59,838 completed investigations with a valid entry in this field; total hours were 891,342 for an average rounded to the nearest whole hour.
CPS staff count of 645 is the number of staff onboard (799) as of January 1, 2002 minus the number calculated as needed to serve the ongoing caseload based on the CPS Workload Study of 2000 (154). Screening and intake staff count of 156 was computed based on the 2000 Michigan CPS Workload Study. It was determined that the 740 Michigan Family Independence Agency CPS workers spend an average of 1.5 hours per intake; 105.1 hours are available to workers each month to perform CPS tasks. 105.1/1.5 equals 70 intakes per month, or 840 per year. The number of CPS complaints in 2001, 130,890 was divided by the number of intakes per year, 840, to determine the number of Screening and Intake workers.
Preventive Services
The count provided is a duplicated count of the number of families with an open date within calendar year 2001 who received a prevention assessment (4,471), ongoing services (2,869), or purchased services only (1,803) as recorded on the Client Information System (CIS). The report is an ad hoc query of the data warehouse CIS services' universe. Children in this count are members of these families.
Jean Swanson Broberg
Systems Analysis Unit Supervisor
Minnesota Department of Human Services
444 Lafayette Road
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 of evidence
Reports
At the county agency, social workers respond to telephone calls, walk-ins, faxes, and letters that allege child maltreatment. According to State regulations, counties are allowed to screen out reports when the situation has already been assessed or investigated, when the allegations as reported or discovered during the screening process do not meet the legal definitions of child abuse or neglect, or when the child is not in the county.
The number of children who were screened out may be an undercount because workers may have screened out the report prior to recording all the details on every child, especially if the situation does not qualify as child abuse or neglect.
Services
The number of children who have received preventive services is based on children who received health-related services, home-based support services, homemaking services, housing services, social and recreational services, money management, individual counseling, or group counseling.
Children and families provided preventive services under the Child Abuse and Neglect State Grant includes the Family Support Network and Crisis Nursery Services. Preventive services funded by other sources include those funded by substance abuse related grants.
Workload
Reported counts of CPS workers are primarily specialized Child Protective Services workers, but may also include less specialized social workers and some case aides.
Robin E. Wilson, LSW
Program Manager
Division of Family and Children's Services
Mississippi Department of Human Services
750 North State Street
P.O. Box 352
Jackson, MS 39205
601-359-4016
601-359-4978 Fax
rwilson@mdhs.state.ms.us
Data File(s) Submitted
SDC
Level of Evidence Required
Credible
General
Mississippi will submit the Child File in 2003 for 2002 data. The SACWIS system was rolled out Statewide and the legacy system was terminated effective October 1, 2001.
Reports
The "Children Referred for CPS Investigation or Assessment" number is based on the national average of 1.8 children per report.
"Medical Personnel" includes Mental Health Personnel.
The count of "Number of Staff Responsible for the Screening and Intake of Reports During the Year" is comprised of the Child Abuse Hotline workers only responsible for intake for the Statewide 800 abuse line.
Victims
"Neglect" as a type of maltreatment includes medical neglect. "Other" includes exploited children, and children both abused and neglected.
The estimated number of children subject of an investigation or assessment by disposition was calculated by multiplying the number of reports by the national average of 1.8 children per investigation.
For the question of "Investigations in Which the Allegation of Maltreatment or Risk of Maltreatment Was Substantiated," DFCS has discontinued the use of "Substantiated" and "Unsubstantiated" with the implementation of the SACWIS system.
All report dispositions are now classified as "Indicated" or "no evidence." "Indicated" numbers are mapped to "Substantiated."
"Neglect" includes Medical Neglect. The "Other" type of maltreatment includes children who are both abused and neglected and exploited children.
Services
In regard to preventive services, the Division of Family and Children's Services reduced the number of Community-Based Family Resource and Support grants awarded in 2001, but TANF/Family Resource Centers issued 55 new grants in 2001.
The number of "Children and Family Funding Source: Community-Based Family Resource and Support"Grant awards were reduced from the previous year. The "Children Funding Source: Other" is broken down as TANF/Family Resource Centers (22,236), Children's Justice Act (1,220), and Children's Trust Fund (6,998). The "Families Funding Source: Other" is broken down as TANF/Family Resource Centers (15,720) and Children's Trust Fund (301).
Missouri
Bruce Hibbett
Management Analyst
Division of Family Services, Children's Services
Department of Social Services
615 Howerton Court
Jefferson City, MO 65109
573-526-5408
573-526-3971 Fax
bruce_hibbett@dssdfs.state.mo.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Probably cause
Reports
The number of screening and intake staff includes the total number of staff in the child abuse and neglect centralized hotline registry, which is staffed 24/7. The screening and intake staff distributes the referrals to local staff for investigation. The number of those doing investigations and assessments cannot be provided because in most parts of the State, staff persons that have other child welfare duties conduct investigations.
While the average response time to investigation was 42 hours, the median response time was 13 hours.
Gail Clifford
Management Analyst
Child and Family Services Division
Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services
P.O. Box 8005
Helena, MT 59604-8005
406-444-2584
406-444-5956 Fax
gclifford@state.mt.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
A State statute mandates that all reports indicating reasonable cause to suspect that a child is abused or neglected be investigated.
CPS staff includes caseworkers, licensing workers, permanency workers, supervisors, and administrative support staff. Workers in the many small rural offices perform all screening, intake, investigation, and assessment functions; therefore, it is not possible to provide the number of FTEs who perform only screening and intake.
Workload
Because of Montana's rural nature, the majority of workers perform both intake and assessment functions. It is not possible to separate out the number of workers who perform only one or the other of these functions. This number includes social workers, case aides, licensing workers, permanency workers, and supervisors.
Glenn G. Ogg
Business Systems Analyst
Nebraska Health and Human Services Systems
Office of Protection and Safety
P.O. Box 95044
Lincoln, NE 68509-5044
402-571-6615
402-571-9597 Fax
glenn.ogg@hhss.state.ne.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Fatalities
There were seven child victims who died as a result of maltreatment within the calendar year and who were not included in the Child File. The source of this information was the Bureau of Vital Statistics.
Marjorie L. Walker
Social Welfare Programs Specialist
Division of Child and Family Services
Nevada Department of Human Resources
711 East Fifth Street, Capitol Complex
Carson City, NV 89701-5092
775-684-4422
775-684-4456 Fax
mwalker@govmail.state.nv.us
Data File(s) Submitted
SDC
Level of Evidence Required
Reasonable
General
The information provided represents a combined total from the State and Clark and Washoe counties. Nevada has a bifurcated social services system in which counties with populations in excess of 100,000 are required to maintain their own CPS system. As a result, there are three data streams to be considered for each Statewide data item. Clark County is in the process of converting to the State's SACWIS system. The current system that Clark County is using does not count the number of children, only the number of reports.
Reports
"Law Enforcement" report source includes coroner and juvenile probation. "Other" report source includes clergy. More than one report source per report may be entered.
Types of workers include intake/assessment staff, investigators, and caseworkers.
Victims
"Physical abuse" includes major and minor physical injury and fatal maltreatment."Neglect or deprivation of necessities" includes physical neglect, lack of supervision, and educational neglect. Psychological or emotional abuse includes emotional abuse/neglect and abandonment.
For 2001 data, Clark County categorized "Hispanic" as an ethnicity and not as a race. Hispanics were coded as being part of the Caucasian race.
Fatalities
The total child victims who died as a result of substantiated maltreatment by county/region included: Clark County, (2);Washoe County, (1); Rural Nevada; (1). There were no child victims who died as a result of maltreatment while in foster care.
Services
The Nevada State Community Connections Program provided much of the data for preventive services. For title IV-B, the total provided by the program officer is not guaranteed to be "unduplicated." Only individuals served are tracked. They do not distinguish between children and families. The number of families under the Child Abuse and Neglect State Grant reflects the number of report —we are unable to report the exact number of families. The "SSBG Family" count reflects the number of adults served under the SSBG.
Jane M. Whitney
Reporting Coordinator
Office of Application Management
New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services
129 Pleasant Street, State Office Park South
Concord, NH 03301-3857
603-271-8384
603-271-7294 Fax
jmwhitney@dhhs.state.nh.us
DATA File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
Screening and Intake workers include 10 Intake workers and 1 Child Protective Services Worker (CPSW) Coordinator. Investigation and Assessment workers include 55 Assessment CPSWs, 75 Family Service CPSWs, 17 CPSW Coordinators and 13 Supervisors. This is a point-in-time snapshot taken in December 2001.
Fatalities
Data on child fatalities were obtained from the Attorney's General Office.
Services
Child count estimates were derived by multiplying the number of families by the national average number of children for "Child Abuse and Neglect State," "Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program" and "Children Funding Source: Other."
Family count estimates are derived by dividing the number of total children by the national average number of children for "Social Services Block Grant" and "Family Funding Source: Other."
CASA of New Hampshire requires a CASA/Guardian ad litem (GAL) to visit the children to whom they are appointed at least once per month. The lower number of 9 reflects that not all children are being served by a CASA/GAL for all twelve months of that year. Some cases do not start until part way through the year and other cases close during the course of it.
Art Hull
Manager
Information Processing
Office of Information Services
Division of Youth and Family Services
New Jersey Department of Human Services
50 East State Street, 5th Floor
Trenton, NJ 08625-0717
609-292-9175
609-292-8196 Fax
ahull@dhs.state.nj.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance of evidence
General
In 1994, the Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) began an initiative that has a more careful classification of incoming referrals, as either child abuse and neglect or a family problem. The families classified as having "family problems" were not believed to have committed child abuse or neglect according to State statute. The types of situations that may lead to such a classification include homelessness; domestic violence; unresolved, child-related medical, emotional, or substance abuse problems; children with disabilities needing assistance; problems that affect the ability of parents to provide basic care for their children; and cases in which parents lack the skills to parent adequately. These cases are classified as "Alternative Response Nonvictim."
Reports
The DYFS requires all referrals to receive either an assessment or a CPS investigation, depending on the referral type.
The count of screening, intake, investigation, and assessment workers includes all casework staff designated as caseload carrying. These workers may be assigned to a District Office, Institutional Abuse Investigation Unit, or the Office of Child Abuse Control, but workers assigned to the Adoption Resource Centers are excluded.
Fatalities
The State reported 12 child abuse deaths in addition to the 25 reported on the Child File. The Child Fatality/Near Fatality Review Board, the Coroner's Office, or DYFS have confirmed that these 12 fatalities were the result of abuse or neglect. However, this number may be an undercount as there are cases that are still undergoing review as to cause of death.
Services
The total number of children receiving preventive services is an estimate of DYFS and County Welfare Agency (CWA) clients served through established child abuse/neglect prevention contracts. The DYFS total was obtained from the Contract Administration System and reflects the combined available slots for all applicable contracts. All nonplacement-related services are considered to be preventive services and are included if the target population is children or adolescents, regardless of the funding source. Because some clients may receive the same service multiple times or may receive more than one service, this total may be duplicated.
DYFS does not maintain CWA data. The CWA numbers included in preventive services were taken from the CWA annual report Services Funded by SSBG for County Welfare Agencies for 2000 (fiscal year) under the service categories "prevention/intervention" and "case management." These totals may also be duplicated.
DYFS does not directly capture the number of families served through a particular service. This total is derived by dividing the estimated number of clients served by four, which DYFS believes to be an average familysize. CWAA data are not available by family.
Children considered "family problem at-risk" were not included in the counts on service outcomes because information about whether children did or did not receive services, or were removed as the result of a referral, is recorded only for investigations of abuse/neglect and not for assessments of children at risk.
Removals reported for children with unsubstantiated dispositions were emergency removals and took place before the investigations were completed.
Tracy Fava
Manager, Research/Evaluation Unit
Protective Services Division
Children Youth & Families Department
P.O. Drawer 5160 Rm 252
Santa Fe, NM 87502
505-827-8474
505-827-8480 Fax
tlfava@cyfd.state.nm.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Credible
Reports
There were 24 intake workers, seven of which were supervisors. In addition there was one investigation substance abuse counselor and 165 investigation workers including 40 supervisors.
Services
The Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program served 745 FPS Families and 332 Adoptive Families & Children. The number of children who received services under the Child Abuse and Neglect Grant were estimated based on the contracted slots.
Donna Keys
Director
Bureau of Management Information
New York State Office of Children and Family Services
Riverview Center, 6th Floor (12204)
40 North Pearl Street, 8C
Albany, NY 12243
518-474-6791
518-473-8205 Fax
sv0050@dfa.state.ny.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Credible
Reports
The number of reports not referred for investigation was derived by subtracting the number of investigated reports from the total number of calls to the Child Abuse and Maltreatment Hotline. There is no policy for screening out calls to the hotline. Thus, the reports not referred may have been queries for information and referral, concerned families with no children less than 18 years old, perpetrators who were not legally responsible for the child, concerned maltreatments that did not occur in the State, or had insufficient demographic information to locate the child or the family.
JoAnn Lamm
Team Leader, Policy and Initiatives Team
Division of Social Services
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
325 North Salisbury Street
Mail Service Center 2408
Raleigh, NC 27603
919-733-3360
919-715-6714 fax
joann.lamm@ncmail.net
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
Reasons why reports may not be referred for investigative assessment include the "problem described does not meet any of the statutory definitions"; "the individual is not a juvenile under statutory definitions"; and "the allegation in no way suggests that the action or inaction of a parent or caretaker resulted in harm to the child."
Legislation, effective in 1997, requires that when a report is made alleging 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 number of referrals screened out was derived from a survey of the 100 county social service departments that asked for the average monthly number screened out. The average of 2,511, multiplied by 12 months, produces 30,144. An annual survey of the 100 county Departments of Social Services provided the staffing numbers.
Victims
"Other" types of maltreatment includes dependency and encouraging, directing, or approving delinquent acts involving moral turpitude committed by a juvenile.
Gladys Cairns
Administrator
Child Protection Services
Children and Family Services Division
Department of Human Services-325
600 East Boulevard
Bismarck, ND 58501
701-328-4806
701-328-3538 Fax
socaig@state.nd.us
Data File(s) Submitted
SDC
Level of Evidence Required
Not applicable.
General
The child neglect and abuse law was amended in 1995 to move from an incident-based investigation method to a service method, in which assessments are made of child safety and future risk of harm. The emphasis is put on what services are available to ameliorate any future risk. This approach focuses on identifying and building on the family's capacities and strengths.
The text of the State statute, in part, states:
"An assessment is a fact-finding process designed to provide information that enables a determination to be made that services are required to provide for the protection and treatment of an abused or neglected child. The Department of Human Services (DHS) immediately shall initiate an assessment or cause an assessment of any report of child abuse or neglect including, when appropriate, the assessment of the home or residence of the child, any school or child care facility attended by the child, and the circumstances surrounding the report of abuse or neglect. If the report alleges a violation of a criminal statute involving sexual or physical abuse, DHS and an appropriate law enforcement agency shall coordinate the planning and execution of their investigation efforts to avoid a duplication of fact-finding efforts and multiple interviews.
Upon completion of the assessment of the initial report of child abuse or neglect, a decision must be made whether services are required to provide for the protection and treatment of an abused or neglected child. This determination is the responsibility of DHS. Upon a decision that services are required, DHS promptly shall make a written report of the decision to the juvenile court having jurisdiction in the matter. DHS promptly shall file a report of a decision that services are required under this section in the child abuse information index. The Division of Children and Family Services shall maintain a child abuse information index of all reports of decisions that services are required for child abuse, neglect, or death resulting from abuse or neglect" (Excerpted from North Dakota Legislative Code, Chapter 50-25.1).
Reports
Response time to investigation is recorded in days on the North Dakota Child Abuse and Neglect System. Of 4,021 reports, 3873 were initiated within 72 hours.
The count of reports by report source, notably reports by substitute care providers, does not include reports contained in a separate Residential Child Abuse and Neglect database.
Victims
The State uses dispositions of "Services Required" or "No Services Required." The number reported for Alternative Response —Victims represents the "Services Required" assessments. The number reported for "Alternative Response, Children Not Identified as Victims" represents the No Services Required assessments.
Leslie B. McGee
Child Protective Services Supervisor
Bureau of Family Services
Ohio Department of Job and Family Services
255 East Main Street, 3rd Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
614-466-9274
614-466-0164 Fax
mcgeel@odjfs.state.oh.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
No Information
General
From January 1, 1998 through March 31, 2001, the State did not require dispositions (substantiated, indicated and unsubstantiated) for reports of child abuse and neglect in which the alleged perpetrator was known to the alleged child victim (e.g. parent/caretaker). The majority of reports fall into this category. For these types of cases, a risk assessment was completed and an overall level of risk was recorded for the family. If the overall level of risk was higher than low/moderate, the children were reported to NCANDS as "Alternative Response —Victims." Children in cases with an overall level of risk of no risk or low risk were reported to NCANDS as "Alternative Response —Nonvictims."
Effective April 1, 2001, the State began requiring dispositions on all reports. As a result, The State's NCANDS data for CY 2001 reflects a period of four months where the majority of all reports were listed as "alternative response" (victim or nonvictim) and approximately eight months in which a disposition was reported. As expected, this created a significant difference from the numbers that have been reported by the State in previous years. Specifically, for CY 2001 the State has fewer children reported under the "alternative response" categories, and higher numbers of children reported under the disposition categories.
Reports
"Other Relatives" report source includes parents. Response time is the median rather than the mean response time.
Fatalities
The number of fatalities may be underreported because CPS agencies do not investigate all child deaths.
Services
Title XX services that fall under abuse, neglect and prevention include "Foster Care;" "Independent Living/Transitional Living;""Prevention and Intervention;" and Protective Services.
"Victims Who Had Been Reunified within the Past 5 Years" consists of child victims who had been in foster care whose parent (e.g., mother, father, adoptive mother, or adoptive father) was listed as the alleged perpetrator.
Bill Hindman
Program Administrator
Adoption/Technology & Research
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
Response time is collected based on the identified priority of the referral. The following was the average response time based on priority: Priority I = 12 hours (maximum time allowed was 24 hours); Priority II = 418 hours (maximum time allowed was 15 days or 360 hours); Priority III = 676 hours (maximum time allowed was 30 days or 720 hours).
Contacts by the court appointed advocates were not documented in the SACWIS system. All 77 county court systems in the State appointed their advocates. Many court systems used CASA, but others used their own advocate programs. All children involved in the juvenile court system had a court appointed advocate or GAL. The documentation methods vary from county to county and most often consist of narrative type reports to the court.
Fatalities
There were 26 children showing in the NCANDS Child file as child fatalities. Of those, 12 of the families had a child welfare history in the KIDS system. There are five children who have not yet been entered into the KIDS system as child deaths, however four of the families of these children show a child welfare history in KIDS. Two child fatalities were confirmed for child abuse or neglect where the perpetrator was a foster parent. These records are part of the NCANDS Child file.
Services
Data provided for services were based on State Fiscal Year 2001 (July 1st, 2000 to June 30th, 2001). Some of the numbers of children and families served last calendar year were reported under the incorrect funding source, therefore this year's numbers reflect the correct funding source. Data provided on "Reports Screened Out" and "Average Response Time" were based on Calendar Year 2001.
The Office of Child Abuse Prevention, Community-Based Family Resource and Support Program served 9,427 children and 9,986 families; of these, the office provided home visitation to 1,461 families and center-based activities to 1,461 children and 736 families. In the "Sooner Start Early Intervention" program 7,966 infants and toddlers with disabilities received evaluation, assessment, and intervention services. The "Children First, Public Nurse Home Visitation Program" served 8,055 families.
Overall "Children Funding Source: Other" served 19,792 children and "Family Funding Source: Other" served 13,090 families. The Department of Human Services provided preventive services to 5,614 children and 2,116 families. The Oklahoma Children's Services contracts provided services to 4,870 children and 2,147 families. These programs are both funded by the State. The Department of Education Childhood/Family Education Office provided preventive services through the Parents As Teachers program to 8,861 children and 7,764 families. The Parents Assistance Center served 447 children and 1,063 families.
Jim White
Research Analyst
Office for Services to Children and Families
Oregon Department of Human Resources
HRB, 2nd Floor South
500 Summer Street NE
Salem, OR 97301-1017
503-945-5667
503-581-6198 Fax
jim.m.white@state.or.us
Data File(s) Submitted
SDC
Level of Evidence Required
Reasonable
Reports
Data were reported based on the assessment date. "Other" dispositions refer to the State classification "unable to determine."
Victims
The numbers of children with "Unsubstantiated" and "Other" dispositions were estimated. Duplicated victim counts were reported.
"Other" type of maltreatment refers to "threat of harm."
Services
The same child could be removed more than once during the year and associated with different reports. Each removal was counted.
Susan Stockwell
Program Specialist
Office of Children, Youth and Families
Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare
Hillcrest Building
53 Harrisburg State Hospital Complex
P.O. Box 2675
Harrisburg, PA 17105
717-787-7758
717-772-6442 Fax
sstockwell@dpw.state.pa.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Clear and convincing/Beyond reasonable doubt
General
The State does not accept funds from the Basic State Grant and is not required to submit data to the NCANDS.
Reports
The State has a narrow definition of child abuse, CPS investigations account for approximately 30 percent of the total reports investigated or assessed by the child welfare system. The number of reports not referred for investigation includes reports of general protective service, information and referral, and emergency clearances for placements.
In the county-administered child welfare system, some counties have caseworkers who specialize in CPS investigations or assessments, while other counties have generic caseworkers that perform other child welfare functions in addition to investigations or assessments. Any caseworker who performed a direct child welfare function was reported.
Victims
State policy addresses neglect through a general protective service investigation rather than a child protective service investigation. These neglect cases are not classified as child abuse. The definition of abuse includes "(i.) any recent act or failure to act by a perpetrator that causes nonaccidental serious physical injury to a child less than 18 years old; (ii.) an act or failure to act by a perpetrator that causes nonaccidental 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." (Pennsylvania Child Protective Services Law, title 23, PA C.S.A. Chapter 63.)
State law does not allow the collection of data on race.
Services
Foster care data were not included in the Child File. However, aggregate estimates of child victims in foster care were obtained from other sources. Child victims in the NCANDS files were compared to children in the AFCARS file for the same time frame. If there was a match, that child was counted as being in foster care. Approximately 21 percent received foster care services. Based on these percentages, an estimated 970 victims received foster care services because of a child abuse or neglect investigation.
Fatalities
One report of child maltreatment resulting in death was reported on 1/10/00 and had an initial disposition in 2000 of pending criminal court. The report was changed to founded in 2001.
Rebecca Connors
RICHIST Program Manager
Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families
101 Friendship Street
Providence, RI 02903
401-528-3816
401-528-3922 Fax
rconnor@dcyf.state.ri.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
For a report to be referred for investigation, the following criteria must be met: the alleged victim must be a child less than 18 years old and living in his or her own home or less than 21 years old if living in DCYF foster or institutional care or less than 21 years old if in DCYF custody, regardless of placement; harm or substantial risk of harm to the child must be present; a specific incident or pattern of incidents suggesting child abuse or neglect must be identified; and a person responsible for the child's welfare or living in the same home, including temporary caretakers such as babysitters or siblings caring for the child, must be the alleged perpetrator of the incident.
The RICHIST system can link more than one report source per report. However, only one person can be identified as "reporter" (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, investigation, and assessment workers was based upon a point in time count of FTEs for Child Protective Investigators and Child Protective Supervisors who take and investigate reports meeting the criteria for investigation and screening. The number of screening and intake workers is based upon a point in time count of all FTEs for Social Caseworkers II and Social Caseworker Supervisors II working in the Intake Unit and are responsible for screening and intake.
Victims
"Other" maltreatment type includes institutional allegations such as corporal punishment, other institutional abuse, and other institutional neglect.
Services
The CASA organization provided the average number of out-of-court contacts. This number represents the contacts made by CASA volunteers. This number does not include the contacts of GALs.
Joanne L. Schaekel
Program Liaison, Child Protective Services
Office of Family Preservation and Child Welfare Services
South Carolina Department of Social Services
P.O. Box 1520
Columbia, SC 29202-1520
803-898-7318
803-898-7217 Fax
jschaekel@dss.state.sc.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Victims
"Other" maltreatment types includes "educational neglect" (946); "abandonment" (75); "contributing to the delinquency of a minor" (112); and various forms of "threat of harm" (6,725). The "threat of harm of physical abuse" (2,709) and "threat of harm of physical neglect" (3,092) were the most frequent types of "threat of harm."
Fatalities
The number of fatalities in 2000 increased from the number in 1999 partially as a result of better coordination between the three agencies that gather data on child maltreatment fatalities —the State Child Fatality Group, the State Department of Social Services, and the State Department of Health and Environmental Control. The number was also affected by the abuse-related death of a sibling group.
Mary Livermont
Program Specialist II
Child Protection Services
South Dakota Department of Social Services
700 Governors Drive
Pierre, SD 57501
605-773-3227
605-773-6834 Fax
mary.livermont@state.sd.us
Data File(s) Submitted
SDC
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance of evidence
General
An assessment track has been used along with an investigation track since 1995. The assessment process focuses more on the family than on the specific child who was reported as an alleged victim. Those referrals appropriate for a family assessment involve circumstances or incidents in which criminal charges appear unlikely, children do not appear to be placed in imminent danger, and removal does not appear likely based upon the facts gathered in the intake process. Out-of-home reports are not appropriate for assessments. It is the belief of CPS that these families are best assisted by an approach that voluntarily engages families to accept our offer of help. The assessment process is targeted to best serve families for whom CPS has no prior referrals and who are parents of younger children. It is our hope that we will be able to prevent any future referrals to CPS for many of these families through early assistance.
Family assessments are designed to identify the strengths and needs of the whole family and require the participation of the family as a unit to the degree practical. The allegations contained in the referral serve only as a reference point to assist the family in identifying problems that may be hampering family functioning and do not need to be proven or disproved. The ideal outcome of the family assessment would be identification of natural supports for the family, development of a functioning referral network for the family, and a family service agreement, if necessary, to alleviate the problems identified by the family. It is the hope of CPS that this process will:
The outcomes of the 1,262 family assessments, which included 2,935 children were as follows: "no assessment needed" (156); "assessment not completed/family refused" (180); "assessment completed, no followup services needed" (350); "assessment completed/family refused followup services" (29); "referred for child abuse/neglect investigation" (47); "assessment completed/family referred to other resources" (323); "assessment completed/open for followup services" (125); "assessment not initiated/family declined/short term intervention or services by CPS" (152); "assessment not initiated/family referred to another agency for services" (94); "assessment initiated/not completed/family dropped out" (107); "closed without a finding" (303). These children were included as "Alternative Response —Nonvictim."
Reports
Reports are child-based; therefore, counts of reports by disposition are identical to the counts of children by disposition.
Louis Martinez, M.S.W.
Program Coordinator
Child Protective Services
Tennessee Department of Children's Services
436 Sixth Avenue North
Nashville, TN 37243-1290
615-532-5624
615-532-6495 Fax
lou.martinez@state.tn.us
Data File(s) Submitted
SDC
Level of Evidence Required
Material evidence
Reports
The total number of staff responsible for screening, intake, and investigation/assessment of reports During the year represents 312 case managers and 51 team leaders who carried out CPS functions.
For the most part, the functions of Staff who are responsible for the screening and intake of reports during the year are a county-based process. These functions, over the 95 counties, are performed on an "as-needed basis" by a variety of staff, including non-CPS staff.
Victims
"Unknown" dispositions includes uncompleted investigations and data reflective of computer systemic issues and data entry problems.
Eight fatalities were attributed to abuse and five fatalities were attributed to neglect.
Services
The "Children Funding Source: Community-Based Family Resource and Support Grant" data represent an unduplicated count for FY 2001 (7/1/00-6/30/01).
The "Families Funding Source: Community-Based Family Resource and Support Grant" data represent a duplicated count for FY 2001 (7/1/00-6/30/01).
Deborah Washington
System Analyst
Information Technology
Department of Protective & Regulatory Services
8100 Cameron Road, Mail Code Y960
P.O. Box 149030
Austin, TX 78714-9030
512-834-3762
512-834-3780 Fax
deborah.washington@tdprs.state.tx.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
Reports
Calendar year data for protective services were not available. The State fiscal year (September 2000 through August 2001) was used instead.
The average response time was 23.44 hours for Priority 1 calls only. The average response time for Priority 2 calls was 174.32 hours.
Navina Forsythe
Information Analyst
Division of Child and Family Services
Utah Department of Human Services
120 North 200 West, Suite 225
Salt Lake City, UT 84103
801-538-4045
801-538-3993 Fax
nforsyth@state.ut.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Reasonable
Reports
"Closed With No Finding" includes "unable to locate," "family moved," and "transferred to another region."
"Initial investigation" is defined as face-to-face contact with the alleged victim. Consequently, the average time may be longer than other States with less stringent standards. Outlying data points were excluded.
The number of screening, intake, investigation, and assessment workers is an estimate. Many workers perform multiple functions, e.g., conduct investigations as well as other types of work. This number includes all workers who conduct some investigations.
A call may be screened out when one of the following apply per DCFS policy: 1. The minimum required information for accepting a referral is not available (e.g., location of victim); 2. The information is determined to not be credible or reliable; 3. The specific incidence or allegation has been previously investigated; 4. The specific allegation is under investigation.
Phillip M. Zunder, Ph.D.
Information Technology Manager
Vermont Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services
103 South Main Street
Waterbury, VT 05671-2401
802-241-2106
802-241-2980 Fax
pzunder@srs.state.vt.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency
Level of Evidence Required
Reasonable
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.
Mary M. Carpenter
CPS Specialist
Division of Family Services
Virginia Department of Social Services
730 East Broad Street, 2nd Floor
Richmond,VA 23219
804-692-1688
804-692-2215 Fax
mmc900@dss.state.va.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
General
The Department of Social Services is improving its use of Client identifiers. Each time a new report is entered in the State's SACWIS, the system assigns each child in the report a new identification number. Workers are instructed to search the data base for identical children and to employ a "merge" function to combine the records for each individual, giving them a single identification number. This is not done consistently. The Department of Social Services is addressing this issue through education and by revising the SACWIS to correct some problems with the merge function.
Reports
The numbers for reports and children not referred for investigation are from reports that were not valid or had insufficient information to locate the family. For a report to be accepted for investigation, the alleged victim must be less than 18 years old, the alleged abuser or neglector must meet the definition of "caretaker," the allegation must meet the definition of abuse or neglect, and the alleged abuse or neglect must have occurred in the State, or the child must be a State resident. The total FTEs for all child protective services were estimated by Statewide random moment sampling of program activity over the year. The breakout among screening/intake, investigation/assessment, and on-going services was estimated by applying the results of a time study conducted in 35 localities in staggered six-week periods in January, February, and March 2001.
A case record review of a non-random sample of 279 reports found that 183 (65%) with a response time of less than 24 hours, 25 (9%) within 25-28 hours, 14 (5%) within 49-72 hours, 53 (19%) greater than 72 hours, and 5 (2%) undetermined. The Department of Social Services is working in improving the ability to collect accurate response time information.
Services
The service of a juvenile court petition is not a currently mandated field for workers to fill out. Thus, the reported count is low.
The number of children with out-of-court contacts was derived from aggregate reports from local CASA programs. The Department of Criminal Justice Services received data for State fiscal year 2001 from 14 of the 24 CASA programs. Not all localities are served by a CASA program.
Workers enter data into the SACWIS to indicate that a case was opened for postinvestigation services. In most localities the specific services planned and provided are documented in the SACWIS for foster care children only.
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 of evidence
Reports
CPS referrals were screened out for the following reasons: the child could not be located, the alleged subject was not a caretaker, or the allegation of child abuse and neglect did not meet the State's legal definition. Of the referrals that went forward, some were assessed as needing a "high standard of investigation" (face-to-face contact with the victim) and some were assessed as "families in need of services."
Each social worker's responsibilities are identified at the office level and coded as "CPS," "intake," or "after hours." The monthly average for all three categories is 497 FTEs. The monthly average for just "intake" and "after hours" is 146 FTEs.
For the "Response Time with Respect to the Initial Investigation of Reports of Child Abuse or Neglect" value, 89 percent of the victims in the accepted referrals were seen within 10 days. This is a State agency program standard.
Victims
With respect to the "Average Number of Out-of-Court Contacts Between the Court-Appointed Representatives" 32 hours was the average number of hours spent with a client.
Fatalities
Vital Statistics in the Department of Health collects information on all child deaths.
Services
Families received preventive services from the following sources: Community Networks; CPS Child Care Services; Family Reconciliation Services; Family Preservation; and Intensive Family Preservation Services.
The "Families Funding Source: Community-Based Family Resource and Support Grant" value is estimated from community programs.
The Department opens a case for services at the time a CPS referral is accepted for investigation. The automated information system does not distinguish between services provided for the purpose of the investigation and services provided 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. To distinguish between those children who received services, in addition to CPS investigation or assessment services, and those who did not, CPS cases open longer than 90 days were counted as receiving postinvestigative services, and cases open for 90 or fewer days were counted as not having received postinvestigative services.
Don Walker
Information Specialist Manager
Office of Social Services
West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources
350 Capitol Street, Room 691
Charleston, WV 25301-3704
304-558-0863
304-558-4563 Fax
donaldwalker@wvdhhr.org
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
No Information
General
The Families and Children Tracking System (FACTS) has been in operation for five years; this is the fourth full report obtained from the new system. Revisions are continuously being made to improve programming and ease of use by workers.
Reports
The number of staff responsible for CPS functions is based on payroll data. This estimate of FTEs is determined by multiplying the percentage of time workers spend on CPS cases by the total number of CPS workers and social workers in the State. Workers cross-trainedined and assist each other in performing the various CPS functions. Therefore the estimate of screening and intake workers cannot be made.
Fatalities
One fatality was identified on the Child File. Fifteen additional deaths were identified. Of these 15, 10 were the results of parental neglect, but were reported as accidents on the death certificates; 5 deaths were abuse homicides; 2 deaths were caused by abuse; 2 deaths were minors killed by gunshot wounds; 1 death was from a house fire that had been set intentionally.
Services
The numbers of children and families receiving preventive services through the Child Abuse and Neglect State Grant (Basic State Grant) were tabulated from monthly or annual performance reports submitted by contracted providers funded through this source. Preventive services provided through the Community-Based Family Resource and Support Grant included many of the same contracts as the Child Abuse and Neglect State Grant. The numbers of children and families receiving preventive services through the Safe and Stable Families Program were tabulated from monthly or annual performance reports submitted by contracted providers funded through this source.
Some of the contracted providers were Family Refuge Center, West Virginia Youth Advocate, Stop Abusive Family Environments, Prestera Center, TEAM for West Virginia Children, Children's Home of Wheeling, and Community Action of Southern West Virginia.
Wisconsin
John Tuohy
Director
Office of Policy, Evaluation, and Planning
Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services
1 West Wilson Street
Madison, WI 53708
608-267-3832
608-267-6836 Fax
tuohyjo@dhfs.state.wi.us
Data Sources
SDC
Level of Evidence Required
Preponderance
General
Child abuse and neglect data are submitted by local agencies for entry in the CAN database. The State is implementing a SACWIS system that will collect more complete and timely CAN data. The reporting features were implemented in Milwaukee County in 2001 and will be implemented Statewide by 2004. Child File reporting will begin once the reporting features are in use Statewide.
Reports
The State is a child-based State, that is, each report in the SDC has only one child. Abuse/neglect reports investigated by local agencies can involve multiple children.
There can be more than one reporter source per report. "Other" dispositions refer to those investigations where critical sources of information necessary for establishing a preponderance of evidence cannot be found or accessed.
Victims
In addition to dispositions of substantiated abuse and neglect, the data includes dispositions where evidence justifies a belief that abuse or neglect is likely to occur. "Other" dispositions includes children who are subjects of reports with a disposition indicating the likelihood of abuse or neglect.
Perpetrators
There may be more than one perpetrator per child.
Fatalities
Fatalities include only those children who were subjects of reports of abuse/neglect in which the allegation was substantiated.
Rick Robb
Social Service Program Manager
Protective Services
Wyoming Department of Family Services
2300 Capitol Avenue
Cheyenne, WY 82002
307-777-7150
307-777-3693 Fax
rrobb@state.wy.us
Data File(s) Submitted
Child File, Agency File
Level of Evidence Required
Credible
Report
The average time for reports requiring an "immediate" response was 3 hours; the average time for "nonimmediate" response was 28 hours.
Each active worker with at least one open CPS incident at the time this report was generated was counted as a screening, intake, investigation, or assessment worker.
As a general practice, there is no difference in the State between "screening and intake" workers and "investigation and assessment" workers.
Services
Children were considered to have received family preservation services in the last five years if family preservation contracts were written on any incident in that period. Children were considered to have received reunification services if in the five years prior to the beginning of the reporting period, there was a placement that ended with reunification.
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