how do macon county children enter the child welfare system? macon/piatt counties indicated reports...

Talking About PERMANENCY in Our Community

What Does the DATA Tell Us?

Macon and Piatt Counties

Macon/Piatt Counties

How do Macon County Children Enter the Child Welfare System?Indicated reports FY 2010Source Number Percent of total Law enforcement 148 33%Social services 82 18%Medical 80 18%Relative/neighbor 57 13%School personnel 45 10%“Other” 26 6%DCFS personnel 7 2%Child care centers 4 1%Coroner/Medical exam 1 <1%

450 100%Source: DCFS QA FY 2010


How do Macon Children Enter the Child Welfare System?As shown above, law enforcement was the largest source

of indicated reports in Macon County.

Further, law enforcement reports overall were more likely to be indicated than reports from other sources.

- 81% of reports from law enforcement were indicated in FY2010.- 59% of reports from social services were indicated.

- 49% of reports from medical personnel were indicated.

Source: DCFS QA FY 2010


How do Piatt County Children Enter the Child Welfare System?Indicated reports FY 2010Source Number Percent of total Law enforcement 21 47%School personnel 7 16%DCFS personnel 5 11%Social services 4 9%Medical 4 9%“Other” 3 7%Relative/neighbor 1 2%Child care centers - -Coroner/Medical exam - <1%



How do Piatt Children Enter the Child Welfare System?As shown above, law enforcement was the largest

source of indicated reports in Piatt County.

DCFS reports were the most likely to be indicated (5 of 6 or 83%).

Of the larger reporting sources, law enforcement reports were most likely to be indicated (21 of 37 or 57%)



What Types of Harm do Children Experience in Macon County?

Type N indicated% of totalABUSESubstantial risk of harm 158 23%Physical abuse 56 8%Sexual abuse 54 8%Emotional abuse 9 1%

NEGLECTBlatant disregard 252 36%Lack of supervision 89 13%Environmental 57 8%Lack of health 27 4%



What Types of Harm (Macon)…?The most common harm to children is neglect/ blatant disregard for child’s welfare, representing 36% of all indicated reports. The second most common is abuse/substantial risk of harm (23%), followed by neglect/lack of supervision (13%).Sexual abuse per se accounts for 8% of indicated cases. However, when this is combined with substantial risk of sexual injury, then 20% of cases relate to sexual harm to children.



What Types of Harm do Children Experience in Piatt County?

Type N indicated% of totalABUSESubstantial risk of harm 14 23%Physical abuse 2 3%Sexual abuse 7 12%Emotional abuse 0

NEGLECTBlatant disregard 28 47%Lack of supervision 9 15%Environmental 0Lack of health 0

60 100% Source: DCFS QA FY 2010


What Types of Harm (Piatt) …?By far the most common harm to children is neglect/ blatant disregard for child’s welfare, representing 47% of all indicated reports. The second most common is abuse/substantial risk of harm (23%), followed by neglect/lack of supervision (15%).Sexual abuse per se accounts for 12% of indicated cases. However, when this is combined with substantial risk of sexual injury, then 22% of cases relate to sexual harm to children.



In 2010, 123 children and youth entered foster care in Macon County.

GenderFemale 49% Male 51%

Race/EthnicityAfrican Amer. 44%White 51%Hispanic 2%Unknown 3%

9 children entered care in Piatt County. There were too few children in care for gender and race breakdowns to be meaningful.


Who Entered Care in 2010?


Who is in Care?At the close of FY10, 402 children were in out-of-home care in

Macon County. This was a slight decrease from the previous year (410).Just 9 children were in care in Piatt county.

Macon (N = 402) Piatt (N=9)Child Race

White 53% 78%African American 46% 22%Hispanic * <1% 0%Unknown 1% 0%

* There are on-going concerns about how Latino or Hispanic ethnicity is determined for DCFS clients. These percents are based on QA data.


Who is in Care?GENDER

Macon: 49% of youth are female, 51% male

AGE 22% 2 or under23% 3 - 5 19% 6 - 914% 10 - 13

18% 14 - 17 4% 18+

There are too few children in care to report these breakdowns for Piatt County.

Source: DCFS QA 2010


What are the Permanency Goals for Youth in Care?*

Reunification 158 49%Adoption 103 32%Guardianship 18 6%Independence 4113%

320100%


*This table excludes the children for whom data were missing or coded as “other”


Where are Children Placed in Macon County?*

- with kin (56%)- traditional foster care (29%) - specialized care (10%) - institution/group care (6%)

There are too few children in care to report these breakdowns for Piatt County.

* QA data combines foster and relative care, thus this information is from CFRC for FY09.


How was Permanency Achieved For Children in 2010? 154 children in Macon County achieved

permanency in FY10

Reunification 114 74%

Adoption 33 21%

Subsidized Guardianship 7 5%

3 children in Piatt County achieved permanency in FY10, all through reunification.



How have Permanency Rates Changed over Time?

2004 2005 2006 2007 20080%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Year Child Entered Care

Macon County:12 Month Permanency

Source: CFRC 2009


How have 24 Month Permanency Rates Changed Over Time?

2003 2004 2005 2006 20070%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


Macon County:24 Month Permanency

Source: CFRC 2009


What are the Permanency Trends in our County?Over the last 5 years, Macon County has seen fluctuation in

12 month permanency, ranging from 33% for youth entering in 2005, to 22% for those entering in 2006.

For the most recent data available, 24% of youth achieved permanency within 12 months of placement.

24 month permanency has fluctuated from 59% of children who entered care in 2003 to 38% of children who entered care in 2006.

The most recent data shows 54% of those who entered care in 2007 exited by 2009.

There are too few children in care in Piatt County to meaningfully track permanency outcomes

Source: CFRC 2009. [Such data are not yet available from QA]


Disproportionality and Disparity in our Action Team AreaDisproportionality is when the percentage of a group of

children in a population is different from the percentage of the same group in the child welfare system.

For example, if 25% of the children in a county were African American, then 25% of those in foster care should be African American, all things being equal. That would be proportional. If these percents differ there is disproportionality.

Disparity is unequal treatment or outcomes when comparing children of color to non-minority children.

For example, if Hispanic children are less likely to achieve permanency than white children then there are disparate outcomes by race/ethnicity.


Is There Disproportionality in Macon County?YES. African American children continue to be overrepresented among

children in care in our County.

24% of the child population is African American, compared to 46% of those in care.

74% of the child population is White, compared to 53% of those in care.

2% of the child population is Hispanic, compared to less than 1% in care.

This over-representation of African American children has been the trend for many years.

[There are too few children in care to report any breakdowns by race for Piatt County.]

Source: 2009 population data come from CFRC, 2010 placement data from QA


Disproportionality

African American Hispanic Caucasian0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Child Population = Light colorsFoster Care Population = Dark colors

Macon County: Child Population vs. Foster Care Population by Race/Ethnic-

itySource: Population data CFRC 2009, Foster data DCFS QA 2010


Disproportionality Over Time

2005 2006 2007 2008 20090%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

African AmericanHispanicCaucasian

Macon County: Percentages of Children in Care by Race/Ethnicity

Source: CFRC 2009


Are There Differences in Permanency Goals by Race?* YES

African American White .

Reunification 79 58% 74 42%

Adoption 38 28% 64 36%

Guardianship 1 1% 17 10%

Independence 18 13% 23 13%

136 100% 178 100%

African American and White children differ in their permanency goals, with AA children more likely to have a goal of reunification and White children somewhat more likely to have a goal of adoption.

*This table excludes children for whom permanency goals were missing or coded as “other”.



Is There Disparity in Permanency Achievement? YES, but the difference is small and favors African

American children.

In FY10, 76 African American children and 77 white children achieved permanency.

African American children were somewhat more likely to leave care overall than White children (African American 42% & White 36%)

White youth and African American youth exited via reunification at the same rate (74%)

African American youth were more likely than White youth to exit via guardianship (8% vs. 1%)

White youth were more likely than African American youth to exit via adoption (25% vs. 18%)



Is There Disparity in Permanency Achievement Over Time?

2004 2005 2006 2007 20080%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

African American

Caucasian


Macon County:12 Month Permanency by Race/Ethnicity

Source: CFRC 2009


Is There Disparity in Permanency Achievement Over Time?

2003 2004 2005 2006 20070%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

African American

Caucasian


Macon County:24 Month Permanency by Race/Ethnicity

Source: CFRC 2009


What is the “Bottom Line” on Disproportionality?

Are African American children more likely to be reported as neglected / abused than White children in Macon County?

YESChildren in Macon County are reported at different rates, with

African American children reported at higher rates than their numbers in the population would predict.

In FY 10, AA children represented about 24% of the child population but 37% of the reported cases.



What is the “Bottom Line” on Disproportionality?

Once reported, are African American children more likely to be indicated than White children?

NOIn FY10 indications by race for African American and White

children were equal. That is once reported, African American children and White children had equal likelihood of indication.

In FY10 for each group, 39% were indicated.



Once indicated do African American and White children enter care at similar rates?

NO

In FY10, African American children were more likely to enter care.

24% of African American children of those indicated entered care

19% of White children of those indicated entered care


What is the “Bottom Line” on Disparity?


DisparityAre African American children less likely to have reunification

as a goal than White children in FY10?

NO

African American children are much more likely to have a goal of reunification than White children (58% to 42%). White children are somewhat more likely to have a goal of adoption.

Are African American children less likely to achieve permanency than White children?

NO

Of all children in care in FY10, a higher percent of African American children achieved permanency (42%) than did White children (36%)



DisparityDo African American children achieve permanency differently from

White children?

NO

74% of African American and 74% of White children who achieved permanency did so through reunification in FY10.

BUT

White children were more likely to achieve permanency through adoption, African American children were more likely to achieve permanency through guardianship.



Disproportionality and Disparity: The SummaryAfrican American children are reported at higher rates than

White children in Macon County but they are not more likely to be indicated once reported.

However, African American children are more likely to enter care once indicated.

There are not clear trends in permanency achievement by 12 and 24 months – some years African American children fare better and some years White children do.

Overall in FY10 African American children achieved

permanency at higher rates than did White children.I.e. disproportionality is significant but, by the data examined

here, disparity is less so. The only item where disparity was found was in risk of entering care once indicated.


On-going Questions for our Area

how do macon county children enter the child welfare system? macon/piatt counties indicated reports...

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