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HOMEFederal measures of state child welfare agency performance are monitored through the Federal Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) process. The first round of CFSRs began in 2000 with a set of federal measures to assess safety and permanency outcomes. In 2006, in preparation for the second round of reviews, the permanency measures were changed from individual measures to composite measures. Although current performance is evaluated using the Round 2 measures, the previous Round 1 measures are provided as a resource for those who want to continue to monitor performance with the original measures. The following quantitative measures used for the CFSR are available on the website.
Among all the children with a substantiated report of abuse and/or neglect within the first 6 months of the reporting period, what percent of this total had another substantiated report within 6 months of the first report? The state meets the national standards if 6.1% or fewer of children who were victims of abuse and/or neglect experience another incident of abuse and/or neglect within 6 months.
This measure identifies children with a date of a substantiated report of abuse and/or neglect within the first 6 months of the reporting period under review. The percent of cases with a subsequent substantiated report is estimated by identifying if there is a date for a second substantiated report of abuse and/or neglect during the 6 months following the date of the first report.
The term substantiated report includes both those with a substantiation as well as the alternative response finding of "services needed."
Among all the children in foster care during the 12 month reporting period, what percent of this total has a substantiated report of abuse and/or neglect where the perpetrator was a foster parent or facility staff member? The state meets the national standard if 0.57% or fewer children in foster care experience maltreatment by a foster parent or facility staff member.
This measure identifies children who are in foster care as those with a placement begin date or ongoing placement within the reporting period under review. The percentage of children in foster care with a substantiated report of abuse and/or neglect by a foster parent or facility staff member is determined by identifying children with a subsequent substantiated child abuse and/or neglect completion date within the reporting period with an identified perpetrator as a foster parent or employee of a group home or institution. Children in foster care for the measure of maltreatment in foster care are considered those with one of the following living arrangements: home of relative (52), therapeutic home (53), residential school (55), family foster care home (56), small group home (57), small treatment group home (58), children’s camp (59), specialized foster home (60), large residential group facility (61), large treatment group facility (62), independent living (64), adoptive non-relative home (65), adoptive relative home (66), adoptive foster home (67), maternity home (68), emergency shelter (70), relative family foster home (71), specialized relative family foster home (73), runaway (76), respite (98), and other (99), but excluding Division of Youth Service residential facility (54), hospital (63), jail, lock-up, or detention (69), and trial home visit (75).
The term substantiated report includes both those with a substantiation as well as the alternative response finding of "services needed."
Among all the children who had a terminated case due to reunification within the reporting period, what percent of this total had been in placement authority for a year or less? The state meets the national standard if 76.2% or more children reunified with parents or caretakers are reunified within 12 months of their latest removal from home.
This measure identifies reunified children as those with a terminated case for reason of reunification with parents or revoked agency authority within the reporting period under review. The percentage of these children identified as reunified in a year or less is determined by calculating the total number of days between the placement authority begin date and placement authority end date, and identifying all the reunified children where their time in placement authority is equal to or less than 12 months.
Among all the children who entered foster care during the reporting period, what percentage of this total had previously been in foster care within 12 months of the most recent foster care entry date that is within the reporting period under review? The state meets the national standard if 8.6% or fewer children enter care during the year under review had a prior foster care episode within the previous 12 months.
This measure identifies children who entered foster care as those with a placement authority begin date within the reporting period under review. The percentage of children who entered foster care within the reporting period and had a prior episode in foster care within 12 months are identified by determining if the child had a prior placement authority termination date within 12 months of the most recent placement authority begin date that is within the reporting period. Children in foster care for the measure of foster care re-entries are considered those with one of the following living arrangements: home of relative (52), therapeutic home (53), residential school (55), family foster care home (56), small group home (57), small treatment group home (58), children’s camp (59), specialized foster home (60), large residential group facility (61), large treatment group facility (62), independent living (64), adoptive non-relative home (65), adoptive relative home (66), adoptive foster home (67), maternity home (68), emergency shelter (70), relative family foster home (71), specialized relative family foster home (73), runaway (76), respite (98), and other (99), but excluding Division of Youth Service residential facility (54), hospital (63), jail, lock-up, or detention (69), and trial home visit (75).
Among all the children who had a terminated case due to adoption within the reporting period, what percent of this total had been in placement authority for 2 years or less? The state meets the national standard if 32% or more of the children adopted from foster care are adopted within 24 months of their latest removal.
This measure identifies adopted children as those with a terminated case for reason of adoption within the reporting period under review. The percentage of these children identified as adopted in 2 years or less is determined by calculating the total number of days between the placement authority begin date and placement authority end date, and identifying all the adopted children where their time in placement authority is equal to or less than 24 months.
Among all the children who entered foster care during the 12-month reporting period, what percent had 2 or fewer placements? The state meets the national standard if 86.7% or more of children in foster care for less than 12 months experience 2 or fewer placement settings.
This measure identifies children who are in foster care as those with a placement authority begin date within the reporting period under review. The percentage of children in foster care in the reporting period that had 2 or fewer placements is identified by calculating the number of placements based on changes in placement living arrangement type, facility id, or permanency status. Children in foster care for the measure of placement stability are considered those with one of the following living arrangements in the placement authority: home of relative (52), therapeutic home (53), Division of Youth Service residential facility (54), residential school (55), family foster care home (56), small group home (57), small treatment group home (58), children’s camp (59), specialized foster home (60), large residential group facility (61), large treatment group facility (62), hospital (63), independent living (64), adoptive non-relative home (65), adoptive relative home (66), adoptive foster home (67), maternity home (68), jail, lock-up, or detention (69), emergency shelter (70), relative family foster home (71), specialized relative family foster home (73), runaway (76), respite (98), and other (99), but excluding trial home visit (75).
This measure utilizes a data element (the permanency box) that explicitly indicates whether or not a placement should be counted. This data element was implemented starting SFY03-04, so the measure is only valid from this point forward.
The placements with the permanency box code 1 (placement is considered a move with progress towards permanency) or 2 (placement is considered a move with no progress toward permanency) are counted. Placements coded 3 (placement is not considered a move but still considered progress toward permanency) and 4 (placement is not considered a move and is not considered progress toward permanency) are NOT counted.
Among all the children in foster care age 12 and younger during the 12 month reporting period, what percent are placed in group homes or institutions? There is no federal standard for this measure. NOTE: This is not an official measure of the CFSR, however the measure is reported by the state and tracked by the federal government so it is presented in the federal data section.
This measure identifies children who are in foster care as those with a placement begin date or ongoing placement within the reporting period under review. The percentage of children age 12 and younger placed in group homes or institutions is calculated by identifying children age 12 and younger who, at the time of placement, are age 12 or younger. Children in foster care for the measure of children age 12 or younger in group homes have one of the following living arrangements: home of relative (52), therapeutic home (53), residential school (55), family foster care home (56), small group home (57), small treatment group home (58), children’s camp (59), specialized foster home (60), large residential group facility (61), large treatment group facility (62), independent living (64), adoptive non-relative home (65), adoptive relative home (66), adoptive foster home (67), maternity home (68), emergency shelter (70), relative family foster home (71), specialized relative family foster home (73), runaway (76), respite (98), and other (99), but excluding Division of Youth Service residential facility (54), hospital (63), jail, lock-up, or detention (69), and trial home visit (75). Children in group home have one of the following living arrangement types: residential school (55), small group home (57), small treatment group home (58), children’s camp (59), large residential group facility (61), large treatment group facility (62), or emergency shelter (70).
This website provides information about each of the above measure by different categories such as race, ethnicity, age, and gender. Race, ethnicity, and gender are permanent personal traits. However, age depends on the birthday as well as what date is used for the age calculation. The most appropriate date used for age calculation for each measure is as follows.
Among all the children with a substantiated report of abuse and/or neglect within the first 6 months of the reporting period, what percent of this total DID NOT have another substantiated report within 6 months of the first report? The state meets the national standards if 94.6% or more of children who were victims of abuse and/or neglect DO NOT experience another incident of abuse and/or neglect within 6 months.
This measure identifies children with a date of a substantiated report of abuse and/or neglect within the first 6 months of the reporting period under review. The percent of cases with a subsequent substantiated report is estimated by identifying if there is a date for a second substantiated report of abuse and/or neglect during the 6 months following the date of the first report.
The term substantiated report includes both those with a substantiation as well as the alternative response finding of "services needed."
This measure is the same as in Round 1, except that it uses the compliment. That is in round 1, it was measured in terms of those with a repeat report rather than those WITHOUT a repeat report.
Among all the children in foster care during the 12 month reporting period, what percent of this total DOES NOT have a substantiated report of abuse and/or neglect where the perpetrator was a foster parent or facility staff member? The state meets the national standard if 99.68% or more children in foster care DO NOT experience maltreatment by a foster parent or facility staff member.
This measure identifies children who are in foster care as those with a placement begin date or ongoing placement within the reporting period under review. The percentage of children in foster care with a substantiated report of abuse and/or neglect by a foster parent or facility staff member is determined by identifying children with a subsequent substantiated child abuse and/or neglect completion date within the reporting period with an identified perpetrator as a foster parent or employee of a group home or institution. Children in foster care for the measure of absence of maltreatment in foster care are considered those with one of the following living arrangements: home of relative (52), therapeutic home (53), residential school (55), family foster care home (56), small group home (57), small treatment group home (58), children’s camp (59), specialized foster home (60), large residential group facility (61), large treatment group facility (62), independent living (64), adoptive non-relative home (65), adoptive relative home (66), adoptive foster home (67), maternity home (68), emergency shelter (70), relative family foster home (71), specialized relative family foster home (73), runaway (76), respite (98), and other (99), but excluding Division of Youth Service residential facility (54), hospital (63), jail, lock-up, or detention (69), and trial home visit (75).
The term substantiated report includes both those with a substantiation as well as the alternative response finding of "services needed."
This measure is the same as in Round 1, except that it uses the compliment. That is in round 1, it was measured in terms of those with a report of maltreatment in foster care rather than those WITHOUT.
The overall composite score for Permanency Composite 1 is estimated using information from two components: Component A – Timeliness of Reunification and Component B – Permanency of Reunification. Each of these Components has one or more individual measures that contribute to the estimation of the Components which are described below:
Component A – Timeliness of Reunification
The Component for Timeliness of Reunification is based on the following three individual measures:
Component B – Permanency of Reunification
The Component for Permanency of Reunification is based on the following individual measure:
The composite score for the state is estimated by consolidating weighted county data for each of the individual measures for both components. While each of the individual measures contribute varying weights to the component scores, each of the two components contribute to half of the value of the overall composite score. The final composite score is then scaled to fit on a range from 50 to 150. The state meets the national standard for timeliness and permanency of reunification if their overall composite score is 122.6 or higher. The federal government set the national standards at approximately the 69th percentile, so if the state composite score is at this level or higher, the state achieves substantial conformity on this measure. There are no national standards for the individual or component measures, but the 50th and 75th national percentiles for the individual measures are reported to provide a frame of reference.
This overall measure focuses on children who were in foster care and were subsequently reunified with parents, primary caretakers, or living with other relatives. Individual measures C1.1 and C1.2 utilize the exit cohort of children reunifying during the 12-month period under review, which includes all children who were in foster care and discharged to reunification in the 12-month reporting period. Measure C1.1 estimates the percentage of children in this exit cohort who achieved reunification in less than 12 months from the time they entered foster care. However, measure C1.2 uses the same exit cohort to estimate the median length of time (in months) these children were in foster care before reunification. Individual measures C1.3 use an entry cohort, containing all children who entered foster care for the first time in the 6-months prior to the 12-month reporting period and estimates the percentage of these children that were discharged to reunification within 12 months of entering foster care. The first three individual measures (C1.1, C1.2, and C1.3) exclude those children in foster care less than 8 days. The last individual measure C1.4 utilizes an exit cohort of all those children discharged from foster care to reunification in the 12 months prior to the 12-month reporting period to identify the percentage of among these children who reentered foster care within 12 months of their previous discharge from foster care.
The overall composite score for Permanency Composite 2 is estimated using information from three components: Component A – Timeliness of Adoptions of Children Discharged from Foster Care, Component B – Progress toward Adoption of Children in Foster Care for 17 Months or Longer, and Component C – Progress toward Adoption of Children who are Legally Free for Adoption. Each of these Components has one or more individual measures that contribute to the estimation of the Components which are described below:
Component A – Timeless of Adoptions of Children Discharged from Foster Care
The Component for Timeliness of Adoptions of Children Discharged from Foster Care is based on the following two individual measures:
Component B – Progress toward Adoption of Children in Foster Care for 17 Months or Longer
The Component for Progress toward Adoption of Children in Foster Care for 17 Months is based on the following two individual measures:
Component C – Progress toward Adoption of Children who are Legally Free for Adoption
The Component for Progress toward Adoption of Children who are Legally Free for Adoption is based on the following individual measure:
The composite score for the state is estimated by consolidating weighted county data for each of the individual measures for all three components. While each of the individual measures contribute varying weights to the component scores, each of the three components contribute to a third of the value of the overall composite score. The final composite score is then scaled to fit on a range from 50 to 150. The state meets the national standard for timeliness of adoptions if their overall composite score is 106.4 or higher. The federal government set the national standards at approximately the 69th percentile, so if the state composite score is at this level or higher, the state achieves substantial conformity on this measure. There are no national standards for the individual or component measures, but the 50th and 75th national percentiles for the individual measures are reported to provide a frame of reference.
This measure focuses on children who were in foster care and were eligible for adoption. Individual measures C2.1 and C2.2 of Component A, utilize an exit cohort of children who were in foster care and were discharged to a finalized adoption in the 12-month reporting period. Measure C2.1 estimates the percentage of children who exited to adoption in the 12-month reporting period within 24 months of entering foster care. Measure C2.2 estimates the median length of time (in months) that these children in this exit cohort were in foster care before exiting to adoption. Individual measures C2.3 and C2.4 for Component B focus on those children who were in foster care for at least 17 months. Individual measures C2.3 and C2.4 exclude children who had discharged from foster care to reunification, living with relatives, or guardianship. These measures try to capture those children who are eligible for adoption as a permanency plan, which would not be the case for those who have achieved permanency through reunification, living with relatives, or guardianship. Measure C2.3 is a point-in-time measure that captures all children in foster care on the first day of the 12-month reporting period who were in foster care for at least 17 continuous months and estimates the percentage of these children who were discharged to a finalized adoption by the last day of the 12-month reporting period. Measure C2.4 is similar in that it is a point in time measure capturing children in foster care for at least 17 months on the first day of the 12-month reporting period, but this measure identifies those children that were not legally free for adoption at this date and estimates the percentage of these children that became legally free for adoption during the first 6 months of the 12-month reporting period. For individual measures C2.4 and C2.5, the term 'legally free' means that there was a parental rights termination date report for both mother and father. Individual measure C2.5 identifies all those children who became legally free for adoption in the 12 months prior to the 12-month period under review and estimates the percentage of these children that are discharged to a finalized adoption within 12 months of becoming legally free.
The overall composite score for Permanency Composite 3 is estimated using information from two components: Component A – Achieving Permanency for Children in Foster Care for Long Periods of Time and Component B – Growing Up in Foster Care. Each of these Components has one or more individual measures that contribute to the estimation of the Components which are described below:
Component A – Achieving Permanency for Children in Foster Care for Long Periods of Time
The Component for Achieving Permanency for Children in Foster Care for Long Periods of Time is based on the following two individual measures:
Component B – – Growing Up in Foster Care
The Component for Growing Up in Foster Care is based on the following individual measure:
The composite score for the state is estimated by consolidating weighted county data for each of the individual measures for both of the two components. While each of the individual measures contribute varying weights to the component scores, each of the two components contribute to half of the value of the overall composite score. The final composite score is then scaled to fit on a range from 50 to 150. The state meets the national standard for permanency for children and youth in foster care for long period of time if their overall composite score is 121.7 or higher. The federal government set the national standards at approximately the 69th percentile, so if the state composite score is at this level or higher, the state achieves substantial conformity on this measure. There are no national standards for the individual or component measures, but the 50th and 75th national percentiles for the individual measures are reported to provide a frame of reference.
This measure focuses on children and youth who have been in foster care for long periods of time. Specifically, individual measure C3.1 captures all children who are in foster care for 24 months or longer as of the first day of the 12-month reporting period and estimates the percentage of these children that are discharged to a permanent home prior to their 18th birthday and before the end of the 12-month target period. For measure C3.1 as well as measure C3.2, a 'permanent home' is defined as having a discharge reason of adoption, guardianship, or reunification, including with a relative. Measure C3.2 uses the exit cohort of all children who exited from foster care in the 12-month reporting period and were legally free for adoption at time of discharge to estimate the percentage of these children that were discharged to a permanent home prior to their 18th birthday. For measure C3.2, 'legally free' means the child had a termination of parental rights date reported for both the mother and father. The final individual measures for Permanency Composite 3 identifies all children who during the 12-month reporting period where either discharged from foster care to emancipation prior to turning 18 or reached their 18th birthday while in foster care, and estimates the percentage of these children who were in foster care for 3 years or longer.
Among all the children who were served in foster care during the 12-month reporting period, and were in foster care within a specified timeframe, what percentage of these children had two or fewer placement settings? The composite measure for placement stability is based on the following three individual measures:
The composite score for the state is estimated by consolidating weighted county data for each of the individual measures, which is then scaled to fit on a range from 50 to 150. the state meets the national standard for the placement stability composite measure if their overall composite score is 101.5 or higher. The federal government set the national standards at approximately the 69th percentile, so if the state composite score is at this level or higher, the state achieves substantial conformity on this measure. There are no national standards for the individual measures that make up the composite, but the 50th and 75th national percentiles are reported to provide a frame of reference.
This measure captures information about placement stability by identifying the number of children who are in foster care for specified periods of time and have two or fewer placement settings. This measure identifies children who are in foster care in the 12-month reporting period that had two or fewer placements by calculating the number of placements based on changes in placement living arrangement type, facility id, or permanency status. Children in foster care for this measure of placement stability are considered those with one of the following living arrangements in the placement authority: home of relative (52), therapeutic home (53), Division of Youth Services residential facility (54), residential school (55), family foster care home (56), small group home (57), small treatment home (58), children's camp (59), specialized foster home (60), large residential facility (61), large treatment group home (62), hospital (63), independent living (64), adoptive non-relative home (65), adoptive relative home (66), adoptive foster home (67), maternity home (68), jail, lock-up, or detention (69), emergency shelter (70), relative family foster home (71), specialized relative family foster home (73), runaway (76), respite (98), and other (99), but excluding trial home visit (75).
This measure utilizes a data element (the permanency box) that explicitly indicates whether or not a placement should be counted as a placement move. This data element was implemented started in SFY03-04, so the measure is only valid from this point forward. The placements with the permanency box listed with code 1 (placement is considered a move with progress toward permanency) or code 2 (placement is considered a move with no progress toward permanency) are counted as placement moves. However, placements with code 3 (placement is not considered a move but still considered progress toward permanency) and code 4 (placement is not considered a move and is not considered progress toward permanency) are not counted as placement moves or changes in placement settings.