March 2012Vol. 13, No. 2New Child Welfare Outcomes Report
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has released Child Welfare Outcomes 2006–2009: Report to Congress, the tenth in a series of reports designed to inform Congress, the States, and the public about State performance on delivering child welfare services. Child Welfare Outcomes provides information about State performance on seven national child welfare outcomes related to the safety, permanency, and well-being of children involved in the child welfare system. The outcomes reflect widely accepted performance objectives for child welfare practice.
Data come from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) and the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), and the report includes some data analyses across States.
Highlights of the recent report show:
- In 2009, 763,000 children were confirmed to be victims of maltreatment.
- Nationally, there were approximately 435,000 children in foster care on the last day of fiscal year 2009.
- Between 2002 and 2009, there was a steady decline in the number of Black children entering foster care.
- In many States, a large percentage of youth who aged out of foster care in 2009 had been in foster care for long periods of time.
The full report, including State-by-State data tables, is available on the Children's Bureau website:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cwo06-09/index.htm
Related item
The Child Welfare Outcomes Report Data website is now refreshed with data from 2007 through 2010: