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March 2014Vol. 15, No. 3Child Welfare Outcomes Data Site Update

Since its launch in December 2010, the Child Welfare Outcomes Data Site has provided child welfare-related data to research consumers using data from the annual Child Welfare Outcomes Report to Congress. This report assesses State performance in operating child protection and child welfare programs and presents State-performance data in seven outcome categories related to child safety, permanency, and well-being. New enhancements to the site now allow users to look at race and ethnicity data in a more detailed manner.

The site includes data on contextual factors that are relevant to understanding and interpreting State performance on the outcome measures. It allows for an efficient release of these data and enables users to view the statistics according to their own unique needs. During its brief history, the Data Site has undergone several enhancements, including developments that allow users to download data into Excel spreadsheets and to produce printer-friendly outputs. Most recently, the website has been updated with a new reporting feature that increases capabilities for viewing race/ethnicity data and creating data reports using the following two race/ethnicity breakdown options:

  • The "traditional" breakdown treats race and ethnicity as mutually exclusive categories. When a child is reported as Hispanic, the child is removed from reporting for any of the race categories (White, Black, etc.). 
  • The new "alternative" breakdown reports race and ethnicity as two separate categories. They are not mutually exclusive, and counts for both race and ethnicity can be reported for the State.

With concern in recent years regarding the disproportionate representation of children of color in child welfare, it is especially important to have data available that allow users to more precisely distinguish between the race and ethnicity populations within States. 

The Child Welfare Outcomes Data Site is available here:
 
http://cwoutcomes.acf.hhs.gov/data/overview