Safe Passage for
Children
Minnesota Child Welfare 2010 Dashboard Report
Overview
The child welfare system includes child protection, foster care and other out-of-home placements, as well as public adoptions. On a statewide basis Minnesota has improved significantly since 2001 on most adoption measures, for example the number of children adopted within 24 months. However, the following charts show areas of concern.
1. Child Safety: Investigations and Assessments
Response times for reports of alleged substantial child endangerment are a great concern. State guidelines require these investigations to be initiated within 24 hours. The state is doing better in Family Assessment cases in which reports indicate a lower level of immediate risk to children, and workers have up to five days to start the assessments. However there is still need for improvement in this category.
| Child Safety: Investigations of Maltreatment are Initiated on a Timely Basis |
| Measure |
State Standard |
From DHS Dashboard Report 6/2009 – 9/2009 |
| MN |
Hennepin |
Ramsey |
Washington |
| Timeliness of Investigations for alleged substantial child endangerment1 |
Start 90% within 24 hours |
57.6% |
42.8% |
80.6% |
84.8% |
| Timeliness of Family Assessments2 |
Start 90% within 5 days |
73.4% |
74.6% |
84.8% |
70.0% |
- Category includes e.g. throwing, kicking or burning a child; sexual abuse, shaken baby, using child for prostitution.
- Category includes for example failure to provide necessary food or clothing when able to do so, to ensure education, or to protect child from danger such as from a sexual predator or criminal activity.
2. Child Safety: Repeat Maltreatment and Reports of Maltreatment
Incidents of repeat maltreatment within 6 months are tracked nationally but affect fewer cases as more families go into FAR. This makes it important to look at related indicators that give a broader view of children coming back into the system at some level. Shown here are repeat maltreatment and second reports in Family Assessment cases at the 12-month point.
| Child Safety: Minimize Repeat Maltreatment and Re-Reports of Maltreatment |
| Measure |
National Standard |
Minnesota 2009 |
Hennepin |
Ramsey |
Washington |
| Repeat maltreatment 6 months3 |
Repeats in Not > 5.4% of Cases |
6.7% |
7.9% |
4.5% |
19.2% |
| Repeat maltreatment within 12 months |
Data only, no standard. |
8.5% |
12.1% |
10.5% |
6.4% |
| Second report within 12 months in Family Assessment cases4 |
15.4% |
16.7% |
12.5% |
16.3% |
- 6-month data is shown on DHS Dashboard Report
- 12-month data is only shown in Annual Report to Legislature. Second reports relate to Family Assessment cases in which there was no initial determination of whether maltreatment occurred. Approximately 70% of cases are now handled as Family Assessments, a less court-oriented alternative to traditional child protection investigations.
2/12/10
- Child Stability: Foster Care and Permanency
- On a statewide basis Minnesota has substantially reduced the time children wait for adoption.
- Having more than two placements in a foster care episode is an indicator of instability for children according to Minnesota casework policies and federal standards.
- The state does well for children in care for less than 1 year but is below the national standard and national median for those in care longer.
| Child Stability in Foster Care and Success with Permanent Placements |
| Measure |
National Standard |
National Median |
Minnesota
2008/ 2009
|
Hennepin |
Ramsey |
Washington |
| Not more than 2 placements per foster care episode: |
| Children in foster care < 1 year5 |
> 86% |
83.3% |
84.8% |
79.8% |
85.2% |
83.1% |
| Children in foster care 1-2 years6 |
> 65% |
59.9% |
54.4% |
41.2% |
55.7% |
N.A. |
| Children in foster care > 2 years |
> 42% |
33.9% |
29.0% |
13.0% |
28.2% |
N.A. |
| Children return home but reenter foster care within 1 year7 |
<9.9% |
15.0% |
24.7% |
18.8% |
28.7% |
20.0% |
| Adoption < 24 Months8 |
> 37% |
26.8% |
48.5% |
48.4% |
40.0% |
100.0% |
- 2009 data is available from the DHS Dashboard for children in care < 12 months.
- Data for children in care for longer periods is for 2008. It is reported federally but is not in Annual Report to Legislature or DHS Dashboard.
- The rate at which children re-enter foster care within a year is on DHS Dashboard. It continues to be higher than the national standard and national median.
- This is on DHS Dashboard. State has improved overall on most adoption measures since 2001.
4. Casework Practice
- Monthly visits by caseworkers to children in foster care are a core measure of good casework practice.
- The other measures of casework practice shown are key to good casework practice but are only captured during periodic federal or state-level program audits known as Child and Family Services Reviews, or CFSR’s.
- A study of disproportionality showed that African American children are approximately twice as likely as white children to be involved in some part of the child welfare system nationally, but four times as likely in Minnesota. These rates are even higher for Native American children, who are approximately four times more likely to be in the child welfare system nationally, but 10-14 times more likely in Minnesota.
| Measures of Casework Practice |
| Measure |
National Standard |
National Median |
Minnesota
2008/2009
|
Hennepin |
Ramsey |
Washington |
| Worker visits child in foster care at least once per month9 |
N.A. |
82.0% |
63.3% |
66.7% |
49.9% |
84.0% |
| Required assessments and services provided10 |
> 90% |
69.0% |
48.0% |
Not available on an ongoing basis. These measures will be available periodically in the county-level CFSR’s. |
| Worker visits parents at least monthly |
> 90% |
82.0% |
45.0% |
| Child/family involved in case planning |
> 90% |
69.0% |
48.0% |
- Data on worker/child visits is for July through September 2009 from DHS Dashboard.
- State data is from 2001 and 2007 CFSR’s. More county-level data will be available from upcoming CFSR case reviews.
For more information contact Rich Gehrman at gehrm001@umn.edu or 651-303-3209.
