Talking About PERMANENCY in Our Community

1. Talking About PERMANENCY in Our Community What Does the DATA Tell Us? Sangamon County

2. How do Sangamon County Children Enter the Child Welfare System? Indicated reports FY 2010 Source Number Percent of total Law enforcement 21638% Medical 79 14% School personnel 7713% Relative/neighbor 7112% Social Services 62 11% “Other” 326% DCFS personnel 275% Child care centers 102% Coroner/Medical 1 <1% 575 100% Source: DCFS QA FY 2010 Sangamon County

3. How do Children Enter the Child Welfare System? As shown above, law enforcement was the largest source of indicated reports in Sangamon County. Further, law enforcement reports overall were more likely to be indicated than reports from other major sources. - 58% of reports from law enforcement were indicated in FY2010. - 54% of reports from social service agencies were indicated. Source: DCFS QA FY 2010 Sangamon County

4. What Types of Harm did Children Experience in FY10? Type N indicated % of total ABUSE Substantial risk of harm 167 21% Physical abuse 87 11% Sexual abuse 76 9% Emotional abuse 6 <1% Death abuse 1 <1% NEGLECT Blatant disregard 247 30% Lack of supervision 166 20% Environmental 54 7% Lack of health 10 1% 814 100% Source: DCFS QA FY 2010 Sangamon County

5. What Types of Harm …? By far the most common harm to children is neglect/ blatant disregard for child’s welfare, representing 30%) of all indicated reports. The second most common is abuse/substantial risk of harm (21%), followed by neglect/lack of supervision (20%). Sexual abuse per se accounts for 9% of indicated cases. However, when this is combined with substantial risk of sexual injury, then 20% of cases relate to sexual harm to children. Source: DCFS QA FY 2010 Sangamon County

6. Who Entered Care in 2010? In 2010, 98 children and youth entered foster care in Sangamon County. Gender: Male – 53%, Female – 47% Race: White 36% African American 60% Hispanic 2% Other/Missing 2% Source: DCFS QA FY 2010 Sangamon County

7. Who is in Care? • At the close of FY10, 465 children were in out-of-home care in Sangamon County. This was virtually unchanged from the previous year. - 40% of children were White - 58% were African American - <1% were Hispanic/Latino* - <1% were unknown - 0% were Asian *Source: DCFS QA FY 2010. There are on-going concerns about how Latino or Hispanic ethnicity is determined for DCFS clients. Sangamon County

8. Who is in Care? GENDER 46% of youth are female, 54% male AGE 19% 2 or under 17% 3 - 5 20% 6 - 9 16% 10 - 13 20% 14 - 17 9% 18+ Children were fairly evenly distributed across age except for those 18 and older. Source: DCFS QA 2010 Sangamon County

9. What are the Permanency Goals for Youth in Care?* Reunification 192 46% Adoption 151 36% Guardianship 4 1% Independence 67 16% 414 100% Source: DCFS QA FY 2010 *This table excludes the children for whom data were missing or coded as “other” Sangamon County

10. Where are Children Placed?* - with kin (31%) - traditional foster care (43%) - specialized care (17%) - institution/group care (9%) * QA data combines foster and relative care, thus this information is from CFRC for FY09. Sangamon County

11. How was Permanency Achieved For Children in 2010? 98 children achieved permanency in FY10 Reunification 73 74% Adoption 24 24% Subsidized Guardianship 1 1% Source: DCFS QA FY 2010 Sangamon County

12. How have 12 Month Permanency Rates Changed over Time? Source: CFRC 2009 Sangamon County

13. How have 24 Month Permanency Rates Changed Over Time? Source: CFRC 2009 Sangamon County

14. What are the Permanency Trends in our County? Over the last 5 years, Sangamon County has seen fluctuation in 12 month permanency, ranging from 14% to 24%. For the most recent data available, 14% of youth achieved permanency within 12 months of placement. 24 month permanency has also shown fluctuation, ranging from 33% to 50%. For those who entered care in 2007, 40% achieved permanency by 2009. Source: CFRC 2009. [Such data are not yet available from QA] Sangamon County

15. Disproportionality and Disparity in our Action Team Area DISPROPORTIONALITY: The percentage of children in a population as compared to the percentage of children in 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: Unequal treatment and/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 is disparity - disparate outcomes by race/ethnicity Peoria County

16. Is There Disproportionality in Sangamon County? YESAfrican American children continue to be overrepresented among children in care in our County. 18% of the child population is African American, compared to 58% of those in care. 79% of the child population is White, compared to 41% of those in care. 3% of the child population is Hispanic, compared to 1% of those in care This overrepresentation of African American children has been the trend for many years. Source: 2009 population data come from CFRC, 2010 placement data from QA Sangamon County

17. Disproportionality Sangamon County

18. Disproportionality Over Time Sangamon County

19. Are There Differences in Permanency Goals by Race?* NO African American White . Reunification 114 48% 73 44% Adoption 83 35% 66 40% Guardianship 4 2% 0 0% Independence 39 16% 27 16% African American and White children are similar in their permanency goals, with White children somewhat more likely to have a goal of adoption and AA children somewhat more likely to have a goal of reunification. • *This table excludes children for whom permanency goals were missing or coded as “other”. • Source: DCFS QA FY 2010 Sangamon County

20. Is There Disparity in Permanency Achievement? Not Really. In FY10, 59 African American children and 37 white children achieved permanency. African American children and White children who were in care in FY10 left care at similar rates, with AA children somewhat more likely to leave care than White children (African American 22% & White 20%) African American youth and White youth exited via reunification at similar rates(75% & 73% respectively) White youth exited via adoption at similar rates as African American youth (27% & 24% respectively) Source: DCFS QA FY 2010 Sangamon County

21. Is There Disparity in 12 Month Permanency Achievement Over Time? Sangamon County

22. Is There Disparity in Permanency Achievement Over Time? Sangamon County

23. What is the “Bottom Line” on Disproportionality? Are African American children more likely to be reported as neglected / abused than White children in Sangamon County? YES Children in Sangamon County are reported at very 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 18% of the child population but 37% of the reported cases. White children represented about 79% of the child population but 61% of the reported cases. Source: DCFS QA FY 2010 Sangamon County

24. What is the “Bottom Line” on Disproportionality? Once reported, are African American children more likely to be indicated than White children? YES, slightly. In FY10 of all reports for African American children, 27% were indicated. Of all reports for White children, 24% were indicated. Source: DCFS QA FY 2010 Sangamon County

25. What is the “Bottom Line” on Disparity? 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. 21% of African American children of those indicated entered care 9% of White children of those indicated entered care Source: DCFS QA FY 2010 Sangamon County

26. Disparity Were African American children less likely to have reunification as a goal than White children? NO There was little difference in FY10. 48% of African American children and 44% of White children had a goal of reunification. However, African American children were somewhat less likely to have a goal of adoption than White children (AA 35% and White 40%). Were African American children less likely to exit care than White children? NO There was little difference in 2010. Source: DCFS QA FY 2010 Sangamon County

27. Disparity Did African American children achieve permanency differently from White children in FY10? NO African American children and White children had very similar rates for exiting care via Adoption, Reunification and Sub-Guardianship. Source: DCFS QA FY 2010 Sangamon County

28. Disproportionality and Disparity: The Summary African American children and youth are reported at much higher rates than White children in Sangamon County and these reports are more likely to be indicated. Once in care, however, African American and White children have similar 24 month permanency rates, particularly in recent years. White children have better 12 month permanency rates. In FY10, both African American and White children exited care at similar rates. Sangamon County

29. On-goingQuestions for our Area In Sangamon County difference by race is clear at entry (far more African American children are reported and a higher percentage of reported African American child reports are indicated). This suggests that one area of effort might be the front end, e.g. – developing community responses that divert African American families – meeting with law enforcement personnel to examine disproportionate reporting Sangamon County