Intentions and Results: A Look Back at the Adoption ... - Urban Institute

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Figure 4 Median Months between Termination of Parental Rights and Adoption Figure 5 Percentage of Adopted Children Who Were Adopted within Two Years of Entering Foster Care 13.0 12.5 12.0 11.5 11.0 10.5 10.0 9.5 9.0 FRAMEWORK PAPER: THE ADOPTION AND SAFE FAMILIES ACT (ASFA) �PAGE 29 12.4 11.7 12.0 12.4 12.0 12.0 11.3 10.7 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Source: U.S. DHHS, AFCARS Reports 10–14, FY 1998-2006. 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 16% 21% 20% 22% 10.4 2006 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 26% 24% Source: U.S. DHHS, Child Welfare Outcomes Reports, 1998-2005. 25% 29%
INTENTIONS AND RESULTS: A LOOK BACK AT THE ADOPTION AND SAFE FAMILIES ACT �PAGE 30 examiners’ determinations that death was due to abuse/neglect. As a result, DHHS attributes this rise in recent years to better reporting and identification of these cases (DHHS, 2008b). Another goal of ASFA is to prevent repeat occurrences of maltreatment after children have come to the attention of child welfare agencies. The Child Welfare Outcomes reports framed the indicator as: “of all children who were victims of substantiated or indicated child abuse and/or neglect during the first 6 months of the reporting period, what percentage had another substantiated or indicated report within a 6-month period?” Trends show a drop in this measure from 8.5 percent in 1999 to 6.6 percent in 2005 (see Figure 7). In addition, the number of states under the 6.1 percent federally designated threshold for this indicator has increased since 2000. At the same time, there is significant state variation, with percentages ranging from 1.9 to 13.4. DHHS attributes the variation to several possible reasons: from state variation in victim rates since victim rates are correlated with recurrence; to differences in state statutes, policies, and practices in defining maltreatment and evidentiary requirements for substantiation; to varied modes of decision making with respect to allegations and screening; to the use of alternative response approaches; and to the practice of not formally investigating open cases but rather referring them to the existing caseworker (U.S. DHHS 2002-2005). Given how sensitive this measure is to states’ practices and policies, the perceived drop in recurrence on a national scale between 1999 and 2005 should be interpreted with caution. Abuse by a care provider while the child is in foster care is also of major concern. The Child Welfare Outcome reports approach this indicator by asking: “of all children who were in foster care during the reporting period, what percentage were the subject of substantiated or indicated maltreatment by a foster parent or facility staff member?” Trends suggest potential improvements on this front (see Figure 7). Rates of abuse while in care dropped from 0.8 percent of children in foster care in 1998 to 0.5 percent in 2001, and have been steady at 0.4 percent since 2003. 11 There are significant variations among states, however. Between 2003 and 2005, 46 percent of states improved on this measure, while an equal percentage lost ground. Again, this measure is likely sensitive to state policies and practices and should be interpreted with caution. A final standard of safety is whether cases come back into care after exiting. The concern is that if children move to permanency too quickly, it might increase their risk of returning to care. The indicator used in the Child Welfare Outcomes reports was modified recently, making it difficult to interpret trends over time. The indicator had assessed the portion of all discharged children who came back into care in the last twelve months, but was changed to look at the portion of those children who reunified who reentered care in twelve months. Looking at the minimal data available on the two different measures suggests that rates of recidivism remained fairly flat during the two periods for which data are available. 12 However, a study in Florida supports the concern about moving children to permanency too quickly; Yampolskaya, Armstrong, and Vargo (2007) found that Florida’s Community- Based Care services were not good at ensuring safety in reunification and that faster reunification led to a greater rate of re-entry. Goal 3: Well-Being Child well-being is difficult to measure. Typically, administrative data do not offer useful outcome information on how children are faring, though they can illuminate changes in services that might contribute to child well-being. To date, quality data on children’s and parents’ receipt of services are generally not available on a national basis. We can learn from survey data, however, and one survey hints at improved well-being for children living with kin since ASFA. Analysis of the National Survey of America’s Families revealed that rates of poverty and lack of insurance declined steadily for children in kinship care between 1997 and 2002, and that these advances were even more dramatic than for children living with their parents (Main, Macomber, and Geen 2006). Specifically, the study found that by 2002, fewer than one in five children being cared for by a relative due to social services involvement was living in poverty (eighteen percent), down from thirty-five percent in 1997. Similarly, by 2002, just 6 percent of children in these arrangements were uninsured, down from twenty-three percent in 1997. The researchers noted that changes in state licensing and outreach to kin caregivers could have contributed to these gains. Conclusion Overall, ASFA’s effects are complex and reflect the many different perspectives and compromises that went into its construction and enactment. The most substantial evidence indicates ASFA’s effect on permanence,
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