2018 State of Child Welfare
PPC annually compiles State of Child Welfare data to gauge the performance of Pennsylvania's child welfare system in meeting the needs of the children and families the system serves. We gather comprehensive data for each of the 67 counties, including information on foster care placements, children leaving or re-entering foster care and efforts to reunify children with parents or relatives.Some highlights from this year's report include the following:
- Foster Care Entries by Age: In 2017, 1 in 3
children entering foster care for the first time were in the 0-2 age
group, which has consistently remained the largest age group
represented in first-time entries for the past five years. These
youngest children are often considered some of the most vulnerable to
abuse and neglect by Children & Youth agencies due to their
complete dependence on parental caregivers. Interruptions in caregiving
at such a young age can be especially challenging in the first three
years of life, which are regarded as crucial for infant brain
development, temperament and emotional skill-building. According to the
federal Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS)
2017 data, the number one reason children were removed from their
families and placed in foster care was parental drug abuse. For
children of this age, early services to the family are crucial in
helping to mitigate trauma and ensure child safety.
- Foster Care Placement Settings: Pennsylvania
has been steadily improving when it comes to placing children in foster
care into family settings, rather than in group homes or institutions.
But, we can do better. The majority of these settings in 2017 were
with non-relatives, and this was true at all points of the foster care
system - entry, all children served, children served on the last day of
the reporting period and children who re-enter the foster care system.
Pennsylvania has two statewide practices that focus on placing children
in foster care with a relative or kin: family finding, where
caseworkers make every effort to identify and locate relatives willing
to serve as foster parents; and, Family Group Decision Making, where
family members are included in the team that helps decide the best plan
for a child in foster care. These efforts have been proven to increase
the likelihood that a child who must enter foster care will be placed
with someone they already know and trust. This is just one benefit of
placing children with relatives. Others include a higher likelihood
that siblings will remain together, less placement moves, less
behavioral challenges, decreased mental health needs and increased
family and community connections. Often called kinship care, relative
foster home placements should be prioritized when placing children in
foster care.
- Timely Reunification and Failed Reunification:
Our state's percentage of timely reunification, defined as children
who were reunified with their parents or discharged to relatives within
12 months of entering foster care, increased to over 39% in 2017.
Further, Pennsylvania's rate of failed reunification, or when a child
re-enters foster care within 12 months of reunification or discharge to
relatives, was the lowest recorded to date and has decreased over 13%
over the past 5 years. This is good news as Pennsylvania has lagged
behind other states on this measure and it indicates that the child
welfare system is improving when it comes to appropriately addressing
family needs and minimizing the time a child spends in foster care away
from their birth families.
- General Protective Services: One important change in this year's report reflects the changes in how the General Protective Services (GPS) data is reported by the state. GPS reports include concerns of general neglect, not alleging child abuse, such as parental substance abuse, inadequate shelter or supervision, parent-child conflict or truancy concerns. Last year was the first year this information was reported and GPS reports were reported by the date on which the report was made. This year, GPS reports are reported by the date on which the report was found valid or not valid. This is important to know because it means the timeframe of reports has shifted, therefore comparing 2015 and 2016 data may include some overlapping reports. If you are comparing data across years, be sure to be aware of this important change. Moving forward, GPS reports will continue to be reported by the date on which the report is found valid or not valid; a more accurate measure for reporting.
Citations/Sources
2018 Source NotesState-level Data Tables
StateRural
Rural Mix
Urban
Urban Mix
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