Recommended Reading: The State Data Profile Toolkit and particularly the Guide to Data Elements from the National Resource Center for Information Technology in Child Welfare, before making use of these data.

FOOTNOTES TO DATA ELEMENTS IN CHILD SAFETY PROFILE

1. The data element, "Total CA/N Reports Disposed," is based on the reports received in the State that received a disposition in the reporting period under review. The number shown may include reports received during a previous year that received a disposition in the reporting year. Counts based on "reports," "duplicated counts of children," and "unique counts of children" are provided.

2. The duplicated count of children (report-child pairs) counts a child each time that (s)he was reported and received a disposition. The unique count of children counts a child only once during the reporting period, regardless of how many times the child was reported.

3. The data element, "Disposition of CA/N Reports," is based on upon the highest disposition of any child who was the subject of an investigation in a particular report. For example, if alleged maltreatment was investigated for two children, and the State counts the investigation as one report, and one child is found to be neglected and the other child found not to be maltreated, the report disposition will be substantiated. The disposition for each child is based on the specific finding related to the maltreatment. In other words, of the two children above, one is a victim and is counted under "substantiated," and the other is not a victim and is counted under "unsubstantiated." In determining the unique counts of children, the highest finding is given priority. If a child is found to be a victim in one report, but not a victim in a second report, the unique count of children includes the child only as a victim. A child is counted as a victim if an alleged maltreatment was either substantiated or indicated. In a number of States "indicated" is used if a child is at risk of maltreatment. With the agreement of the States, NCANDS has included these children as "victims of maltreatment." The category of "other" includes children whose report may have been "closed without a finding," children for whom the allegation disposition is "unknown," and other dispositions that a State is unable to code as substantiated, indicated, or unsubstantiated.

4. The data element, "Child Cases Opened for Services," is based on the number of children with a substantiated or indicated finding of maltreatment during the reporting period under review. (The current NCANDS DCDC does not collect service data on unsubstantiated reports. Starting in 2001, States will be submitting data on service responses related to unsubstantiated reports.) "Opened for services" refers to post-investigative services. The duplicated number counts each time a child's report is linked to on-going services; the unique number counts a child only once regardless of the number of times services are linked to reports of maltreatment.

5. The data element, "Children Entering Care Based on CA/N Report," is based on substantiated and indicated reports disposed during the reporting period under review. (See above note on service data.) The duplicated number counts each time a child's report is linked to a foster care removal date. The unique number counts a child only once regardless of the number of removals that may be reported.

6. The data element "Child Fatalities"counts the number of children reported to NCANDS as having died as a result of child abuse and/or neglect. Depending upon State practice, this number may count only those children for whom a case record has been opened either prior to or after the death, or may include a number of children whose deaths have been investigated as possibly related to child maltreatment. For example, some States include neglected-related deaths such as those caused by motor vehicle or boating accidents, house fires or access to firearms, under certain circumstances. The percentage is based on a count of unique victims of maltreatment for the reporting period.

7. The data element, "Recurrence of Maltreatment," is defined as follows: Of all children who were victims of substantiated or indicated child abuse and/or neglect during the first 183 days of the reporting period, what percentage had another substantiated or indicated report within a 6-month period. The number of children with a recurrence and percentage of all children are provided. This data element is used to determine, in part, the State's substantial conformity with Safety Outcome #1.

   ADDITIONAL STATE EXPLANATORY NOTE:

   Source: PSDS [Protective Services Data System] Client files for 1997, 1998, and 1999

   How calculated: The number of unique kids was obtained by selecting child records who showed some form of substantiated abuse [XABUSE = 1] in reports during the first 183 days of the year [RPTDATE between 19YY001 and 19YY183]. Duplicates were eliminated from these records by creating a primary key, which was the concatenation of the following fields: LASTNAME, FRSTNAME, SEX, DOB, RACE. This set of records was then matched back [linking by primary key] against the total PSDS Client file to select all records with matching primary key values with some form of substantiated abuse [XABUSE = 1]. From this new record set, the first and last report dates for each primary key value were recorded into separate tables. Lastly, the two tables were linked by primary key and the difference (in days) between first and last report date was computed, with records having a difference > 180 days not reported.

   
   
   

8. The data element, "Incidence of Child Abuse and/or Neglect in Foster Care," is defined as follows: "Of all children who were served in foster care during the reporting period, what percentage was the subject of substantiated or indicated maltreatment by a foster parent or facility staff?" The number of children maltreated in foster care and the percentage of all children are provided. This data element is used to determine, in part, the State's substantial conformity with Safety Outcome #2.

   ADDITIONAL STATE EXPLANATORY NOTE:

   CY1999(Jan-Sept): 179 victims/16531 unique kids = 1.1% CY1998(Jan-Sept): 142 victims/12695 unique kids = 1.1%

   Source: PSDS Production Database and AFCARS

   How calculated: The unique children from each year were provided by the CB Data Team. The victims were pulled from the live PSDS database by Georgia's Department of Administrative Services Information Technology Division. They pulled children with a code in one of the following final abuse detrmination fields: NEGLECT, EMOTIONAL, PHYSICAL, SEXUAL, or OTHER; and with a maltreater's relationship to child indicating "Foster parent" or "residential facility staff" [CHILDREL = 4 or 15]. Duplicates were removed by telephone verification with the County offices.

Recommended Reading: The State Data Profile Toolkit and particularly the Guide to Data Elements from the National Resource Center for Information Technology in Child Welfare, before making use of these data.

Recommended Reading: The State Data Profile Toolkit and particularly the Guide to Data Elements from the National Resource Center for Information Technology in Child Welfare, before making use of these data.

Footnotes to Data Elements in the Permanency Profile

¹The FY99, FY98 and FY97 counts of children in care at the start of the year exclude 66, 29 and 61 children, respectively. These children were in their first foster care episode on both the last day of the prior year and the first day of that year. During the fiscal year, these children exited care and then re-entered into a second episode of foster care. These children are counted as "Admissions" to foster care for that year, and as "In care on the last day" for the prior year. They were not included in the count for "In care on first day of year" because only the latest record received (i.e., the second episode) determines how the child is counted in the annual file.

²We designated the indicator, 17 of the most recent 22 months, rather than the statutory time frame for initiating termination of parental rights proceedings at 15 of the most 22 months, since the AFCARS system cannot determine the date the child is considered to have entered foster care as defined in the regulation. We used the outside date for determining the date the child is considered to have entered foster care, which is 60 days from the actual removal date.

³Dates necessary for calculation of length of time in care in these records are chronologically incorrect. N/A = Not Applicable

⁴ This median length of stay includes 151 children who entered and exited on the same day; excluding these children, the FY99 median length of stay would be "Not yet reached."

⁵ This median length of stay includes 34 children who entered and exited on the same day; excluding these children, the FY98 median length of stay would be 13.63 months.

⁶ This median length of stay includes 61 children who entered and exited on the same day; excluding these children, the FY97 median length of stay would be 25.66 months.

Last Updated 06/06/2001