Georgia Department of Human Services Impact of Permanency Roundtables in Georgia Presenter: Sharon L. Hill, Ph.D. Georgia DFCS Director, Federal Regulations & Data slhill1@dhr.state.ga.us Presentation to: Statewide Master Practitioners Meeting Date: January 25, 2012
Vision Vision, Mission and Core Values Stronger Families for a Stronger Georgia. Mission Strengthen Georgia by providing Individuals and Families access to services that promote self-sufficiency, independence, and protect Georgia's vulnerable children and adults. Core Values Core Values Provide access to resources that offer support and empower Georgians and their families. Deliver services professionally and treat all clients with dignity and respect. Manage business operations effectively and efficiently by aligning resources across the agency. Promote accountability, transparency and quality in all services we deliver and programs we administer. Develop our employees at all levels of the agency.
Summary of Information The information contained in this presentation provides data regarding 3,706 children/youth who had been in foster care for 18 months or more at the time of the Permanency Round Table. All children in this category are not included because of missing or incomplete information in SHINES. Seventy-nine% of the children have already exited care; of those who have exited care, 68.9% of them were discharged to positive permanency (adoption, reunification, live with relatives and/or guardianship). More children left foster care for adoption than any other category; this has had a positive impact on Georgia s overall performance on Timeliness of Adoption and Children in Care for Long Periods of Time (CFSR Composites). Time in care from removal to discharge statewide has been consistently decreasing over the past three years.
Current Status of Children who were in care 18 months or more at the time of their Permanency Round Table (3,706) Note: Graph based on the 3,706 children with complete information in SHINES.
Current Status of Children who were Round-Tabled by Region Total Children in List % Non Permanency % Still In % Region Custody Positive Permanency 1 189 23.3% 45.5% 31.2% 2 170 16.5% 58.8% 24.7% 3 194 25.3% 45.9% 28.9% 4 306 16.7% 54.9% 28.4% 5 118 40.7% 38.1% 21.2% 6 64 34.4% 35.9% 29.7% 7 34 5.9% 50.0% 44.1% 8 109 21.1% 36.7% 42.2% 9 64 17.2% 40.6% 42.2% 10 161 17.4% 65.2% 17.4% 11 277 26.0% 48.4% 25.6% 12 70 15.7% 34.3% 50.0% 13 315 18.4% 58.1% 23.5% 14 532 18.4% 60.7% 20.9% 15 225 25.3% 48.9% 25.8% 16 159 19.5% 49.7% 30.8% 17 719 21.0% 64.1% 14.9% State 3,706 21.2% 54.3% 24.5% Note: This includes only children who were in care 18+ months at the time of their roundtables. Table reflects the regional designations prior to December 1, 2011.
Graph reflects the outcomes of the 2,922 children who were in care for 18+ months at the time of their roundtables and are no longer in care; 2,013 or 68.9% were discharged to positive permanency and 909 or 31.1% were discharged to nonpositive permanency. Permanency Outcomes of Children who were Round-Tabled & Are No Longer in Care (N=2,922) Positive Permanency Outcomes: -Adoption (41.1%) -Reunification (30.2%) -Relative (16.1%) -Guardianship (12.6%) Non-Positive Permanency Outcomes: Emancipation (94.3%) Transferred to Another Agency (5.4%) Other (<1%)
Time in Care from Removal to Discharge (Statewide Trend) Median Months in Care Average Months in Care Positive Permanency (Average Months in Care) Non Positive Permanency (Average Months in Care) FFY09 13.6 20.6 17.9 41.8 FFY10 11.9 19.3 16.7 39.5 FFY11 11.0 17.2 14.8 34.0
Permanency Composite 2: Timeliness of Adoption FFY 2008 FFY 2009 FFY 2010 *FFY 2011 (AS OF 3/2011) Standard for Permanency Composite 2 = 106.4 or higher 103.2 104.0 119.0 125.1 Component A: Timeliness of Adoptions of Children Discharged from Foster Care (composed of two measures) Measure C2-1: Exits to adoption in less than 24 months: Of all children who were discharged from foster care to a finalized adoption in the year shown, what percent was discharged in less than 24 months from the date of the latest removal from home? [national median = 26.8%, 75 th Percentile = 36.6%] Measure C2-2: Exits to adoption, median length of stay: Of all children who were discharged from foster care (FC) to a finalized adoption in the year shown, what was the median length of stay in FC (in months) from the date of latest removal from home to the date of discharge to adoption? [national median = 32.4 months, 25 th Percentile = 27.3 months(lower score is preferable in this measure)] Component B: Progress Toward Adoption for Children in Foster Care for 17 Months or Longer. There are two individual measures. See below. 24.1% 26.6% 28.6% 32.9% Median = 32.4 months Median = 32.1 months Median = 33.1 months Median = 30.8 months Measure C2-3: Children in care 17+ months, adopted by the end of the year: Of all children in foster care (FC) on the first day of the year shown who were in FC for 17 continuous months or longer (and who, by the last day of the year shown, were not discharged from FC with a discharge reason of live with relative, reunify, or guardianship), what percent was discharged from FC to a finalized adoption by the last day of the year shown? [national median = 20.2%, 75 th Percentile = 22.7%] Measure C2-4: Children in care 17+ months achieving legal freedom within 6 months: Of all children in foster care (FC) on the first day of the year shown who were in FC for 17 continuous months or longer, and were not legally free for adoption prior to that day, what percent became legally free for adoption during the first 6 months of the year shown? Legally free means that there was a parental rights termination date reported to AFCARS for both mother and father. This calculation excludes children who, by the end of the first 6 months of the year shown had discharged from FC to "reunification," "live with relative," or "guardianship." [national median = 8.8%, 75 th Percentile = 10.9%] 23.2% 27.4% 30.5% 30.3% 12.5% 8.1% 9.6% 11.1%
Permanency Composite 3: Permanency for Children and Youth in Foster Care for Long Periods of Time FFY 2008 FFY 2009 FFY 2010 *FFY 2011 (AS OF 3/2011) Standard for Permanency Composite 3 = 121.7 or higher 123.3 123.6 129.6 130.2 Component A: Achieving permanency for Children in Foster Care for Long Periods of Time. This component has two measures. Measure C3-1: Exits to permanency prior to 18th birthday for children in care for 24 + months. Of all children in foster care for 24 months or longer on the first day of the year shown, what percent was discharged to a permanent home prior to their 18th birthday and by the end of the fiscal year? A permanent home is defined as having a discharge reason of adoption, guardianship, or reunification (including living with relative). [national median 25.0%, 75 th Percentile = 29.1%] Measure C3-2: Exits to permanency for children with TPR: Of all children who were discharged from foster care in the year shown, and who were legally free for adoption at the time of discharge (i.e., there was a parental rights termination date reported to AFCARS for both mother and father), what percent was discharged to a permanent home prior to their 18th birthday? A permanent home is defined as having a discharge reason of adoption, guardianship, or reunification (including living with relative) [national median 96.8%, 75 th Percentile = 98.0%] Component B: Growing up in foster care. This component has one measure. Measure C3-3: Children Emancipated Who Were in Foster Care for 3 Years or More. Of all children who, during the year shown, either (1) were discharged from foster care prior to age 18 with a discharge reason of emancipation, or (2) reached their 18 th birthday while in foster care, what percent were in foster care for 3 years or longer? [national median 47.8%, 25 th Percentile = 37.5% (lower score is preferable)] 35.1% 37.7% 38.8% 37.4% 91.5% 92.5% 92.6% 94.2% 47.3% 48.8% 47.3% 46.6%