Re: Child neglect statistics

[Sanbonm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Dear Ruth,

A 1994 GAO study found that "Neglect and caretaker absence prompted an
estimated 68 percent of removals" in 1991 among the young foster care
children in California, New York, and Pennsylvania.  Below are the cover
and first few pages of the GAO report.

Some individual states also track this information.

Please email me if you locate any good sources of info on this question.

Sincerely,

Lisa


==============================================================


April 1994

FOSTER CARE - PARENTAL DRUG ABUSE
HAS ALARMING IMPACT
ON YOUNG CHILDREN

GAO/HEHS-94-89

Young Foster Children


B-251314

April 4, 1994

The Honorable Harold E.  Ford
Chairman, Subcommittee on Human Resources
Committee on Ways and Means
House of Representatives

Dear Mr.  Chairman:

As the nation's policymakers consider national health care and
welfare reforms, the information contained in this report should be
valuable in helping frame policies that can significantly impact one
of our most vulnerable population groups--young foster children--and
their families.  The average number of children in foster care
nationwide increased 53 percent in 5 years, from 280,000 in 1986 to
429,000 in 1991.  The three states we reviewed care for over 50
percent of the foster care population.  In those states, the number
of children in foster care increased about 66 percent during that
period and the number of young foster children--those 36 months of
age and younger--more than doubled.  Additionally, more young foster
children had health-related problems, including prenatal exposure to
drugs, in 1991 than in 1986.

This report responds to the first of three issues in your request;
that we compare and contrast the population sizes and distinctive
characteristics of young foster children in 1986 and 1991.  As
agreed, we plan to report later on the two remaining issues:  (1) how
and to what extent the service needs of young foster children are
identified and met, and (2) the areas where federal assistance to
states could best serve the needs of young foster children and
increase their chances of becoming self-sufficient or, at a minimum,
less dependent on government assistance later in life.

We reviewed foster care programs in California, New York, and
Pennsylvania, the states with the largest average foster care
populations in 1991.  We analyzed statewide foster care databases for
California and New York and reviewed random samples of case files for
1986\1 and 1991 from those of 32,123 young foster children in three
locations:  Los Angeles County, New York City, and Philadelphia
County.\2 These locations cared for a substantial portion of each
state's young foster children in 1991:  44 percent in California, 81
percent in New York, and 29 percent in Pennsylvania.


--------------------
\1 For one location in the 1986 sample, program officials could not
locate about 40 percent of the requested case files.  Appendix I
describes the steps we took to ensure that comparisons between 1986
and 1991 case file review results were appropriate.

\2 Pennsylvania does not have a statewide foster care database; to
review this state's foster care program we relied on summaries that
the state compiles from aggregate data submitted by its counties.


   RESULTS IN BRIEF
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :1

The 1991 population of young foster children is significantly
different from the 1986 population in the locations reviewed in a
variety of ways:  the 1991 population size is much larger, more of
these children entered foster care due to some form of neglect, their
biological parents are more likely to abuse drugs, these children
have more health-related problems and are at high risk for further
problems due to prenatal drug exposure,\3 and they are more likely to
be eligible for federal maintenance payments.

The number of young foster children increased at almost twice the
rate of the general foster care population.  Neglect and caretaker
absence prompted an estimated 68 percent of removals, up from 47
percent in 1986.  We estimate that families where at least one parent
was a drug abuser increased from 52 percent to 78 percent.  An
increasing percentage of children had serious health-related problems
in 1991 and most of them were prenatally exposed to drugs.
Specifically, an estimated 58 percent of young foster children had
serious health-related problems in 1991 compared with 43 percent in
1986.  Those at high risk for problems due to prenatal drug exposure
increased from 29 percent to 62 percent over this period.  Cocaine
was the most prevalent drug children were prenatally exposed to in
both years; documented prenatal cocaine exposure increased from 17
percent to 55 percent between 1986 and 1991.  A larger percentage of
young foster children qualified for federal maintenance payments in
1991 than previously.  At the same time, the growing number of young
foster children increased overall maintenance expenditures,
compounding their financial impact on government.  Federal and state
governments in these three states alone spent over $2 billion in 1992
to maintain foster children of all ages.

These changes have implications for federal foster care and health
care programs.  Both federal and state expenditures have felt the
impact of the growth in the number of young foster children and the
decline in their overall level of health.  Further, two broad service
needs overlap foster and health care programs.  First, drug abuse
treatment programs for biological mothers and pregnant women are
needed to reduce the risks associated with prenatal drug exposure and
the likelihood that children will be removed from their families.
Second, services to address the health and developmental needs of
drug-exposed children are needed to treat their problems.  While few
alternatives to foster care currently exist for many of these
families, meeting both of these service needs should increase the
possibility that such families can be reunified and leave the foster
care system.  However, drug abuse, to the extent it continues to
occur, will remain a hidden contributor to the costs of various
federal programs.

.....