TThe U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recognizes four ways a young child can exit the child welfare system: through reunification with the parents or caregivers, legal adoption, placement with other relative(s), or through a placement with a non-relative legal guardian(s). Stability and permanency are crucial for children‘s wellbeing. The Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (ASFA) was passed to ensure timely permanency and placement for children in the child welfare system, but, the youngest infants stay in foster care longer than their counterparts ages 3-12 months.
The denominator is all infants and toddlers ages 0-2 who entered care in 2019, and who either left care in 2019 or 2020. The numerator is the number of infants and toddlers in this cohort who exited care in less than 12 months. For the State of Babies Yearbook: 2023 we updated our methodology to improve the accuracy of the estimates. They should be considered improved estimates, not new estimates that can be compared directly to previous yearbook estimates.
These indicators can be disaggregated by race/ethnicity. Classification of infants and toddlers into racial and ethnic groups may vary from state to state, but typically a caseworker enters this information into the database. The included subgroups are non-Hispanic American Indian/ Alaska Native, non-Hispanic Asian, non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic (of any race), non-Hispanic multi-racial, and non-Hispanic White. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Children’s Bureau. (2005). Child welfare outcomes 2002-2005: Report to Congress prepared by the Children’s Bureau (ACYF, ACF) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/cwo02_05_0.pdf
Casey Family Programs. (2023). What impacts placement stability? Strong Families Strategy Brief. Casey Family Programs. https://www.casey.org/placement-stability-impacts/
Cohen, J., Cole, P., & Szrom, J. (2011). A call to action on behalf of maltreated infants and toddlers. American Humane Association, Center for the Study of Social Policy, Child Welfare League of America, Children’s Defense Fund, and ZERO TO THREE. https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/454-a-call-to-action-on-behalf-of-maltreated-infants-and-toddlers
Sources:
Children’s Bureau, Administration On Children, Youth And Families, Administration For Children And Families, U. S. Department Of Health And Human Services (2020). Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), Adoption File 2019 , Version 2 [Dataset]. National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect. https://doi.org/10.34681/te2e-5s03
Children’s Bureau Administration on Children, Youth and Families. (2021). Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), Foster Care File 2020, Version 1 [Data set]. National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect (NDACAN). https://doi.org/10.34681/PGQ6-1Y26