FOSTER CARE: Recent Legislation Helps States Focus on Finding Permanent Homes for Children, but Long-Standing Barriers Remain
Abstract
While the annual number of adoptions increased by 57 percent since ASFA was enacted, changes in other foster care outcomes and the characteristics of children in foster care cannot be identified due to the lack of comparable pre- and post-ASFA data. Foster care adoptions increased from approximately 31,000 in 1997 to over 48,600 in 2000, continuing a trend of increasing finalized adoptions that started before ASFA. However, data limitations make it difficult to determine either ASFA's role in this increase or changes in other foster care outcomes. For example, reliable pre-ASFA child welfare data for several states are available from the University of Chicago, but they cannot be matched against the post-ASFA data available from HHS due to differences in measurement techniques. Nevertheless, examination of HHS data between 1998 and 2000 provides insight into the characteristics and outcomes of children in foster care after ASFA was enacted. For example, children who left foster care between 1998 and 2000 spent a median of nearly 1 year in care. Of these children, those who were adopted spent more time in foster care-a median of approximately 3 1/2 years. Children most frequently returned home after a stay in care, but approximately 33 percent of children who reunified with their families in 1998 re-entered foster care within 3 years. Although these data illustrate the experiences of foster children since ASFA, recent improvements in HHS data make it difficult to determine if changes observed after 1998 are the result of changes in data quality or actual changes in the outcomes and characteristics of foster children.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA403120
Entities
People
- Larry E. Craig
- Lincoln D. Chafee
- Max Baucus
- Mike Dewine
- Wally Herger
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office