Group Care in Florida’s Child Welfare System Office of Child Welfare Quality Assurance/Continuous Quality Improvement September 2012

Key Facts The number of children in foster care has dropped over 32% since July 2006 Relative/non-relative placements are down 30% and licensed care is down 34% There are only 14% fewer 17 year olds in foster care 55 children under 6 have been in group care 4 months or longer According to Chapin Hall, Florida is on the low end of group care utilization Eliminating group care for children 12 and under could save approximately $11,000,000 a year. The reduction is fairly evenly spread across all placement types

Total Foster Care Population July 2006 – July 2012 Includes all OHC- both relative/non-relative and licensed Represents about a 33% reductions Source- Spinner

Reduction in Foster Care Population by Placement Type July 2006 – July 2012 Reductions are fairly consistent across types, with Rel/Non Rel at about 30% and Facility and Family Based (Licensed) at about 34%. Source- Spinner

Reduction in Foster Care Population by Age July 2006 – July 2012 Data Source: FSFN Data Mart

Proportion of Time Spent in Congregate Care Sample includes children entering foster care for the first time between 1/1/2007 and 12/31/2009. Data is current as of 12/31/2010. Data Source- Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago; Center for State Foster Care and Adoption Data Sample includes children entering foster care for the first time between 1/1/2007 and 12/31/2009. Data is current as of 12/31/2010.

Potential Savings Based on Elimination of Group Care for Children 12 and Under Program Number of Children 12 and Under Average Bed Days per Child Average Cost per Bed Day Estimated Annual Cost Licensed Foster Home 11,848 159 $17 $31,735,193 Residential Group Care 1,872 98 $86 $15,784,462 If RGC Served in Licensed FH $5,060,016 Potential Savings $10,724,446 Actual Cost Minus Data Source- Becky Lyons Estimated Cost Based on Licensed Care Payments for Service Period 7/1/2011 – 6/30/2012

Characteristics of Children in Group Care 44% are placed out-of-county Over 30% of children removed between 14 – 17 years of age are placed in group care at removal* Almost 25% of children in Licensed Foster Care are in Group Care *Based on a child’s placement at the 30th day of the removal episode, for all children removed between 6/1/2012 and 5/31/2012.

Number of Children in Group Care 9/16/2012 Point in time- kids in care on 9/16/2012 Data Source: FSFN Data Mart

Percent of Children in Foster Care in Group Care 9/16/2012 Point in time- kids in care on 9/16/2012 All out-of-home care, including rel/non-rel placements Data Source- FSFN Data Mart

Percent of Children in Licensed Foster Care in Group Care 9/16/2012 Point in time- kids in care on 9/16/2012 Data Source: FSFN Data Mart CBC based on the case county

Children in Group Care Placed Out-of County September 16, 2012 Point in time- kids in care on 9/16/2012 Note that most single county CBC’s except CFC have a comparatively low percentage. Data Source: List of Group Care Providers (CCA License) validated by Region staff and FSFN Data Mart. Compared county of group home provider to county of primary worker.

Initial Placement in Group Care by Age at Removal Initial Placement in Group Care by Age at Removal* Children Removed Between 6/1/2011 and 5/31/2012 Tim Nickel Data of children removed for more than 30 days. App 15k children

Length of Stay (in months) for Children 0 – 5 in Group Care 9/16/2012

Children in Licensed Foster Care by Placement Type 9/16/2012

Other Related Info Between January and March 2012, 3.5 million dollars was paid for BHOS, TGC and STFC services provided to children served by CBC's 99.25% of children in Group Care were not abused while in care

Revenue for Medicaid BHOS, TGC & STFC Services January – March 2012 Data Source- Based on file of all children in OHC between Jan – June 2012 matched with Medicaid by Medicaid # for these service categories. Looked only at Medicaid months of service data for Jan - March

Abuse Investigations Involving Children in Group Care April 2011 – March 2012 Age Verified Non Substantiated No Indicators Total   1 2 3 6 4 5 7 8 9 10 11 18 25 12 21 30 13 23 35 14 17 43 67 15 63 84 16 27 76 111 118 152 45 105 417 567 Pulled Child Intake; Institutional Investigations, pulled provider org from CPS Inv and linked to CPS license table and pulled those with a CCA license type. Approximately 6,000 children in group care at some point between 4/1/2011 and 3/31/2012