Children need safe, nurturing and permanent families. The Schuyler Center promotes policies that advance or maintain effective, high-quality systems that serve at-risk families, prevent entry into the child welfare system, and improve child well-being for children who are in care. We advocate for accountability of public systems, including better data regarding child outcomes and expenditures of funds.
Policy Focus:
- Align state financing with desired child and family outcomes;
- Ensure that all children are safe from abuse or neglect;
- Fund preventive and treatment services that support families, so parents can protect and care for their children;
- Improve access to health, mental health and other care for children and youth in out-of-home placements;
- Increase access to higher education for former foster youth;
- Help children return to their own families or move to permanent ones as quickly as safely possible;
- Facilitate data collection and reporting on expenditures and results.
Resources:
Testimony before Assembly Committee on Children and Families and Assembly Task Force on Women’s Issues on family involvement in the child welfare and Family Court systems. Presented by Dede Hill, Policy Director, Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy, November 21, 2019
CHAMPS Foster Care Fact Sheet, November 2019
CHAMPS 2020 Policy Priorities, November 2019
Memo of Support S.4339 Salazar/A.4258 Hevesi, April 2019
Press Release: NY: Family First Transition Fund Included in FY 2020 Final Budget. March 31, 2019
Schuyler Center Public Comments on the Proposed Expansion of Public Charge, December 10, 2018
Schuyler Center Public Comments on the Detention of Immigrant Children, November 6, 2018
Improving New York Child Welfare Outcomes by Strengthening Family Economic Security, December 2018
Schuyler Center Public Comments Regarding Proposed Federal Rule on the Apprehension, Processing, Care and Custody of Immigrant Children, November 2018
The Federal Family First Prevention Services Act Relating To Child Welfare Financing, June 2018
Supporting New York Children Impacted by Parental Detention or Deportation, November 2017
Child Welfare Call to Action, joined by more than 30 organizations, February 2017
Invest in Kinship Services and the Kinship Navigator, 2017-18 Policy Position, January 2017
Schuyler Center Child Welfare Policies Priorities 2017-18
New York State Child Welfare Data Snapshot (statewide), December 2016
Hopeful Futures for New York’s Children, Advancing Child Welfare. January 2016
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Hopeful Futures for New York’s Children.
Federal Analysis Shows that New York State is Failing to Keep Children Safe or to Find Permanent Homes for Children in Foster Care within a Reasonable Time (download PDF here)
Every three years the federal Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families’ Children’s Bureau conducts an assessment of states’ performance on child welfare outcomes. The review, called the Child and Family Services Review (CFSR), assesses states’ performance in areas related to child welfare. Here, we focus on the Review’s evaluation of New York State’s performance on the following measures: safety of children involved in the child welfare system; speed with which children are placed in a permanent home and remain there; and the number of times children are moved while in care. Each of these measures is compared to a national standard.
According to its 2015 review, New York ranks near the bottom nationally on safety and permanency measures, indicating that children in New York are more likely to experience a recurrence of maltreatment than children in other states, and are less likely to be placed quickly in permanent homes. New York scores well nationally on one measure: placement stability. This indicates that children in its foster care system are moved less frequently while in care than children in other states.
County-level data for New York State is available here. Find current (Round Three) CFSR data for all states here. For more information about the Review process and how stakeholders can participate in the process, please read our publication Child & Family Services Review: An Opportunity to Work Together to Improve the Safety and Well-Being of Children Involved in New York’s Child Welfare System, available here.
NYS Child Welfare Data: Child & Family Services Review
| Outcome | Observed Performance (FFY 2011-2012) * | Wave 1 (FFY 2013) | Wave 2 (FFY 2014) | Desired Direction of Change | National Standard | National Standard Met or Not Met | Rank (comparison to other states) (FFY 2011-2012) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Safety | |||||||
| Maltreatment While in Carei | 15.6% | 15.6% | 14.7% | ↓ | 8.5% | Not Met | 46 of 48 states |
| Recurrence of Maltreatmentii | 17.8% | 17.8% | 17.4% | ↓ | 9.1% | Not Met | 47 of 47 states |
| Permanency | |||||||
| Exits Within 12 Monthsiii | 33.6% | 33.6% | 34.5% | ↑ | 40.5% | Not Met | 36 of 47 states |
| Exits 12-23 Monthsiv | 25.9% | 25.9% | 27.4% | ↑ | 43.6% | Not Met | 48 of 49 states |
| Exits 24+ Monthsv | 27.4% | 27.4% | 27.1% | ↑ | 30.3% | Not Met | 37 of 49 states |
| Re-Entries Within 12 Monthsvi | 10.5% | 10.5% | 10.4% | ↓ | 8.3% | Not Met | 37 of 48 states |
| Placement Stabilityvii** | 2.92% | NA | NA | ↓ | 4.12% | Met | 5 of 46 states |
Please note: this federal review excludes youth ages 18 and older from its measurements, as many states do not extend foster care beyond age 18.
*Released May, 2015.
**Wave 1 and Wave 2 data unavailable for this measure.
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i Measures the rate of victimization for all children in foster care in a 12-month period. The number here is the rate per 1,000 days in care.
ii The percentage of children who experience a second report of maltreatment within one year of an initial indicated report of maltreatment.
iii The percentage of children who enter foster care and are placed into a permanent home – by returning to their family, being adopted, or through guardianship with a relative – within 12 months.
iv The percentage of children who are placed into a permanent home within 12 months of the start of the period, after having already been in foster care for 12 to 23 months.
v The percentage of children who are placed into a permanent home within 12 months of the start of the period, after having already been in foster care for 24 months or more.
vi The percentage of children enter foster care within a 12 month period and who return to foster care within 12 months of being discharged from care to a permanent home (returning to their family, being adopted or through guardianship with a relative).
vii Measures the rate of moves among foster care placements for all children in foster care in a 12-month period. The number here is the rate per 1,000 days in care.
Resources:
Child Welfare Policy Priorities 2016-17, Strengthening Families, Preventing Entry into Foster Care and Improving Outcomes for Children and Youth. January 2016
Testimony submitted to the Joint Fiscal Committees on the SFY 2016-17 Executive Budget Human Services Budget Hearing. February 9, 2016. Submitted by Kate Breslin, President and CEO, Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy.
Child Welfare: Foster College Success, March 2016
Invest in Kinship Services and the Kinship Navigator and Enhance the Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program, February 2016
Primary Prevention: Targeted, Community-Based Family Strengthening Services, February 2016
Strengthen the Housing Subsidy for Foster Families and Youth, February 2016
The Schuyler Center joins 60 organizations in an open letter to NY’s Governor and Legislature: Raise the Age Now. June 15, 2015.
New York: It is Time to Raise the Age, October 2013
Other Helpful Resources
New York State Citizen Review Panels for Child Protective Services 2015 Annual Report and Recommendations, January 2016
Bridging the Gap: From Foster Care to College Success in New York, February 2015
Final Report of the Governor’s Commission Youth, Public Safety and Justice
Foster Care and Disconnected Youth – A Way Forward for New York
Family Assessment Response (FAR) Fact Sheet, April 2014
