§ 8-526 — Child welfare; reporting requirements; definition

A. The department shall make available program and outcomes data on its website as provided in this section, in a format that can be downloaded and that is conducive to analysis.

B. The department shall make available the following information on a semiannual basis by September 30 for the period ending the prior June 30 and by March 31 for the period ending the prior December 31:

1. Success in meeting training requirements.

2. Caseloads for child safety workers.

3. The number of new reports and reports that have been closed.

4. The number of case-carrying caseworkers in each region.

5. The number of investigations by region.

6. The number of children being served in-home and the number of children being served out-of-home by each region.

7. The total number of reports received, by major category and by priority.

8. The number of reports not responded to, by priority, by county and statewide.

9. The number of reports assigned for investigation by priority and by major category, by county and statewide for the current and previous reporting periods.

10. The number of reports for investigations completed by priority and by major category, by county and statewide for the current and previous reporting periods and as categorized by investigations that resulted in:

(a) A substantiated report.

(b) A report currently proposed for substantiation.

(c) An unsubstantiated report.

11. The number of reports assigned for investigation that remain open for investigation by priority and by major category, by county and statewide for the current and previous reporting periods.

12. Of the number of children reported to the department, the percentage of children placed in out-of-home care by county and statewide.

13. The number of newborn infants delivered to safe haven providers pursuant to section 13-3623.01.

14. The number of children entering out-of-home care by county during the reporting period, and the number and percentage of the children entering out-of-home care by county during the reporting period who are voluntary placements for children under eighteen years of age.

15. The number and percentage of children removed during the reporting period, by county and statewide, who had been in out-of-home care:

(a) Within the previous twelve months.

(b) Within the previous twenty-four months, excluding the children included in subdivision (a) of this paragraph.

16. The number and percentage of children who have remained in a shelter or receiving home for more than twenty-one consecutive days, by the child's age group.

17. The total number of licensed foster homes, the number of licensed foster homes considered kinship homes, the number of licensed community foster homes and the number of available spaces in licensed community foster homes.

18. The minimum number of licensed foster homes that are required statewide, by category and by designated region, and what percentage of the minimum number of licensed foster homes is represented by the current number of licensed foster homes pursuant to section 8-509.02.

19. The number of licensed foster homes that receive the required visitation by licensing agency representatives pursuant to section 8-516.

20. The number of children placed in the care, custody and control of the department at the end of the reporting period and the number of these children who receive the required visitation by case managers pursuant to section 8-516.

21. The number and percentage of children who are in the care, custody and control of the department at the end of the reporting period and who are in out-of-home placement and as categorized by:

(a) Age.

(b) Ethnicity.

(c) Case plan goal.

(d) Type of out-of-home placement, categorized by age.

(e) Length of time in out-of-home placement of less than thirty days, thirty-one days to twelve consecutive months, twelve to twenty-four consecutive months and more than twenty-four consecutive months, including the median, average and range of the number of out-of-home placements.

(f) Primary legal status including voluntary placement for a child under eighteen years of age, temporary custody, adjudicated dependent, free for adoption, voluntary placement for a child over eighteen years of age, dually adjudicated or any other legal status.

22. The number and percentage of children who are in the care, custody and control of the department at the end of the reporting period and who are in a congregate care placement, categorized by:

(a) Age.

(b) Ethnicity.

(c) Sex.

(d) Type of congregate care placement.

(e) Reason for congregate care placement.

(f) Length of time in congregate care placement of less than thirty days, thirty-one days to twelve consecutive months, twelve to twenty-four consecutive months and more than twenty-four consecutive months, including the median, average and range of the number of congregate care placement.

(g) Whether the child has a congregate care placement plan pursuant to section 8-509.02.

(h) Children who had two or more congregate care placements while in the care, custody and control of the department.

23. If the case plan is to return the child to the parent, the percentage of parents who receive the required contact by case managers.

24. The number and percentage of children who left the custody of the department during the reporting period by reason for leaving care and as categorized by:

(a) Age.

(b) Ethnicity.

(c) Number of placements.

(d) Average length of time in care.

25. The number of children with a petition for termination of parental rights granted and not granted during the reporting period by county and statewide.

26. The number and percentage of children with a case plan goal of adoption and who are not placed in an adoptive home at the end of the reporting period and as categorized by:

(a) Age.

(b) Ethnicity.

(c) Average length of time in care.

(d) Legal status.

27. The number and percentage of children with a case plan goal of adoption and who are placed in an adoptive home at the end of the reporting period and as categorized by:

(a) Age.

(b) Ethnicity.

(c) Average length of time in out-of-home placement.

(d) Length of time from change of case plan goal to adoptive placement.

(e) Legal status.

(f) Marital status and relationship of the adoptive parent or parents to the child.

28. The number of children whose adoptive placement was disrupted during the reporting period and as categorized by:

(a) Age.

(b) Ethnicity.

(c) Cause of the disruption.

(d) Marital status and relationship of the adoptive parent or parents to the child.

29. The number of children whose adoptions were finalized during the reporting period and as categorized by:

(a) Average length of time in out-of-home placement before adoptive placement.

(b) Average length of time in adoptive placement before the final order of adoption.

(c) Marital status and relationship of the adoptive parent or parents to the child.

30. The number of children who died while in the custody of the department by the county where the death occurred and as categorized by:

(a) The cause of death.

(b) The type of out-of-home placement at the time of death.

31. The number of children with an open or active child safety services case who died due to abuse, categorized by the person or persons who had care or custody of the child at the time of the child's death as follows:

(a) Biological parent or parents.

(b) Other family member.

(c) Adoptive parent or parents.

(d) Foster care parent or parents.

(e) Other out-of-home care provider.

32. The number of children with an open or active child safety services case who died due to abuse allegedly caused by an adult household member who is not listed pursuant to paragraph 29 of this subsection.

33. The ratio of supervisors to specialists by region.

34. The source and use of federal monies in the department.

35. The source and use of state monies in the department.

36. Information regarding the educational placement of foster children pursuant to section 8-530.04, including:

(a) The number of best interest educational placement determinations conducted.

(b) The number of children who entered foster care and who did not receive a best interest educational placement determination.

(c) The final outcome of each best interest educational placement determination.

37. The number of children who were approved for placement in a behavioral health facility or program and who were denied or refused placement by the behavioral health facility or program.

C. Based on the data presented in each reporting period, the department, in as brief a format as possible, shall describe three to five major challenges the department faces in achieving the goal of safe, permanent homes for abused and neglected children.

D. Within three months after the end of each reporting period the department shall submit a written report in as brief a format as possible to the governor, the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, the chairperson of the house human services committee, the chairperson of the senate family services committee, or their successor committees, and the cochairpersons of the joint legislative committee on children and family services. The department shall submit a copy of the report to the secretary of state.

E. The department shall make available the following information on an annual basis:

1. The percentage of substantiations upheld by the office of administrative hearings.

2. The demographics and number of children placed with relative caregivers.

3. The demographics of kinship foster caregivers.

4. The number of relative children per kinship foster care family.

5. The department's success at maintaining kinship foster care placements.

6. The type and cost of services provided to kinship foster care families by licensed and unlicensed caregivers.

7. The cost of services provided to kinship foster caregivers compared to the cost of out-of-home placements.

8. The number of children and families, by district, receiving services through the housing assistance program during the previous fiscal year.

9. The total amount of money spent on the housing assistance program by region.

10. A programmatic and fiscal evaluation of the effectiveness of the housing assistance program that includes the amount of foster care expenditures avoided.

11. The number of children in the independent living program by age, county and education status.

12. Beginning with the 2022 data period, the statewide number of children in substantiated reports for investigation that are received in the twelve months before the current annual reporting period and that allege neglect as defined in section 8-201, paragraph 25, subdivision (c) and the number of children in these reports who were:

(a) Removed within thirty days after the date the report is received.

(b) Removed within six months after the date the report is received.

F. The department shall make available the following information on a monthly basis:

1. Operations and workforce data measures that include:

(a) Staff vacancy levels by position category and turnover.

(b) New hires, separations, turnover and voluntary attrition delineated by field position, safety specialists, hotline staff, caseworkers in training, program, program supervisors, case aides, office of child welfare investigations staff and administrative staff.

(c) Hotline performance.

(d) Reports received by maltreatment type, priority and response time.

(e) Inactive cases by disposition.

(f) Open reports.

(g) Entries and exits from the foster care population by exit type.

(h) Support service provision.

(i) Demographics, placement types and case plan goals of the foster care population.

(j) The number and type of licensed foster homes that leave the foster care system and the reason for the exit.

2. Financial data that compares total expenditures each month and year-to-date as compared to prior year totals, appropriation totals and projected expenditure totals, delineated by appropriation and appropriated fund source.

G. The department shall make the information required pursuant to subsection F of this section available within sixty days after the end of the applicable reporting period.

H. The department shall notify the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, the director of the joint legislative budget committee and the director of the governor's office of strategic planning and budgeting when an update is made on information that must be made available pursuant to subsection B or F of this section.

I. For the purposes of this section, "congregate care":

1. Means a child welfare agency that is licensed by the department to provide twenty-four hour care for more than one child who is in the care, custody and control of the department.

2. Does not include a licensed foster home or kinship care placement.