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This chart provides information on where the children were placed immediately following entry into custody/placement authority. While the options for placement types are varied, ten generalized types are identified: own home, with relative(s), foster home, group home, hospital, emergency shelter, court approved, therapeutic home, jail/detention/runaway, and other. Missing data are also reported where applicable. The numbers provided indicate the percentage of children whose initial placement was in one of these placement types. This information helps in assessing the degree to which a given county, or the state as a whole, tends to rely on less-restrictive family-based placement settings rather than more-restrictive congregate care settings.
These data come from the living arrangement field of the DSS-5094 forms.
Length of stay is a longstanding concern regarding children's experiences in out-of-home care. The charts produced in this analysis provide a clearer idea of how long children remain in placement authority. In addition to displaying the median number of days spent in custody/placement authority for each cohort, percentages of children remaining in custody at 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 15 months, 18 months, 24 months, and 36 months are also included. The estimation of rates of exit from care for 3 months and 6 months make it possible to track the experiences of children who entered care in recent months. The median number of days reflects the point in time at which half of all of the children in the cohort have left care.
The notion of least-restrictive care is rooted in the belief that children can be served effectively in family settings, although the needs of some children may dictate that they be served in more specialized settings, at least for brief periods. This section contains information on the number of children in each cohort who are served in non-family settings, the proportion of children in the cohort that this number represents, the median number of days in non-family settings, and the median number of days in placement authority for each cohort of children with reported non-family placements. Non-family settings include placements other than the child's own home, placement with a relative(s), and family foster care.
The following are specific living arrangement codes from the DSS-5094 included in non-family settings: 55 - Residential School; 57 - Small Group Home (Residential); 58 - Small Group Home (Treatment); 61 - Large Group Facility (Residential); 62 - Large Group Facility (Treatment); 70 - Emergency Shelter.
This chart displays information on the number of placements reported for each cohort of children in placement authority.
Placement stability excludes short-term placements such as respite care, hospital visits, etc. Thus, the "No countable placements" category reflects those children who did not experience any placements. The following are specific living arrangement codes for placements that were not counted: Own Home: 50 - Home of Parents(s); 59 - Children's Camp; 63 - Hospital; 64 - Supervised Independent Living Arrangement; 68 - Maternity Home; 69 - Jail, Lock-up, Detention Facility; 75 - Trial Home Visit; 76 - Runaway; and 98 - Respite.
The amount of follow-up time is an important consideration for this indicator. More recent cohorts will have fewer placements than older cohorts simply due to experiencing less time in out-of-home care.
Taking into account the follow-up time issue, another measure for placement stability was added. The number of placements within the first year of custody are counted in this measure. By setting a time limit, it is now possible to compare this measure across cohorts.
This section provides information about the rate at which children in each cohort achieve a permanent placement, but later reenter placement authority. The rate of reentry for each cohort is based on the total number of children in placement authority for each cohort, the number who left placement authority, and of those the number who left before their 18th birthday. The number who reentered placement authority for a second time is based on those who left before their 18th birthday, as only these children are eligible to reenter care.
Under the analysis section, survival analysis is used to depict the rate of reentry into foster care. This section provides information about the rate at which children in each cohort have achieved a permanent placement and later reenter placement authority for the second time. The rate of reentry for each cohort is based on the total number of children who have achieved a permanent placement (i.e., their first placement authority has been terminated) before age 18 for each group. Of those children that have terminated their first placement authority, the graph depicts the rate of reentry into their second placement authority. It starts at 0% with no one in the second placement authority. Over time the rate increases. Where the line crosses the 10% line, 10% of the children who have terminated their first placement authority have returned for a second placement authority.
This page enables users to compare the data tables and graphs by age groups, race, and gender as well as by cohort. Age groups include 0 to 5 years, 6 to 12 years, and 13 to 17 years. Race categories include White, African-American, American Indian/Alaskan and Other race. Please note these categories do not separate ethnicity. For example, the White category consists of White, Hispanic and White, and Non-Hispanic individuals. However, on the State Level Data By Categories and County Groups By Categories pages, users may choose to view the data by Hispanic ethnicity.
This is a new measure that was added to the Experiences report section to provide statistics regarding the reasons that children exit DSS custody or placement authority. These types include exits to permanency, such as reunification, guardianship, and adoption, as well as other reasons children leave custody, including emancipation, transfer of custody to another agency, child ran away, death of child, and interstate compact placements. The data are from the termination reason field 23 of the DSS-5094 form submitted by the counties to the state data system. Below are the exit types with associated codes from DSS-5094.
The Summary Data page was added to provide a quick overview of the number, rates per 1000 and demographic categories of the initial entry cohorts. Like the rest of the Experiences Report, the entry cohort is based on the total unique number of children who entered DSS custody (placement authority) for the first time during the state fiscal year that begins in July and ends in June. The categories include gender, age, race, and ethnicity of the cohorts.
Citations- The suggested way to cite this website is as follows: Duncan, D. F., Stewart, C. J., Seminara, G., Malley, K. M. D., Reives, W., Francis, A., & Guest, S. (2026). Creating Indicators for Child Welfare. Retrieved [month day, year], from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Social Work. https://cip.ssw.unc.edu/ or https://creatingindicators.ssw.unc.edu