New Jersey Department of Children and Families Focusing on the Fundamentals 2006 Annual Update
In 2006, New Jersey made significant investments in its most vulnerable children & families. Governor Corzine and the legislature championed the creation of a new cabinet level department focused solely on children & families. New Jersey invested in more services for children and families and in hiring and training more staff to serve those children & families. New Jersey set ambitious targets to lay the foundation for strong child welfare practice. New Jersey met or exceeded all of its targets for December 2006. But much work remains
Overview The Division of Youth & Family Services (DYFS) supervises more than 50,000 children, most (80%) living at home. 80,000 70,000 60,000 50,000 65,896 68,613 67,579 65,772 64,916 64,068 64,719 67,212 68,454 67,201 61,779 61,621 65,235 60,640 60,951 64,694 64,962 62,365 62,651 63,341 58,921 59,782 59,969 61,208 61,262 58,100 59,815 60,622 61,143 58,963 59,165 55,902 54,414 54,335 54,018 54,000 53,698 40,000 30,000 20,000 10,000 0 Jan. 2, '04 Feb. 6, '04 Mar. 5 '04 Apr. 2, '04 May 7, '04 June 4, '04 July 2, '04 Aug. 6, '04 Sept. 3, '04 Oct. 1, '04 Nov. 4, '04 Dec. 3, '04 Jan. 7, '05 Feb. 4, '05 Mar. 4 '05 Apr. 1, '05 May 6, '05 June 3, '05 July 1, '05 Aug. 5, '05 Sept. 2, '05 Oct. 7, '05 Nov. 5, '05 Dec. 2, '05 Jan. 6, '06 Feb. 3, '06 Mar. 3 '05 Apr. 7, '06 May 5, '06 June 2, '06 July 7, '06 Aug 4, '06 Sept. 1, '06 Oct. 6, '06 Nov. 3, '06 Dec. 1, '06 Jan. 5, '07
14,000 12,79 4 12,000 12,7 71 10,000 8,000 6,000 4,000 2,000 0 Overview There are more than 10,000 children in the custody of DYFS, living in out of home placement. 12,9 78 12,9 9 8 12,8 3 2 12,6 2 7 12,8 3 8 12,9 3 9 12,9 3 7 12,73 1 12,2 9 7 12, 16 5 12,0 77 12,0 0 6 11,6 0 8 12,4 8 0 12,2 2 3 12, 0 3 8 12,0 9 4 11, 8 13 11,4 6 7 11,3 9 3 11,3 12 11,2 7 2 11,3 2 8 11,3 8 0 11,0 2 7 10,9 3 0 10,6 2 4 11, 3 4 9 11,18 4 11,3 0 4 11,3 4 5 11,2 19 10,9 77 10,9 2 0 10,3 9 0 Apr. 2, '04 May 7, '04 June 4, '04 July 2, '04 Aug. 6, '04 Sept. 3, '04 Oct. 1, '04 Nov. 4, '04 Dec. 3, '04 Jan. 7, '05 Feb. 4, '05 Mar. 4 '05 Apr. 1, '05 May 6, '05 June 3, '05 July 1, '05 Aug. 5, '05 Sept. 2, '05 Oct. 7, '05 Nov. 5, '05 Dec. 2, '05 Jan. 6, '06 Feb. 3, '06 Mar. 3 '05 Apr. 7, '06 May 5, '06 June 2, '06 July 7, '06 Aug 4, '06 Sept. 1, '06 Oct. 6, '06 Nov. 3, '06 Dec. 1, '06 Jan. 5, '07 Jan. 2, '04 Feb. 6, '04 Mar. 5 '04
Overview Most children in out of home placement live in family settings. NJ DCF DYFS Children in Placement by Placement Type (Total = 10,379, Jan 6 2007, point in time) Independent Living 158 2% Group & Residential 1552 15% Resource Family 4960 47% Kinship 3709 36%
Overview The children in placement range in age from newborns up to age 21. 16 and 17 Yrs 13% 18 and Older 3% To 2 Yrs 23% 13 to 15 Yrs 17% 3 To 5 Yrs 16% 10 to 12 Yrs 12% 6 to 9 Yrs 16%
Initial Response The process begins with a call to the child abuse HOTLINE 1-877-NJABUSE If the call involves an allegation that a child is unsafe or a family requests DYFS services, a REFERRAL goes out to a DYFS investigator.
Initial Response In 2006, DYFS handled a historically large number of referrals to the field & a greater percentage of those referrals involved child protection allegations. NJ DCF Referrals 70,000 60,000 12,015 50,000 14,007 # of Referrals 40,000 30,000 20,000 10,000 19,595 29,730 43,065 53,819 Family Services Child Protective 0 CY 2004 CY 2005 CY 2006
Initial Response The surge in referrals began in August 2005, peaked in March 2006, and maintained a high rate through the fall and winter of 2006. NJ DCF Referrals from Hotline to DYFS Field Offices 8,000 Total Number of Referrals 7,000 6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 6,525 6,235 6,864 5,617 6,480 5,511 4,202 4,493 4,870 5,700 4,888 4,502 Year 2004 (49,235) Year 2005 (Total 57,077) Year 2006 (Total 65,880) 1,000 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Month
New Jersey established caseload standards based on best practices. Standards were set for each type of staff by office. Intake: 10 new referrals & 15 families Permanency: 10 children in out of home placement & 15 families Adoption: 18 children Investments in Staff Lowering Caseloads New Jersey achieved its caseload targets for December 2006. Supervisory Staff: 1 supervisory staff for every 5 caseload-carrying staff (including trainees) The caseload standards track active caseload carrying staff. Trainees, whether they can or cannot carry cases, are not included as active caseload carrying staff. Staff on leave and staff in support roles (non-caseload carrying) are excluded.
Investments in Staff Caseloads - Intake New Jersey achieved the December 2006 target. NJ DCF DYFS Intake Caseload Compliance By Office Dec-06 Actual 65% Dec-06 Target 42% Sep-06 57% Jul-06 60% Mar-06 17% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% % of offices meeting interim intake standard
Investments in Staff Caseloads Permanency New Jersey achieved the December 2006 target. NJ DCF DYFS Permanency Caseload Compliance by Office (note: Adoption staff began to be counted separately in Dec. 06; previously they were permanency staff.) Dec-06 Actual 60% Dec-06 Target Sep-06 Jul-06 60% 61% 58% Mar-06 40% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% % of offices meeting permanency standard
Investments in Staff Caseloads Adoption New Jersey achieved the December 2006 target. NJ DCF DYFS Adoption Caseload Compliance (note: adoption staff previously included in permanency prior to December) Dec-06 Actual 65% Dec-06 Target 35% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% % of offices meeting interim adoption standard
Investments in Staff Caseloads Supervisory Staff New Jersey achieved the December 2006 target. NJ DCF DYFS Supervisory Staff Caseload Compliance Dec-06 Actual 95% Dec-06 Target 80% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% % of offices meeting supervisory staff standard Supervisory staff include both supervising family service specialist 1 & 2 s. Supervisors on leave are excluded.
Caseload Data-Statewide Totals Dec-06 Active Caseload Carrying Other Staff Total Trainees with Cases Trainees without Cases Staff on Local Office Intake Permanency Adoption Impact Leave TOTAL Atlantic 21 34 7 0 2 4 0 68 Bergen Central 11 18 4 0 6 0 1 40 Bergen South 21 30 5 0 7 1 0 64 Burlington East 13 30 2 0 8 1 0 54 Burlington West 14 24 3 0 8 1 2 52 Camden Central 15 37 6 0 2 4 1 65 Camden East 19 33 4 0 7 1 2 66 Camden North 12 42 4 0 1 2 1 62 Camden South 16 27 4 2 4 3 3 59 Cape May 9 23 3 0 2 2 0 39 Cumberland 21 35 4 0 6 4 6 76 Essex Central 17 47 5 0 0 3 2 74 Essex North 13 21 5 0 3 10 5 57 Essex South 14 29 4 0 2 9 0 58 Newark Center City 13 28 0 0 13 7 2 63 Newark Northeast 20 50 0 0 3 5 1 79 Newark South 11 44 0 0 5 2 1 63 Newark West 0 0 37 0 0 3 0 40 Gloucester East 9 20 1 0 2 4 0 36 Gloucester West 11 20 3 0 6 3 0 43 Hudson Central 10 21 3 0 4 6 2 46 Hudson North 13 17 3 0 8 1 1 43 Hudson South 14 21 3 0 1 2 2 43 Hudson West 12 15 3 0 6 2 0 38 Hunterdon 4 6 1 0 2 2 2 17 Mercer North 13 27 5 0 6 5 1 57 Mercer South 13 29 4 0 7 4 0 57 Middlesex Central 6 14 10 0 3 3 2 38 Middlesex Coastal 18 59 0 0 7 1 2 87 Middlesex West 26 42 5 0 3 2 0 78 Monmouth North 20 24 5 0 4 7 0 60 Monmouth South 15 28 5 0 7 2 0 57 Morris 21 22 5 0 15 4 0 67 Ocean North 21 31 6 0 8 4 0 70 Ocean South 17 30 5 0 7 5 0 64 Passaic Central 20 30 4 0 2 6 1 63 Passaic North 20 14 2 0 14 4 0 54 Salem 11 22 6 0 0 9 1 49 Somerset 12 10 3 0 9 4 0 38 Sussex 9 9 2 0 5 3 0 28 Union Central 10 25 4 0 1 4 2 46 Union East 13 35 7 0 2 4 2 63 Union West 14 22 8 0 7 0 1 52 Warren 12 10 2 0 0 4 0 28 Statewide 624 1155 202 2 215 157 46 2401
Intake Caseload Dec-06 Workload Intake Met Intake Std Local Office Assignments Families Avg Assignments Avg Families Interim: 15 families/10 new assignments Atlantic 140 185 7 9 Yes Bergen Central 77 171 7 16 No Bergen South 129 221 6 11 Yes Burlington East 70 284 5 22 No Burlington West 128 234 9 17 No Camden Central 65 83 4 6 Yes Camden East 76 178 4 9 Yes Camden North 40 86 3 7 Yes Camden South 73 265 5 17 No Cape May 51 123 6 14 Yes Cumberland 90 461 4 22 No Essex Central 88 216 5 13 Yes Essex North 57 127 4 10 Yes Essex South 47 96 3 7 Yes Newark Center City 48 269 4 21 No Newark Northeast 56 257 3 13 Yes Newark South 41 147 4 13 Yes Newark West Gloucester East 58 216 6 24 No Gloucester West 53 115 5 10 Yes Hudson Central 42 178 4 18 No Hudson North 74 189 6 15 Yes Hudson South 74 285 5 20 No Hudson West 53 166 4 14 Yes Hunterdon 18 49 5 12 Yes Mercer North 67 182 5 14 Yes Mercer South 71 103 5 8 Yes Middlesex Central 38 85 6 14 Yes Middlesex Coastal 103 123 6 7 Yes Middlesex West 150 175 6 7 Yes Monmouth North 105 268 5 13 Yes Monmouth South 94 283 6 19 No Morris 144 458 7 22 No Ocean North 130 320 6 15 Yes Ocean South 69 322 4 19 No Passaic Central 100 277 5 14 Yes Passaic North 118 277 6 14 Yes Salem 39 158 4 14 Yes Somerset 75 360 6 30 No Sussex 74 129 8 14 Yes Union Central 39 170 4 17 No Union East 80 156 6 12 Yes Union West 67 149 5 11 Yes Warren 95 294 8 25 No Statewide 65%
Permanency Caseload Dec-06 Permanency Workload Met Perm Std Local Office Families Children Placed Avg Families Avg Children Placed 15 families/ 10 children out of home Atlantic 493 186 15 5 Yes Bergen Central 231 82 13 5 Yes Bergen South 437 186 15 6 Yes Burlington East 449 172 15 6 Yes Burlington West 380 92 16 4 No Camden Central 330 134 9 4 Yes Camden East 568 172 17 5 No Camden North 455 161 11 4 Yes Camden South 411 132 15 5 Yes Cape May 307 109 13 5 Yes Cumberland 589 263 17 8 No Essex Central 595 307 13 7 Yes Essex North 469 125 22 6 No Essex South 432 105 15 4 Yes Newark Center City 641 294 23 11 No Newark Northeast 536 316 11 6 Yes Newark South 978 410 22 9 No Newark West Gloucester East 226 85 11 4 Yes Gloucester West 247 82 12 4 Yes Hudson Central 435 140 21 7 No Hudson North 292 86 17 5 No Hudson South 361 140 17 7 No Hudson West 168 73 11 5 Yes Hunterdon 57 40 10 7 Yes Mercer North 443 154 16 6 No Mercer South 347 127 12 4 Yes Middlesex Central 126 42 9 3 Yes Middlesex Coastal 611 222 10 4 Yes Middlesex West 449 179 11 4 Yes Monmouth North 422 255 18 11 No Monmouth South 334 192 12 7 Yes Morris 418 105 19 5 No Ocean North 592 251 19 8 No Ocean South 335 125 11 4 Yes Passaic Central 345 232 12 8 Yes Passaic North 209 92 15 7 Yes Salem 277 108 13 5 Yes Somerset 205 86 21 9 No Sussex 145 58 16 6 No Union Central 439 143 18 6 No Union East 419 156 12 4 Yes Union West 336 186 15 8 Yes Warren 227 73 23 7 No Statewide 60%
Adoption Caseload Dec-06 Workload Adoption Met Adoption Std Local Office Children Under Supervision Avg Children Supervised Atlantic 102 15 Yes Bergen Central 79 20 No Bergen South 99 20 No Burlington East 56 28 No Burlington West 75 25 No Camden Central 60 10 Yes Camden East 37 9 Yes Camden North 65 16 Yes Camden South 46 12 Yes Cape May 56 19 No Cumberland 96 24 No Essex Central 152 30 No Essex North 88 18 Yes Essex South 40 10 Yes Newark Center City Newark Northeast Newark South Newark West 652 18 Yes Gloucester East 21 21 No Gloucester West 61 20 No Hudson Central 87 29 No Hudson North 41 14 Yes Hudson South 39 13 Yes Hudson West 41 14 Yes Hunterdon 20 20 No Mercer North 119 24 No Mercer South 59 15 Yes Middlesex Central 160 16 Yes Middlesex Coastal Middlesex West 47 9 Yes Monmouth North 89 18 Yes Monmouth South 51 10 Yes Morris 88 18 Yes Ocean North 95 16 Yes Ocean South 99 20 No Passaic Central 67 17 Yes Passaic North 62 31 No Salem 104 17 Yes Somerset 35 12 Yes Sussex 34 17 Yes Union Central 64 16 Yes Union East 115 16 Yes Union West 134 17 Yes Warren 32 16 Yes Interim: 18 children Statewide 65%
Supervisory Caseload Supervisory Staff Supervising Family Service Specialist 2 (SFSS2) SFS S2 on leave Supervising Family Service Specialist 1 (SFSS1) SFSS1 on leave TOTAL Active & Trainees Ratio Atlantic 13 0 5 0 18 68 4 1 Bergen Central 9 0 3 0 12 39 3 1 Bergen South 12 1 4 0 15 64 4 1 Burlington East 12 0 3 0 15 54 4 1 Burlington West 11 0 3 0 14 50 4 1 Camden Central 13 1 5 0 17 64 4 1 Camden East 14 0 5 0 19 64 3 1 Camden North 14 0 5 0 19 61 3 1 Camden South 13 0 4 0 17 54 3 1 Cape May 7 0 3 0 10 39 4 1 Cumberland 13 0 4 0 17 70 4 1 Essex Central 11 0 4 0 15 72 5 1 Essex South 7 1 5 0 11 52 5 1 Essex North 11 0 4 0 15 58 4 1 Newark Center City 11 0 3 0 14 61 4 1 Newark Northeast 12 0 4 0 16 78 5 1 Newark South 14 0 3 0 17 62 4 1 Newark West 11 0 4 0 15 40 3 1 Gloucester East 6 0 3 0 9 36 4 1 Gloucester West 8 0 2 0 10 43 4 1 Hudson Central 9 0 3 0 12 44 4 1 Hudson North 8 0 3 0 11 42 4 1 Hudson South 9 0 3 0 12 41 3 1 Hudson West 9 0 3 0 12 38 3 1 Hunterdon 4 0 1 0 5 15 3 1 Mercer North 9 1 4 0 12 56 5 1 Mercer South 11 0 4 0 15 57 4 1 Middlesex Central 6 0 5 0 11 36 3 1 Middlesex Coastal 13 2 4 0 15 85 6 0 Middlesex West 12 0 3 0 15 78 5 1 Monmouth North 12 0 4 0 16 60 4 1 Monmouth South 11 0 4 0 15 57 4 1 Morris 10 2 4 0 12 67 6 0 Ocean North 14 0 5 0 19 70 4 1 Ocean South 11 0 5 0 16 64 4 1 Passaic Central 13 0 5 0 18 62 3 1 Passaic North 9 1 4 0 12 54 5 1 Salem 9 0 2 0 11 48 4 1 Somerset 8 0 2 0 10 38 4 1 Sussex 5 0 2 0 7 28 4 1 Union East 10 0 3 0 13 44 3 1 Union West 11 1 5 0 15 61 4 1 Union Central 8 0 4 0 12 51 4 1 Warren 5 1 2 0 6 28 5 1 Compliance (1=Yes) STATEWIDE 443 10 158 0 591 2353 4 42 Total 95%
Investments in Staff Increased Training NJ DCF Training Academy Training Delivered (CY 2005 v. 2006) 1. /& * 1/ 0* 1(29& 31(2 9 & 8. /3(42 5'6 2 72 6'68 (.2* /1!,,,,-! -,# $,, # $-,"!!, $ #, $ -!! # of Staff Trained 9,000 8,000 7,000 6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 NJ DCF Training Academy Comparison of Training Delivered 3,760 8,009.( / 0,-,- 0 CY 2005 CY 2006 %&'()%*+*') # $ "!!
Investments in Staff Reducing caseworker separation rates Note: New Jersey s current rate exceeds best practice & may stabilize or even slightly increase over time. NJ DCF Separation Rate (caseload carrying staff) 16.0% 14.0% 14.0% 12.0% 10.0% 10.8% 8.0% 6.0% 4.0% 2.0% 0.0% Nov 04 - Oct 05 Nov 05 - Oct 06 *Note: It takes 2 months for separation data to settle, so Nov and Dec 2006 data are not yet available, which is why this analys is com pares Oct 2006 with Oct 2005.
Foster and Adoptive Families Expanded capacity to license new resource families. NJ DCF Newly Licensed Foster & Adoptive Families 1400 1200 1280 # of Families 1000 800 600 873 969 400 200 0 CY 2004 CY 2005 CY 2006 *Note: The 2006 total is subject to increase due to end of the year data entry.
Foster & Adoptive Families Targeting an increase in the pool of available families. Resource Family - Non-Kin 1200 1030 1000 Cumulative Total 800 600 400 326 398 478 643 244 200 150 0 56 5% 15% 24% 32% 39% 46% 62% Jul-06 Aug-06 Sep-06 Oct-06 Nov-06 Dec-06 Jan-07 Feb- Jun 2007 Target
Foster & Adoptive Families New Jersey experienced its first annual net gain in three years in the number of licensed resource families. NJ DCF Resource Families Licensed Net Gains/Losses by Month & Total CY 2006 225 200 209 175 150 net # of homes 125 100 75 50 25 0 11 35-30 -5 8 3 17 32 44 20 39 35-25 -50 Jan Feb March April May June July August Sept Oct Nov Dec TOTAL
Out of State Placements Working hard to keep our children closer to home. DCBHS Authorized Out of State Placements 2006 (Total placements for CY 2006= 3,726) # of children 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 314 325 327 322 323 326 322 304 288 287 291 297 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2006 Monthly Totals (as of the first of each month)
Adoptions New Jersey exceeded its target for finalized adoption for 2006. NJ DCF Adoptions # adoptions finalized 1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0 911 1266 1035 1014 1418 1315 1387 1100 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 MSA Target *Note: MSA refers to the modified settlement agreement for the federal law suit. The 2006 total is subject to increase due to end of the year data entry. 2006 Actual
Adoptions New Jersey lowered the number of legally free children awaiting adoption, breaking through the historic barrier of more than 2000. NJ DCF Children Legally Free for Adoption (2006) 2,500 2,000 2,260 2,250 2,154 1,919 # of children 1,500 1,000 500 0 Jan 06 Jul 06 Sep-06 Dec-06
Adoption Lots of work remains, but New Jersey has moved children farther along in the process towards adoption. NJ DCF Legally Free Children Awaiting Adoption as of Dec 2006 Total = 1919 (Compared to Sept 2006 Total = 2154) Awaiting Court Hearing 17% Awaiting Decision by Current Foster/Kin Family 3% Awaiting Adoptive Home 21% Awaiting Home Study & Packet Finalization 59%
Adoptions New Jersey is proud of its significant investment in subsidized adoption. 12, 0 0 0 DCF-Division of Youth and Fam ily Services Subsidized Adoption Placem ents 2000-2006 11, 0 0 0 10, 7 4 5 10, 0 0 0 9, 9 4 7 10, 19 0 9, 0 0 0 8, 9 9 2 8, 9 0 0 # of Subsidized Adoptions 8, 0 0 0 7, 0 0 0 6, 0 0 0 5, 0 0 0 4, 0 0 0 6, 2 0 8 6, 7 18 6, 5 9 4 7, 16 4 7, 10 2 7, 7 3 6 7, 6 9 4 8, 18 7 8, 0 7 1 3, 0 0 0 2, 0 0 0 1, 0 0 0 0 D e c - 0 0 M a r - 0 1 J un- 0 1 S e p- 0 1 De c - 0 1 M a r - 0 2 J un- 0 2 S e p- 0 2 De c - 0 2 M a r - J un- S e p- D e c - 0 3 0 3 0 3 0 3 M a r - J un- S e p- 0 4 0 4 0 4 Calendar Year (Quarterly Basis) De c - 0 4 M a r - 0 5 J un- 0 5 S e p- 0 5 D e c - 0 5 M a r - 0 6 J un- 0 6 S e p- 0 6 De c - 0 6
Kinship Legal Guardianship (KLG) New Jersey is proud of its significant investments in supporting permanency through extended family. NJ DCF Kinship Legal Guardianship 2500 2250 2000 2178 1750 1500 1250 1268 1000 750 500 250 0 July 05 Sept 05 Dec 05 Mar 06 Jun 06 Sept 06 Nov 06
Investing in Children & Families New Jersey is expanding its services to support children and families. Outstanding Requests for Proposals (RFPs) Home Visitation Initiative Differential Response Pilot Initiative Out of Home Specialty Services for Youth Community Based Child Abuse Prevention Programs Youth Supported Housing Planned Investments Expanded child and family visitation Expanded family engagement services Expanded medical services for children in out of home placement and more to come.