BY THE NUMBERS

NUMBERS MATTER, BECAUSE EVERY “NUMBER” REPRESENTS A CHILD WITH A LIFE, A STORY, AND A FUTURE. AT CFK, WE CARE ABOUT NUMBERS BECAUSE WE CARE ABOUT CHILDREN.

Today in Mecklenburg County…

for the youth that age out…

*Statistics: 2018 Mecklenburg County Youth & Family Services

National Stats:

Sources: Childwelfare.gov, childrenrights.org, National Foster Youth Institute

 Overview

• On any given day, there are nearly 424,000 children in United States (Childrenrights.org)

• Average stay in care – 1 year

• Average age of kid coming into care – 8 years old

• 46% live with foster families, 32% relatives, 6% institutions, 4% group homes, 2% independent living, 1% run away (2018)

• 56% Goal of reunification, 27% adoption, 4% guardianship, 2% long term foster care, 5% no plan (2018)

• Race & Ethnicity entering care: 44% white, 23% black, 21% Hispanic, 10% multiracial, 1% undetermined

• 70% of human trafficking victims in the US spent time in foster care system

• Each year 20,000 will age out of foster care in our country

  • 20% homeless

  • 50% unemployed

  • 97% will never gradate from college

  • 60% of young men who age out of foster care have been incarcerated

  • 71% of young women become pregnant within one year of leaving foster care

  • 38% of young adults who age out of foster care experience homelessness

  • 60% will be homeless, incarcerated, pregnant, drug addicted or dead within first year of aging out.

• 80% of foster youth suffer from mental health issues like PTSD, bipolar, depression (Source: hunter.cuny.edu/socwork/nrcfcpp)

• LGBTQ are overrepresented in the foster care system

• 50+% foster parents leave the system each year

Cost to Country/State

According to two different studies in 2011 (National Council for Adoption(NCA) , 2011; Zill, 2011), the average yearly cost of foster care for one child is between $25,000 - $25,782. [Note: numbers are very ambiguous as different states calculate different ways.]

Statewide Data

• The number of licensed foster homes in North Carolina has decreased from 7,052 in 2021 to 5,616 in 2023.

• See more data and demographic breakdowns for North Carolina here

Source: WHO CARES: A National Count of Foster Homes and Families

Charlotte/Meck. Co. Specific Data (Jan ‘21):

• Meck. Co claims it costs the state $12,000 per child in care, in which the county pays half of that

• Kids in care – average of 600 per month (191 have a goal of adoption)

• True orphans (waiting to be adopted) – 48

• 47 aged out in 2020

• Only 45 active foster families licensed with Meck. Co.

•  Where are they living:

  • Foster family – 262

  • Relative, Fictive Kin – 226

  • Jail/hospital – 79

  • Group Home – 36

  • Emergency Shelter – 11

  • No record – 4

•  30% of kids living outside of the county

•  Calls to Report Abuse & Neglect - Average of 18,000 per year (about 11,000 are screened in)

•  Race Breakdown:

  • Black/non-Hispanic – 51%

  • Multiracial – 23%

  • Hispanic – 17%

  • White – 9%

• Age entering care:

  • Age 0-12 – 75%

  • Age 13-17 – 25%

•  Percentage of kids placed with sibling: average of 60%

Meck. Co. DSS partnered with 33 agencies, 6 of which are faith based:

• Bethany Christian Services

• Methodist Home for Children

• Church of God Children’s Home of NC

• Lutheran Family Services

• First Genesis Family Services

• Nazareth’s Children Home

COVID Impact

• CPS reports: Since March 15th, CPS reports are down 26% compared to the same time period in 2019. It was down as much as 43% in April/May. This does not mean the abuse is not happening, just that it is not being seen and reported, since many children are in virtual school. Teachers, coaches, and school personnel are the number one reporters of child abuse and neglect.

• Children entering custody: There’s been a decrease of 28% since March 15 compared to the same period in 2019.

• Disruptions: There’s been no clear pattern regarding disruptions. On a monthly basis, this can fluctuate quite a bit. Average of 50-60 per month.

• Over 170 aged out youth reached out to CFK for assistance (validated through social worker or former foster parent)

CFK Programs

Socialight Program

• Adopt-a-social worker program to help combat the high rate of turnover with child-welfare social workers.

• Fact: A child that has one social worker while in foster care will find permanency 74% of the time and as soon as there is turnover, that drops to 17%. – National Center on Crime and Delinquency 2014

• Socialight Program Launch – 2018 (Meck. Co. reported 69% turnover in 2018)

  • 2019 – 26% turnover rate

  • 2020 – waiting on updated number

Impact of Mentorship

Results come from Connection Homes in Atlanta, GA

• Without support, 87% of boys aging out will spend some time in jail, mostly for survival crimes.

  • With a mentor, <1% of boys have had any interaction with the law.

• Without support, 71% of girls who age out of foster care will find themselves pregnant in the first year.

  • With a mentor, <5% of girls have become pregnant.

• Without support, 50% of children born to older teens in foster care will enter foster care by age 2.

  • With a mentor, 100% of youth already pregnant or parenting have maintained custody of their kids.

Faith-related Stats:

• Boston stopped partnering with faith-based providers in 2006 and one year later, the percentage of children who aged out of the Massachusetts foster cares system rose by over 50% and has not returned to pre-2006 levels.

• In 2011, Illinois passed a law ending its partnership with faith-based agencies. Between 2012-2017, Illinois lost 1,547 foster homes, the most significant decrease in any state that reported this data.

• Christians are 2 times more likely to adopt

• Families recruited through the church/faith-based organization foster 2.6 years longer than other foster parents *American Enterprise Institute

• 82% of foster families pointed to a faith or church support as a factor that facilitated successful fostering

Sept. 2020 Findings – United States Congress Joint Economic Committee about Foster Care System

Child Abuse Stats

• 1 in 4 girls experience child sexual abuse at some point in childhood. 1

• 1 in 13 boys experience child sexual abuse at some point in childhood. 2

• 91% of child sexual abuse is perpetrated by someone the child or the child’s family knows. 2

• The odds of attempting suicide are six times higher for men and nine times higher for women with a history of child abuse than those without a history of child sexual abuse. 3

Sources:

1. Pereda, N., Guilera, G., Forns, M., & Gómez-Benito, J. (2009). The prevalence of child sexual abuse in community and student samples: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 29, 328–338. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2009.02.007

2. Finkelhor, D., & Shattuck, A. (2012). Characteristics of crimes against juveniles. Durham, NH: Crimes Against Children Research Center. Retrieved from http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/CV26_Revised%20Characteristics%20 of%20Crimes%20against%20Juveniles_5-2-12.pdf

3. Bebbington, P. E., Cooper, C., Minot, S., Brugha, T. S., Jenkins, R., Meltzer, H., & Dennis, M. (2009). Suicide attempts, gender, and sexual abuse: Data from the 2000 British Psychiatric Morbidity Survey. American Journal of Psychiatry, 166, 1135-1140.