Data Tools: Measures

The Fostering Court Improvement website contains both current and trend data. The measures on the website are organized into three broad categories: 1) removals; 2) foster care population; and 3) discharges. There are numerous measures found under each of these categories.

FCI staff stitch together the AFCARS and NCANDS data submissions that child welfare agencies submit to the federal government into a longitudinal view of the children at risk of foster care placement, in foster care, and children adopted from foster care. All calculations and definitions are validated against external sources in FCI-participating states.

The data are presented as reports by judicial district, county, and child welfare region in the three broad categories mentioned above: 1) removals; 2) foster care population; and 3) discharges. The measures and their presentation on the website have been carefully designed and refined through continuous field-testing specifically for use in facilitated discussions among local dependency court and child welfare participants.

There are three ways to view these measures: 1) tables; 2) charts; and 3) CSV files. The tables and the CSV files are information from the most recent period whereas; the charts provide trend data. The CSV files open in excel so that additional graphs or analysis can be easily done.