In 2009, there were 27,422 children in foster care in the state of Texas.

Of those numbers, there were 5,442 children in Region 3 (North Texas)

In 2009, there were 6,510,210 children between the ages of birth to 18 in the state of Texas and 1,795,971 in the North Texas region.

In FY 2009, what were the confirmed allegations of neglect in the state of Texas?
13,875 because of physical abuse
6,316 because of sexual abuse
648 because of emotional abuse
205 because of abandonment
2,109 because of medical neglect
6,570 because of physical neglect
49,588 because of neglectful supervision
625 because of refusal to accept parental responsibility

Total confirmed allegations of child abuse/neglect: 79,936*

Number of child abuse/neglect investigations in 2009: 283,922

Number of confirmed cases of abuse/neglect in 2009: 68,326 (24.1%)*

How many fatalities were there, in Texas, due to neglect or abuse? 280
Harris County: 67
Dallas County: 29
Tarrant County: 13
Bexar County: 13
Bell County: 10
Hidalgo County: 10
Ellis County: 2

How many children were removed from their families through DFPS?
12,107 in 2009 (down from 14,295 in 2008)
2,362 in Region 3 (North Texas)

Who are Texas children waiting in the foster care system?
3,319 (20.8%) of foster children are between ages of 0 and 2
2,249 (14.1%) of foster children are between ages of 3 and 5
2,679 (16.8%) of foster children are between ages of 6 and 9
2,930 (18.4%) of foster children are between ages of 10 and 13
4,225 (26.5%) of foster children are between ages of 14 and 17
530 (3.3%) of foster children are between ages of 18 and 21

Who are the most common confirmed perpetrators of abuse or neglect?
Relationship: Parent (78.1%)
Gender: Female (56.8%)
Age: Age 26-35 (37.7%)
Marital Status: Married (29.4%)

What are the most common characteristics of confirmed victims?
Age: Age 1 to 3 (25.1%)
Gender: Female (51.7%)

How long do children remain in DFPS care on average?
Those ending in family reunification – 14.6 months
Those ending in relative care – 14.2 months
Those ending in adoption – 29.8 months
Those ending in long term care (Emancipation) – 63.3 months
Those ending in long term care (Other) – 14.3 months

The average number of placements per child in substitute care for all children who attained permanency is 3.4.

6,386 children are waiting to be adopted

What’s the median length of time children wait to be adopted? 12.3 months

Where are the children who remain under the care of the DFPS?
Of the 25,185 children in DFPS substitute care on August 31, 2009…
11,022 children were placed in a Child Placing Agency (CPA) Foster Home (These foster homes are recruited,
trained, verified and managed by private CPAs.)
1,886 children were placed in DFPS Foster Homes
664 children were placed in Basic Child Care (cottage/campus type housing)
1,421 children were placed in Residential Treatment Centers
496 children were placed in Emergency Shelters (intended for 30 days or less)
443 children were placed in other types of foster care (camps, maternity homes, hospitals, juvenile detention, etc.)
7,673 children were placed in Kinship Care (relative)
421 children were placed in pending adoption homes
623 children were placed in other substitute care
536 children were in pending adoptions in CPA Adoptive Homes

What happened to the children who left DFPS Care in 2009?
Family Reunification – 4,423 (30.5%)
Custody Given To Relatives – 3,213 (22.2%)
Adoption Consummated – 4,859 (33.5%)
Children Emancipated – 1,453 (10.0%)
Other – 549 (3.8%)

What do these stats say to you? What are you shocked/astonished by? Do they inspire ideas/actions/reactions in you?

This information is from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services 2009 annual report.

*Not sure why these numbers don’t match – they’re from different pages in the report (pages 39 & 44)