Child Protective Services Report

Child Protective Services Report

by Nev Moore

The table below presents comparative data on the Child Protective Services regimes of the states under consideration, plus some of the worst states not under consideration for comparison.

State/agency Funding: state/federal (mil. $) Children investigated Children removed from home Children in state care # of workers # of adoptions*
Alaska DFYS 13.072/10.460 14098 897 1372 130 95
California DSS** 1023.742/937.011 452887 61061 117401 7134 4418
Delaware DHHS 14.205/20.532 8330 N/A 888 294 62
Florida DCF** 270.306/144.388 160105 11906 23436 3837 1549
Idaho DHW 30.830/12.069 11161 497 930 377 14
Maine DHS 36.318/20.566 9877 874 N/A N/A 125
Montana DPHHS 12.680/22.159 20315 2303 N/A N/A 149
New Hampshire DHHS 28.310/33.423 8833 493 N/A N/A 51
North Dakota DHS 12.569/8.887 6926 346 930 N/A 111
South Dakota DSS 17.678/10.999 4709 685 654 N/A 55
Vermont AHS 29.123/18.083 2456 236 1188 245 118
Wyoming DFS 12.130/N/A 3331 330 N/A 40 N/A

* Adoption figures represent only children adopted out of foster care after removal from their families by CPS.

** CA, FL, MA - represent high average states, included for comparison.

States compete for federal per-child cash adoption bonuses. A low adoption figure represents states' prioritizing reunification with families rather than competing for the federal adoption bonuses.

Budget figures do not represent state agencies total annual budget, as they get funding from local and private sources in addition.

To interpret these figures for the purposes of state comparison, we need to translate them into per capita numbers, of course. Once we do so, Vermont, Idaho, and South Dakota look particularly good, while Montana and to a lesser extent Alaska look particularly poor.

September 2, 2002

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of the Free State Project, its Officers, or Directors.

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