Table 1.
Description of state foster care maintenance rates and characteristics over time*.
| 1991 | 1994 | 1998 | 2000 | 2004 | 2007 | 2008 | Percentage of States increasing between 1991 and 2008 |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real maintenance rate — 2 year olds | Monthly rate paid to foster families on a per-foster-child basis (2008 Dollars) (HWM, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2008) |
463 | 478 | 486 | 484 | 498 | 496 | 478 | 46% |
| Real maintenance rate — 9 year olds | Monthly rate paid to foster families on a per-foster-child basis (2008 Dollars) (HWM, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2008) |
493 | 507 | 510 | 505 | 525 | 516 | 498 | 44% |
| Real maintenance rate — 16 year olds | Monthly rate paid to foster families on a per-foster-child basis (2008 Dollars) (HWM, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2008) |
574 | 591 | 588 | 581 | 593 | 581 | 561 | 38% |
| Unemployment | Seasonally adjusted unemployment rate at the start of reference year (BLS, 2012a, 2012b) |
6% | 6% | 4% | 4% | 5% | 4% | 4% | 4% |
| Minority children | Share of state population under 19 that is non-white (ProQuest Statistical Datasets, 2012) |
26% | 27% | 29% | 32% | 34% | 35% | 36% | 98% |
| Poverty rate | (USCB, 2011b) | 14% | 13% | 12% | 11% | 12% | 12% | 13% | 24% |
| Urbanity | Share of population living in urban areas, linearly interpolated from census years 1980–2010 (USCB, 1993, 2012a) |
69% | 70% | 70% | 71% | 71% | 72% | 72% | 86% |
| Partial Republican Control of State Government | Either Republican Controlled State Legislature or Republican Governor. Composition of state legislature in non-election years is equal to the composition following the most recent election. In election and special election years, the party of the incoming governor or legislature is recorded. Nebraska is excluded due to its non-partisan unicameral State Legislature. (United States Council of State Governments, 2011; USCB, 2012a) |
47% | 59% | 53% | 59% | 51% | 63% | 59% | 33% |
| Republican Controlled State Government | Republican Controlled State Legislature and Republican Governor. Composition of state legislature in non-election years is equal to the composition following the most recent election. In election and special election years, the party of the incoming governor or legislature is recorded. Nebraska is excluded due to its non-partisan unicameral State Legislature. (United States Council of State Governments, 2011) |
31% | 14% | 31% | 22% | 22% | 14% | 18% | 10% |
| Real per foster child Title IV B funding | Real annual Title IV B funding per foster child (2008 Dollars) (ACF, 2010b; HWM, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2008) |
116 | 101 | 82 | 71 | 59 | 50 | 51 | 5% |
| Real per foster child Title IV E funding | Real annual Title IV E funding per foster child (2008 Dollars) (ACF, 2010b; HWM, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2008; OMB, 2002–2009) |
571 | 657 | 741 | 697 | 672 | 650 | 73% | |
| TANF benefit reimbursed by federal government | Amount of the maximum monthly TANF benefit for a family of three reimbursed by federal government (calculated using FMAP rate) (HHS, 2012a; HWM, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2008) |
324 | 300 | 273 | 264 | 247 | 223 | 217 | 2% |
| Share of state population on TANF | Share of state population receiving TANF benefits (HWM, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2008) |
4% | 5% | 3% | 2% | 2% | 1% | 1% | 0% |
| Real per capita state tax revenue | 2008 Dollars (USCB, 2012b) | 1974 | 2078 | 2260 | 2379 | 2338 | 2706 | 2814 | 100% |
| CFSR review | Indicator for completing the Child and Family Services Review (ACF, 2004) |
0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 100% | 100% | 100% | |
| 1st Title IVE eligibility review | Indicator for completing the first Title IV E Eligibility Review (HHS, 2012b) |
0% | 0% | 0% | 18% | 100% | 100% | 100% | |
| 2nd Title IVE eligibility review | Indicator for completing the second Title IV E Eligibility Review (HHS, 2012b) |
0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 39% | 100% | 100% | |
| Lawsuits filed | Indicator for whether or not a lawsuit has been filed on behalf of foster children (National Center for Youth Law, 2010) |
18% | 27% | 20% | 20% | 22% | 22% | 16% | |
| Settlements reached | Indicator for whether a binding settlement or consent decree has been approved between state foster care agency and foster children (Child Welfare League of America, 2005; National Center for Youth Law, 2010) |
10% | 18% | 12% | 14% | 14% | 18% | 10% |
*
Summary statistics for key variables are shown for selected years. In addition to years shown, data on foster care maintenance rates are also available for 1992, 1993, and 1996. Data on Title IV B funding are also available for 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2006. Data on Title IV E funding are also available for 1993, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006. Data on TANF benefits are available for all years from 1990 to 2008 except 1997. Data on unemployment, minority children, poverty rate, urbanicity, republican control of state government, FMAP rates, share of population receiving TANF benefits, real per-capita state tax revenue, CFSR reviews, title IV E reviews, lawsuits and settlements are available for all years from 1990 to 2008.