New Hampshire Children in Out Of Home Placement's 2009-2010

http://www.childrennh.org/web/Kids%20Count/Safety/outofhomeplacements.pdf

New Hampshire Children in Out Of Home Placement's 2009-2010

DEFINITION
This indicator reports the rate of New Hampshire children under 18 in out-of-home
placements. Out-of-home placements include foster care and other residential
situations such as group homes.
CONTEXT
Sometimes the New Hampshire Division for Children,Youth and Families (DCYF)
investigates a report of child abuse or neglect and believes a child’s safety is at
risk. DCYF staff will request that the court system order the removal of the
endangered child or children from their home (NH DHHS 2010a). If children
cannot be placed with relatives they are placed in foster care settings, which is
most often the case in New Hampshire. However, in this state most children are
reunited with their families in time.When reunification is impossible, children may
be adopted by relatives, their foster family or other New Hampshire families who
wish to welcome a child or children into their home (NH DHHS 2010b).
New Hampshire children in out of home placement are at higher risk for disease
and more likely to be disabled, become injured and have health and mental problems
than other children. An estimated 80 to 90 percent of children in out-of-home
placements in New Hampshire have a mental health disorder. Research has linked
higher risk for health problems in children in foster care to both maltreatment in
the home and removal from the home (NH DHHS 2009).
The State becomes the responsible party for providing health care to children in
out-of-home placements. New Hampshire children in foster care or other residential
placements receive medical care through the state’s Foster Care Health Program
and through Medicaid. Children in foster or residential placements are more likely
to receive medical and dental care and are more likely to use prescription drugs
and psychotropic drugs in particular. In 2007, average monthly Medicaid payments
for New Hampshire children in out-of-home placements were three to six times
higher than average Medicaid payment for low-income children who were not in
foster care or other residential placements (NH DHHS 2009).
New Hampshire KIDS COUNT Data Book 2010/2011 Children’s Alliance of New Hampshire www.ChildrenNH.org
Children in Out-of-Home Placements
By County, 2009-2010
SAFETY ANDWELLBEING:
Children in Out-of-Home Placements
1
4.61
3.21
3.29
5.59
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
2.56
3.30
6.50
2.91
2.30
1.75
0.76
RATE PER 1,000 CHILDREN UNDER 18
Sullivan
Strafford
Rockingham
Merrimack
Hillsborough
Grafton
Coos
Cheshire
Carroll
Belknap
STATE
TOTALNEW HAMPSHIRE FINDINGS
In 2007, New Hampshire had the second lowest rate of children in out-of-home
placement in the country at 5.6 children per 1,000. Nationally, only Utah had a
lower rate.The average rate for the Northeast Region in 2007 was 10.4 per 1,000
(Mattingly et. al.).
Recent research shows higher out-of-home placement rates in remote rural areas
compared to metropolitan counties or counties that border metropolitan areas both
in New Hampshire and across the country. In 2007, New Hampshire had 4.9 children
in out-of-home placement per 1,000 children in metropolitan areas of the state,
including Hillsborough, Rockingham and Stafford counties, and 9.2 percent in
remote rural areas of the state (Mattingly et.al. 2010).
From 2009 to 2010, New Hampshire’s out-of-home placements dropped from 5.6 per 1,000
children in 2007 to 2.6 per 1,000 New Hampshire children. Coos County in the North
Country had the highest rate of out-of-home placements with a rate of 6.5 per 1,000.
Less than one child per 1,000 was in out-of-home placement in Rockingham County.
The three counties with out-of-home placement rates below the state average were
Rockingham, Merrimack and Hillsborough counties, the state’s most populous counties
(DCYF 2010).