Indicator 17: Children and Youth in State Care or Custody

  

Why This Is Important

Placement in the State’s custody is an indicator of family dysfunction so severe that a
child cannot remain safely in the home. Placement most commonly occurs either because
a member of a household has physically or sexually abused a child, or because a child's
caretaker(s) has severely neglected a child. Youth occasionally come into Maine
Department of Health and Human Services care when parents or other legal guardians
place them voluntarily in that care as part of that parent's short-term plan to resume full
care of the child(ren). This is an important indicator for communities as they consider how
well families are able to nurture their children and what supports are needed and available
to them.

 

Where We Stand

The chart above shows how many children and youth were in the care/custody of
the State of Maine in January of each year. Between 1995 and 2001, this number grew
steadily. Since then, it has started to decline. Numbers for 1995 through 2000 were as
of January 1 of each year. Counts for 2001, 2002, 2003 , 2004 and 2005 were as of
January 16, 15, 13, 13 and 18 respectively. In general, a slight majority of Maine young
people in care are male, and most are white. About 1 in 6 is younger than 4 years old,
roughly a quarter are between ages 4 and 10, and about half are between 11 and 17.
The rest ( 8% ) are over age 17.

 

Data Sources and Context

The data source for this indicator is the Bureau of Child and Family Services, Maine
Departmentof Health and Human Services. These numbers include some children who
are in custody for only a short time, often only a few days.