A Guide to Understanding the Well-Being of Children & Families in Erie County, Pennsylvania
Welfare Placements
CHARTS
Welfare Placements by Erie CountyMEASUREMENT
The figures for delinquency placements are from the Erie County Department of Human Services, Office of Children and Youth reflecting the count on December 31 of each year. The rate of welfare placements is the number of welfare placements, divided by the number of youth under age 18 (from Census 2000) and multiplied by 1,000.
DESCRIPTION
The number of children in foster or substitute care reflects the well being of children, and it is a rough index of social conditions and the conditions within families that pose substantial risk for children. Family instability, poverty, crime, violence, homelessness, substance abuse, and serious illness contribute to the need to place children out of their own homes. The number of children placed out-of-home may increase or decrease for a variety of reasons, and any interpretation of data trends must be accompanied by analysis of other factors to determine the nature of the trends.
Community based placements include foster care, emergency shelter, community residential and alternative treatment placements. Institutional placements in Erie County consist of those to the secure section of the Edmund L. Thomas Center.
DATA ANALYSIS
- Erie County’s welfare placement rate fell 16.4% between 1996 and 2002.
- The number of children in welfare placement dropped 15.8% between 1996 and 2002.
- Only 1.8% of placements on December 31, 2002 were institution al.