WA State Statistics On CPS Cases

From The Washington Policy Center

In Washington State, in fiscal year 2007:

 There were 1,566,400 children under age 18
living in Washington.

 42,300 children under age 18 were referred to the
Children’s Administration and accepted for
investigation. This is 2.7 percent of Washington
State’s child population.

 After a referral is accepted for investigation by the
Children’s Administration, some children are then
placed in out-of-home care. In 2007, about 7,500
children were placed in out-of-home care at least
once.

 On any given day during the year, the
Children’s Administration estimates that 10,000
children were living in out-of-home care in the
custody of the state:

 Of these, just over a third were living with
relatives.

 About two-thirds were living with non-relative foster families or other state-sponsored arrangements.

 About 2,500 children were in formal
guardianships overseen by the Children’s
Administration. Guardianships are considered
“permanent” placements, so they are not included
in the “out-of-home” care numbers.

 In 2007, the Children’s Administration estimates
that 7,200 children left out-of-home care. They
report that:

 4,630 children were reunified with their
biological parents;
 1,283 were adopted;
 394 were placed in new guardianships, and;
 808 had “other” exits, which include those
who reached age 18, those with a transfer
of custody, those with no exit reason, and a
very small proportion that died.