Overview
In New York City and nationally, newborns and infants who come to the attention of the child welfare system follow a different trajectory than other children – they are more likely to enter foster care after an investigation, less likely to return home and more likely to be adopted, especially newborns.
Reducing family separation – especially permanent family separation – requires a focus on newborns and infants.
This brief shares national data on newborn and infant outcomes and uses zip code-level data from 2019 to offer new information about newborns and infants in NYC.
We find that:
- Nearly half of all newborns in investigations were Black;
- Almost one-quarter of newborns entered foster care after an investigation;
- 72% of children whose parents’ rights were terminated 2018-2020 were 0-3 years old when they became court-involved.
This information can help advocates, policymakers, government officials and local groups consider the legislative and policy changes, investments and resources (including current legislation) that could directly support expecting parents and parents of babies.
Material supports can be targeted to these parents. The Bridge Project, for instance, offers $1,000 in guaranteed income to expecting parents in many low-income NYC neighborhoods, and a new bill would extend this approach statewide. Entitlements such as WIC, the Earned Income Tax Credit, welfare (TANF) and SNAP also could be adjusted for these families to reflect the higher cost of raising young children.
More than half of newborn investigations involved substance abuse allegations. Research has found that fear of being reported to child welfare is a significant barrier to
prenatal care for some pregnant people, particularly those who use drugs and alcohol. In 2020, NYC’s public hospitals began requiring a mother’s consent to be drug tested and the city child welfare agency, ACS, clarified that a parent’s drug use or the positive toxicology of a parent or newborn does not, by itself, warrant a report to the SCR. However, legislation to require informed consent for drug testing of newborns and pregnant or postpartum parents has not been passed by the State Legislature.
Approaches that support families in finding material support, legal assistance, in-home substance use treatment, infant-parent mental health programs and other resources, like the Bronx Defenders’ Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies program and Strong Starts Court Initiative, can be expanded and disconnected from the child welfare system.
These resources also can prevent re-entry for newborns and infants who enter foster care and then return home. A recent Chapin Hall study of NYC children who entered foster care 2003-2010 found that, of those who reunified before age 1, 37% re-entered foster care before age 18. Re-entry came soon after returning home or as they hit their teenage years, and the risk of being placed in congregate care was high.
Lastly, for families facing termination of parent rights, the Preserving Family Bonds Act would give children and parents the chance to stay in contact when it's in a child’s best interest. Passed for the third time in 2023, it has not yet been signed by the governor.
This brief offers information about where these resources and legislative action would make the biggest difference.
Data analysis by Cat Pisciotta and text by Nora McCarthy. NYC data is provided by the NYC Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) unless otherwise noted. Thank you to Fred Wulczyn and to Frank Edwards, C.M. Roberts, Kathleen S. Kenny, Mical Raz, Matty Lichtenstein and Mishka Terplan for permission to republish your work.
NATIONAL DATA
Nationally, infants are far likelier to enter foster care than older children
A national study by Chapin Hall examining data from 2006-2012 found that infants entered foster care at rates three times higher than teenagers after a substantiated investigation, with 11.5 infants per 1,000 entering foster care in 2014 compared to 3.5 children ages 1-5 or 1.9 children ages 13-17. Once infants entered foster care, they stayed for a significantly longer time.
A more recent analysis confirms these findings.
Download: Image
Chart reprinted from Infants in the Child Welfare System: Epidemiology and Development courtesy of the Center for State Child Welfare Data, Chapin Hall, University of Chicago.
NATIONAL DATA
Infants – especially newborns – are less likely to return home
Newborns and infants are less likely to reunify and more likely to be adopted than other children who enter foster care. A 2021 Children’s Bureau report found that half of children who were 0-3 months at foster care entry had their parents’ rights terminated, and 95% were adopted. In the Chapin Hall study, only 37% of newborns (under 1 month) were reunified while 56% of infants went home. Likewise, 52% of newborns were adopted while 29% of infants were adopted. Among children who entered foster care between age 1 and 17, 64% reunified and only 10% were adopted.
Spending more than 30 days at home was associated with a much higher likelihood of reunification for babies.
Download: Image
Chart reprinted from Infants in the Child Welfare System: Epidemiology and Development courtesy of the Center for State Child Welfare Data, Chapin Hall, University of Chicago.
NATIONAL DATA
Medical professionals nationwide are increasingly reporting infants, particularly Black infants
In August, a multistate study found that rates of investigations of infants stemming from reports by medical professionals increased significantly from 2010-2019, particularly for Black infants. Nationwide in 2019, child welfare investigated 1 in 18 Black infants (5.4%), 1 in 31 Indigenous infants (3.2%), and 1 in 41 White infants (2.5%) following medical professionals’ reports.
Charts reprinted from Medical Professional Reports and Child Welfare System Infant Investigations: An Analysis of National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System Data courtesy of the authors.
NEW YORK CITY
1 in 5 children who entered foster care was under 1 year old
Newborns under 31 days made up about 2% of investigations but 10% of foster care entries and infants (under 1) made up 6.7% of investigations but almost 20% of foster care entries. Children under 5 made up only 28% of children in an investigation but 43% of children entering foster care.
Note: Child Census data comes from the American Community Survey’s 5-year (2015-2019) estimates. Estimates are not available for newborns and infants.
Almost 25% of newborns entered foster care after an investigation
Infants were 2-3 times more likely than older children to enter foster care after an investigation.
Note: Percentages are based on aggregates. Note that these numbers are based on all investigations not indicated investigations.
Terminations of parental rights 2018-2020 primarily involved children who were under age 3 at removal
Family court data from 2018-2020 shows that children who were birth to age 3 at the time of initial court filing were overrepresented in every negative court outcome—removals, filings to terminate parental rights and terminations of parental rights. Children with an initial filing age 0-3 made up 44% of NYC children removed from their families but 72% of NYC children whose parents’ rights were terminated. Older children were more likely to reunify as well as to remain in foster care or age out.
In New York state, nearly 1 in 50 Black children will experience termination of both of their parents’ rights by age 18.
Download: Image, Image 2, Data 1, Data 2
Data source: NYS Unified Court System, Universal Case Management System – Family Court Data Metrics.
More than half of newborn investigations included allegations of parental substance abuse
ACS has clarified in public guidance (and trainings for hospital staff) that a parent’s drug use or the positive toxicology of a parent or newborn does not, by itself, warrant a report to the SCR.
Reporter types for newborns and infants vary significantly from older children
The “Social Services” reporter type very frequently includes social workers and others based in health care settings, such as hospitals. Reporter types received by ACS from the SCR are categorized by the reporter’s job role as shared with the SCR, rather than in relation to their affiliated organization or institution.
Just 10 zip codes account for 25% of all investigations involving children under 1
These zip codes also accounted for 27% of investigations involving newborns (children under 30 days old.)
Note: Newborns (under 31 days old) were in just under 2% of investigations in 2019, and infants (between 31 and 365 days old) were in about 7.5% of investigations in 2019. It’s possible for one investigation to appear in both the newborn category and the infant category, if there were two babies in the family.
In addition to investigations, newborns can be involved in a pre-birth planning conference, which is held when a mother with a child in foster care has a baby and the pregnancy is known to the agency. This does not involve an SCR call. However, a report to the SCR may be made if no conference is held or ACS does not agree that the family has a plan for safely caring for the newborn.
In these 25 zip codes, the percent of newborns entering foster care after an investigation was above the citywide rate
In the first six months of 2023, removals for children of all ages were down by more than 30% compared to 2019.
Note: Zip codes with less than 10 investigations for newborns in 2019 were excluded. In 2019, 23% of newborns involved in investigations entered foster care (aggregate number).
The percent of infants entering foster care after an investigation was above the citywide rate in these zip codes
Note: Zip codes with less than 10 investigations for infants in 2019 were excluded. In 2019, 9% of infants involved in investigations entered foster care (aggregate number).
More than half of all newborns and infants in investigations or who enter foster care live in majority Black and Latino neighborhoods
Download: Image 1, Image 2, Data 1, Data 2
Note: Majority Black/Latino neighborhoods are defined as those with 75% or more Black/Latino residents (all ages). Majority White/Asian neighborhoods are those with 75% or more White/Asian residents (all ages). Total births data comes from NYC Department of Health data at the zip code level and is based on total births between 2017 and 2019 (which were averaged to get a yearly average).