The report, Children in Placement, provides information about the number and demographics of children in out of home placement-point in time. The figures shown are presented point in time as of the last administrative update for that year.

The Data Portal allows users to select additional variables to gain further insight into the selected report. In addition, each variable can be further filtered to provide a subset of data within the variable. Data is provided as a table or, when available, a graph.

1. Year: Year represents data for the calendar year.
2. Removal Episode: An indication of whether this was the child's first time entry to care, or re-entry. The categories for this report are:
   • First Time Entry
   • Re-entry
3. Placement Type: A description of the type of placement setting the child is in. The categories for this report are:
   • Resource Family (Kinship Care)
   • Resource Family (Non-Kinship Care)
   • Congregate Care
   • Independent Living
4. Number of Placements: The number of placements the child has had since their recent removal from home. The frequencies for this variable are:
   • 2 or Fewer Placements
   • 3 to 4 Placements
   • 5 or More Placements
5. Time in Placement: The duration of time the child has been in out-of-home placement as of the last day of this report. The categories for this report are:
   • 0 to 6 Months
   • 7 to 12 Months
   • 13 to 18 Months
   • 19 to 24 Months
   • 25 to 36 Months
   • 37 Months or Greater
6. Sibling Placements: An indication of whether some siblings were placed together. For this report the categories are reported as:
   • Some Siblings Placed Together
   • No Siblings Placed Together
   • Not Applicable( no siblings)
7. Age: Age is calculated based on the child's age as of the last day of the calendar year. The age categories for this report are:
   • 0 - 2
   • 3 - 5
   • 6 - 9
   • 10 - 12
   • 13 - 17
   • 18+
8. Race/Ethnicity: The race/ethnicity categories are
   • Black or African American
   • White
   • Hispanic
   • Missing or Undetermined
   • Other
9. Gender: The identified gender of a person. Gender categories are:
   • Male
   • Female
10. County: The State of New Jersey is administratively divided into twenty-one counties. The county for this report is based on the county of the local field office responsible for the case. The twenty-one (21) counties in New Jersey are: Atlantic, Bergen, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Essex, Gloucester, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Salem, Somerset, Sussex, Union and Warren counties. The category of "Other" is added to the list and includes children in cases where a county of assignment could not be determined at the time of the data extract.

The followings reports are related to Children in Placement (Point in Time), which may be of additional interest to our users:

Children Entering Out of Home Placements
Children Exiting Out of Home Placements
Placement Rates

Users may publish data obtained from this site, but we request an appropriate citation for use of this work. Below, please find an appropriate citation template, according to the American Psychological Association's (APA) guidelines.

New Jersey Child Welfare Data Hub. ([Date of Publication]). Children in placement (point in time). Retrieved on [date] from [URL].

Abbreviation Definitions:

APA: American Psychological Association
CP&P: Child Protection and Permanency, a division within the New Jersey Department of Children and Families (DCF)
CWS: Child Welfare Services referrals
DCF: New Jersey Department of Children and Families
IAIU: Institutional Abuse Investigation Unit