Notes on Data Source

All of the data on this website come from the University of California, Berkeley quarterly extracts from CWS/CMS.  Those extracts are pulled approximately one month after each quarter ends, and the data are fully refreshed each quarter.  Due to the time it takes to process, run, validate, and approve the data each quarter, data on the website and on the California CWS Outcomes System report are typically in the range of three to six months old.

For the general foster care data areas (Entries, Point in Time, Exits), we include children in non-dependent guardian placements.  When we try to replicate the methodology used in the 17 federal performance measures, we use a slightly different source file that we have created, which mirrors the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) file.  Children in non-dependent guardian placements are excluded.  In addition, episodes that transition from child welfare to probation or probation to child welfare on the same day are bridged into a single episode.  The federal and state measure views for the indicators in the composites contain only children under the age of 18.  In both files, consistent with AFCARS reporting, we have excluded episodes of zero or one day.

Data are reported as entered in the CWS/CMS System.  Generally, we report, rather than delete, erroneous data in order to help counties identify and correct data entry issues.

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