Median Length of Stay in Substitute Care
Definition: The median length of stay in substitute care of all children who exit substitute care during the fiscal year.
Population: The number of children exiting substitute care during the fiscal year.
Measure: The median number of months children stay in substitute care.
The median represents the amount of time in months that it took half of the children who exited substitute care in a fiscal year to exit care or emancipate.
If the child has more than one spell during the fiscal year, the most recent spell is selected.
The same child can be counted more than once if the child exited substitute care, reentered, and exited again in different years.
Exclusions
Children who enter care and stay 7 days or fewer are excluded.
A Note on Totals
The per-year totals for this measure ("ALL CHILDREN") reflect the total numbers of children with valid values for the breakdown being viewed. Since counts may be culled from records missing geographic, demographic or placement type information, totals between breakdowns may not be identical. For example, adding counts for all age groups for a given year may not produce the same result as adding races, since there may be missing races and/or ages in the population.
A Note on Race
If the value of the primary race is Native American/Alaska Native, Asian, or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islanders, it was coded as "Other." If the value of primary race was "could not be verified," "unknown," "declined to identify," or missing (null), it was treated as missing and excluded when indicators are reported by race/ethnicity.
The data used to compute this measure come from two Illinois DCFS data systems: the Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS) and the Child and Youth Centered Information System (CYCIS). Both the SACWIS data and the CYCIS data were extracted on December 31, 2024. They were calculated based on the state fiscal year, which spans the 12-month period from July 1 to June 30.