This indicator represents the proportion of children in Utah who enter into foster care each year. The calcuation for this indicator is the number of distinct entries into foster care for each year divided by the child population for the year and then mulltiplied by 1000.

Abuse and neglect data source: Utah's SAFE database (child welfare data system).
Child population data source: ACS (US Census Bureau) 5-year estimates, which tend to be more accurate than either the 1-year or mixing census types.

DCFS strives to serve children and famliies in their homes whenever safely possible. When this is not possible, children and youth may enter into foster care.

DCFS has seen a trend of reduced number of children entering care for the last several years and is well below the national average of 5 of every 1000 children entering care. Some factors that impact this indicator include reducing entry into foster care through providing services in-home and implementation of Family Action Meetings (FAMs). FAMs occur near the beginning of a family's involvement with DCFS and promote family voice, involvement of a family's support system, and family-driven leadership in addressing identified safety concerns.