In 2021, there were 168,063 white children in foster care in the United States. This is compared to 86,645 Black or African American children and 85,215 Hispanic children who were in foster care.

Foster care in the United States

Foster care is where minors are taken care of in different institutions, such as a group home or private home of a caregiver certified by the state (called a foster parent). The procedure for becoming a foster parent in the United States varies from state to state. It is up to the state to determine the process; however it is overseen by the Department of Child Protective Services. It is sometimes seen as a precursor to adoption, which is different from fostering a child. There are many barriers to fostering and adopting children, such as high costs and long wait times, which can discourage people from doing it.

Who are foster children?

The number of children in foster care in the United States has decreased slightly since 2011. When looked at by age, most of the children in foster care in 2020 were one year old, and slightly more male children were in foster care than female children. Most of the children in foster care were placed into non-relative foster family homes, and in most cases, the primary goal of foster care is to reunify children with their parents or primary caregivers.

The dataset contains demographic and case characteristics of children in foster care each month. The dataset includes the children’s sex, age, race, goal and average time spent in foster care in Norfolk. The data is from Virginia’s Online Automated Services Information System (OASIS). OASIS is a comprehensive system that tracks the day-to-day activities performed by social workers statewide and is the official case record system for foster care and adoption cases in Virginia.

This dataset details the work accomplished by staff at the Norfolk Department of Human Services with the goal of finding safe, permanent homes for children in Norfolk’s foster care system. This dataset is updated monthly.

This report provides information about the demographics of children and parents at steps in the child welfare system. It is produced in compliance with Local Law 132 of 2022.

In 2021, about 206,812 children in the United States entered into foster care in that year. This is a decrease from the previous year, when 216,842 children across the country entered into foster care.

In 2022, about 108,877 children in the United States were waiting to be adopted. This is a decrease from a high of 133,682 children who were waiting to be adopted nationwide in 2007.

This counts placement types, not unique children in substitute care. Children will be duplicated by moving from foster care to other substitute care or by relative to non-relative placements. For example, a child who spent a portion of the year with a relative, but the rest with a non-relative would be counted twice. Children in DFPS custody are those for whom a court has appointed DFPS legal responsibility through temporary or permanent managing conservatorship or other court ordered legal basis. These children may be residing in substitute care or may be living with a parent, referred to as a return and monitor. DFPS legal responsibility terminates when a court orders DFPS custody ended or a youth turns 18, whichever comes first. Substitute care - all children who are living in a DFPS out of home placement. It does not include children in DFPS custody who are living with a parent on a return and monitor. Unless otherwise noted, it does include youth over 18 who are in extended foster care but are not in DFPS custody. Kinship care- a subset of substitute care that includes all children in DFPS custody who are living with a legal or blood relative or other individual who has a significant relationship with the child or the child's family known as "fictive kin." Foster care - a subset of substitute care that includes all children living in a placement that has been verified to provide 24-hour residential care for a child, in accordance with Chapter 42 of the Human Resources Code and related regulations. These placements include foster homes, including kinship care where the caregiver has been verified, general residential operations (GRO), emergency shelters, residential treatment centers (RTC), and juvenile facilities. Paid foster care - a subset of foster care where DFPS is making foster care payments. Visit dfps.state.tx.us for information on substitute care placements and all DFPS programs.

This chart counts the number of children in DFPS custody on August 31 of the fiscal year who meet all of the following criteria: (1) a court has terminated all parental rights; (2) the child has a plan of adoption; and (3) the child is not in an adoptive placement. The count includes both children who are in an intended to be permanent home and children who are not in an intended to be permanent home. Use the filter to isolate these counts. Children in DFPS custody are those for whom a court has appointed DFPS legal responsibility through temporary or permanent managing conservatorship or other court ordered legal basis. An adoptive placement occurs when the child's caseworker, the family's case manager, and the adoptive family sign paperwork officially placing the child in the home for adoption. Before the paperwork can be signed, a child must be free for adoption (meaning a court has terminated parental rights), have a permanency goal of adoption and the family must have been approved for adoption through a licensed child placing agency.

This dataset summarizes the number of dependent children (less than 18 years old) removed from households due to parental drug abuse. The data indicates if the dependent children were placed in kinship care or not. The total number of children in this data set are provided by the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS), which publishes 5 year estimates of the population. The most recent year of entries in this data set may be available before the corresponding ACS population estimates for that year are published. In that case, the data set uses values from the most recently published ACS estimates and notes the year from which those estimates are pulled. These values are updated once the Census Bureau releases the most recent estimates.” *Kinship care refers to the care of children by relatives or, in some jurisdictions, close family friends (often referred to as fictive kin). Relatives are the preferred resource for children who must be removed from their birth parents because it maintains the children's connections with their families. *The Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) definition of parental drug abuse is “Principal caretaker’s compulsive use of drugs that is not of a temporary nature.”

The Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) is a federally mandated data collection system intended to provide case specific information on all children covered by the protections of Title IV-B/E of the Social Security Act (Section 427). Under the Final 1993 AFCARS’ rule, states are required to collect and submit data on all children who are under the responsiblity of the title IV-B/IV-E agency for placement, care, or supervision. Units of Response: Children in Foster Care Type of Data: Administrative Tribal Data: Unavailable Periodicity: Semiannual Demographic Indicators: Disability;Geographic Areas;Sex SORN: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/12/14/2016-29366/adoption-and-foster-care-analysis-and-reporting-system Data Use Agreement: https://www.ndacan.acf.hhs.gov/datasets/order_forms/termsofuseagreement.pdf Data Use Agreement Location: https://www.ndacan.acf.hhs.gov/datasets/order_forms/termsofuseagreement.pdf Granularity: Individual Spatial: United States Geocoding: FIPS Code

This statistic shows the number of children in foster placements in England (UK) from 2010 to 2018. The number of such children increased over this eight year period to a total of **** thousand.

Data were extracted from a review of computerized administrative claims for 15,507 Medicaid youth in an effort to assess differences in rates of mental health treatment for enrollees in one of 3 categories of aid. The study population consisted of individuals aged 0-19 years residing in a suburban county in a mid-Atlantic state during 1996 and enrolled in the fee-for-service Medicaid program. Mental health services were analyzed and compared for youth in foster care, receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and all other forms of assistance such as Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). The dataset includes demographic information, type of mental health services provided, mental disorder diagnoses (in 15 subcategories), as well as psychotropic and certain nonpsychotropic medications prescribed.

Children in the Custody of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS)- All children for whom DFPS legal responsibility through court ordered temporary or permanent managing conservatorship or other court ordered legal basis. These children may be residing in substitute care or may be living with a parent, referred to as a trial home visit. DFPS legal responsibility terminates when a court orders DFPS custody ended or a youth turns 18, whichever comes first. Substitute care - all children who are living in a DFPS out of home placement. It does not include children in DFPS custody who are living with a parent on a return and monitor. Unless otherwise noted, it does include youth over 18 who are in extended foster care but are not in DFPS custody. Kinship care- a subset of substitute care that includes all children in DFPS custody who are living with a legal or blood relative or other individual who has a significant relationship with the child or the child's family known as "fictive kin." Foster care - all children in DFPS custody living in a placement that has been verified to provide 24-hour residential care for a child, in accordance with Chapter 42 of the Human Resources Code and related regulations. These placements include foster homes, including kinship care where the caregiver has been verified, general residential operations (GRO), emergency shelters, residential treatment centers (RTC), and juvenile facilities. Paid foster care - a subset of foster care where DFPS is making foster care payments. Visit https://www.dfps.texas.gov/ for information on substitute care placements and all DFPS programs

The adoption and child welfare industry has experienced overall growth even during the pandemic years, as increased stress-related service needs boosted demand and federal funding boosted revenues. While some service providers relied on private donations, corporate profit was strong in 2021. Technology adoption enabled remote delivery of services and expanded market reach, which helped reduce costs and enhance efficiency. Online matching platforms, VR training systems and case management software are examples of how technology has reduced costs and differentiated services to incentivize niche entry into underserved markets. And because of the strong growth in the number of establishments meeting demand and ample funding support during the pandemic, industry-wide revenue is expected to climb at a CAGR of 4.3% to $30.5 billion through 2025, with revenue growth inching up an estimated 1.7% in 2025 alone. The diversity of services offered and the unique characteristics of funding lead to disparate growth in services. Revenue for many establishments depends on the combination of government funding and private donations, which change with economic and government policy fluctuations, while demographic and social stressors impact the need for services. The disconnect between payors and clients creates an imbalance of funding and demand, adding to revenue volatility. Regional factors impact the provision of services and shortfalls. While demand in some states is growing because of increasing population, the long lead time to entry has led to a shortfall in provision.

Reorganizing key agencies under the new Administration for a Healthy America will bring some volatility to the industry. Government funding, crucial to more than half of industry revenue, faces volatility as restructuring could disrupt services, staffing and program effectiveness. This realignment offers potential efficiency gains through improved collaboration, but details about governance and resources remain in flux. Because of the uncertain impact of federal changes, private funding and state initiatives are vital for near-term future revenue growth. For-profit providers can leverage technology to reduce costs and capitalize on economies of scale, entering markets where nonprofits dominate. Telehealth innovations and online platforms lead to a broader reach and service efficiency, intensifying competition. As demand increases in rapidly growing states, nonprofit providers should streamline operations and secure diverse funding sources to meet community needs effectively. But despite numerous policy, technology and demographic shifts, industry revenue is forecast to climb at a slower CAGR of 1.2% through 2030 to total $32.5 billion with profit holding steady at a slim 3.1%.

In 2023, around 16,438 children in California who were the victims of child abuse were in foster care, the most out of any state. Florida, Texas, Arizona, and Illinois rounded out the five leading states for children in foster care in that year.

This dataset contains demographic and case characteristics of children in foster care in Norfolk with the goal of adoption. The dataset includes the sex, age, race, placement, parental rights status and adoption status of these children. The data is from Virginia’s Online Automated Services Information System (OASIS). OASIS is a comprehensive system that tracks the day-to-day activities performed by social workers statewide and is the official case record system for foster care and adoption cases in Virginia.

This dataset details the work accomplished by staff at the Norfolk Department of Human Services with the goal of finding safe, permanent homes for children in Norfolk’s foster care system. This dataset is updated monthly.

VariableDescriptionTime FrameChildren in foster carePoint in time counts of children placed in Foster Care.Point in time data as of 12/31/2021If an estimated child population for a CSA for any of the above categories (denominator) was 50 or less, the number of referrals or cases (numerator) for that ethnicity was reduced to zero. CSAs range in size and population, from the City of Long Beach to small unincorporated enclaves encompassing a few city blocks. Communities that had low overall populations might have a “Gossip Factor”, in which counts for all ethnicities were reduced to zero.

Cumulative Risks of Foster Care Placement from Birth to Age 18 for All U.S. Children and White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American Children, 2005.

The study of Indiana's Child Welfare reform was designed to identify community professionals' perceptions of the Department of Child Services (DCS) following the release of a pilot program to reform child welfare in the state of Indiana. In December, 2005, the pilot project was officially rolled out in three regions of the state. The three chosen regions of the state included 11 county agencies with both urban and rural population centers. Together these regions represented 28% of the state's CHINS (Child In Need of Service) population and 20% of the child fatalities for 2004. This study represents data collected to identify perceptions of the DCS by sending a survey to professionals in the 11 pilot and 12 comparison counties. The survey questions were arranged by categories of safety, permanency, well-being, DCS goals, the reform, team meetings, and demographics. Nine separate instruments were developed and disseminated for each community group. The community professionals surveyed included: Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs), foster parents, judges, Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs), medical and public health professionals, schools, social service professionals, and mental health professionals. Survey instruments were tailored to each audience, with questions that were derived from the DCS "Framework for Individualized Needs-Based Child Welfare Service Provisions," which outlined the agency's core practice values and principles.

About this dataset

Context

The dataset tabulates the Foster population by age cohorts (Children: Under 18 years; Working population: 18-64 years; Senior population: 65 years or more). It lists the population in each age cohort group along with its percentage relative to the total population of Foster. The dataset can be utilized to understand the population distribution across children, working population and senior population for dependency ratio, housing requirements, ageing, migration patterns etc.

Key observations

The largest age group was 18 to 64 years with a poulation of 156 (68.12% of the total population). Source: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates.

Content

When available, the data consists of estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates.

Age cohorts:

• Under 18 years
• 18 to 64 years
• 65 years and over

Variables / Data Columns

• Age Group: This column displays the age cohort for the Foster population analysis. Total expected values are 3 groups ( Children, Working Population and Senior Population).
• Population: The population for the age cohort in Foster is shown in the following column.
• Percent of Total Population: The population as a percent of total population of the Foster is shown in the following column.

Good to know

Margin of Error

Data in the dataset are based on the estimates and are subject to sampling variability and thus a margin of error. Neilsberg Research recommends using caution when presening these estimates in your research.

Custom data

If you do need custom data for any of your research project, report or presentation, you can contact our research staff at research@neilsberg.com for a feasibility of a custom tabulation on a fee-for-service basis.

Inspiration

Neilsberg Research Team curates, analyze and publishes demographics and economic data from a variety of public and proprietary sources, each of which often includes multiple surveys and programs. The large majority of Neilsberg Research aggregated datasets and insights is made available for free download at https://www.neilsberg.com/research/.

Recommended for further research

This dataset is a part of the main dataset for Foster Population by Age. You can refer the same here

VariableDescriptionTime FrameAll children with open casesPoint in time counts of children with open cases. This includes children served while with their families and those who were placed in foster care. Point in time data as of 12/31/2021If an estimated child population for a CSA for any of the above categories (denominator) was 50 or less, the number of referrals or cases (numerator) for that ethnicity was reduced to zero. CSAs range in size and population, from the City of Long Beach to small unincorporated enclaves encompassing a few city blocks. Communities that had low overall populations might have a “Gossip Factor”, in which counts for all ethnicities were reduced to zero.