Statistics on youth in foster care reported in compliance with Local Law 145 amended by City Council. Cells with one to five youth are not shown to protect anonymity.

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 Performance Dashboard (formerly Performance Outcomes System) datasets are developed in line with legislative mandates to improve outcomes and inform decision making regarding individuals receiving Medi-Cal Specialty Mental Health Services (SMHS). The Dashboard gathers information relevant to specific mental health outcomes and provides useful summary reports for ongoing quality improvement and to support decision making. Please note: the Excel file Performance Dashboard has been discontinued and replaced with the SMHS Performance Dashboards found on Behavioral Health Reporting (ca.gov).

In 2022, about 368,530 children in the United States were living in foster care. This is a sharp decrease from the previous year, when about 407,318 children were living in foster care nationwide.

States report information from two reporting populations: (1) The Served Population which is information on all youth receiving at least one independent living services paid or provided by the Chafee Program agency, and (2) Youth completing the NYTD Survey. States survey youth regarding six outcomes: financial self-sufficiency, experience with homelessness, educational attainment, positive connections with adults, high-risk behaviors, and access to health insurance. States collect outcomes information by conducting a survey of youth in foster care on or around their 17th birthday, also referred to as the baseline population. States will track these youth as they age and conduct a new outcome survey on or around the youth's 19th birthday; and again on or around the youth's 21st birthday, also referred to as the follow-up population. States will collect outcomes information on these older youth at ages 19 or 21 regardless of their foster care status or whether they are still receiving independent living services from the State. Depending on the size of the State's foster care youth population, some States may conduct a random sample of the baseline population of the 17-year-olds that participate in the outcomes survey so that they can follow a smaller group of youth as they age. All States will collect and report outcome information on a new baseline population cohort every three years.

Units of Response: Current and former youth in foster care

Type of Data: Administrative

Tribal Data: No

Periodicity: Annual

Demographic Indicators: Ethnicity;Race;Sex

SORN: Not Applicable

Data Use Agreement: https://www.ndacan.acf.hhs.gov/datasets/request-dataset.cfm

Data Use Agreement Location: https://www.ndacan.acf.hhs.gov/datasets/order_forms/termsofuseagreement.pdf

Granularity: Individual

Spatial: United States

Geocoding: FIPS Code

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.

The Transitional Living Services Program includes the Preparation for Adult Living (PAL) program, Education and Training Voucher (ETV) program and other services and supports to help youth transition from foster care to a successful adulthood.

PAL services ensure that youth in DFPS foster care and those transitioning from foster care to a successful adulthood receive the tools, resources, supports, and personal and community connections they need to become self-sufficient adults. PAL supportive services and benefits are provided to eligible youth and young adults ages 16 to 21. 14-15 year old youth in the Permanent Managing Conservatorship (PMC) of DFPS will receive a life skills assessment. All other youth age 14 and 15 can be served, if funding or resources are available.

The ETV program can assist youth and young adults ages 16-23. ETV services can be provided to eligible youth and young adults for 5 years or 15 semesters up to their 23rd birthday.

This dataset contains all former foster youth enrolled in Medi-Cal. The Medi-Cal Former Foster Youth (FFY) program provides full scope Medi-Cal to individuals up to the age of 26 who were in foster care at age 18 or older.

Number of children under age 21 in foster care as of July 1 of each year, by age group. This is a point-in-time, unduplicated count of children under the supervision of county welfare departments and excludes cases under the supervision of county probation departments, out-of-state agencies, state adoptions district offices, and Indian child welfare departments. The total by age group may not add up to total number of children in foster care due to missing values. U.S. totals reflect children in foster care as of Sept. 30 each year. N/A means that data are not available. Note: Although U.S. data are not available for children ages 1-2 and 3-5, data for children ages 1-5, combined, is available on KIDS COUNT. Data Source: Needell, B., et al. (May 2014). Child Welfare Services Reports for California, U.C. Berkeley Center for Social Services Research; U.S. data come from Child Trends analysis of Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System data available through the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect, as cited on KIDS COUNT (May 2014). Retrieved on May 31, 2015.

In 2022, about 25,338 children under one-year-old in the United States were living in foster care. In that same year, about 20,163 children aged 16 years old were living in foster care nationwide.

This report provides information about the use of psychiatric medication by children in foster care. It is produced in compliance with Local Law 34 of 2022.

In 2021, there were slightly more boys in foster care in the United States than girls. In that year, about 191,037 children in foster care were female, representing a little less than half of the total children in foster care.

Users can view maps and tables related to child welfare policies in the United States. Background The State Child Welfare Policy Database contains a variety of information related to child welfare policies in each state. Data topics are grouped under three categories: child welfare financing; kinship care policies; older youth in foster care. Child welfare financing provides data on topics such as total expenditures, TANF, Title IV, and medicaid. Kinship care policies includes information on locating kin, guardianship policies, foster care and private kin arrangement s. Older youth in foster care includes information on foster care age limits, placements for older youth, and state-funded independent living transition services. User FunctionalityUsers can search by topic or by state. Data is presented in either a table (for state specific information) or by map (for data topic information). Data is available on a state level. Data tables are available for download in Excel format. Data Notes The data source is clearly labeled, and a link to the data source or to the state's welfare website is provided.

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.

Percentage of first entries into foster care for children under age 18, by removal reason (e.g., 8.5% of children entering foster care for the first time in California in 2011-2013 were removed from their families due to physical abuse). First entries into foster care are unduplicated counts of children under the supervision of county welfare departments and exclude cases under the supervision of county probation departments, out-of-state agencies, state adoptions district offices, and Indian child welfare departments. Counts are based on the first out-of-home placement of eight days or more, even if it was not the first actual placement. 'Other' includes removals due to exploitation, child’s disability or handicap, and other reasons. LNE (Low Number Event) refers to data that have been suppressed because there were fewer than 80 total children with first entries. N/A means that data are not available. The sum of all reasons for removal percentages may not add up to 100% due to missing values. Data Source: Needell, B., et al. (May 2014). Child Welfare Services Reports for California, U.C. Berkeley Center for Social Services Research. Retrieved on May 31, 2015.

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.

The Performance Dashboard (formerly Performance Outcomes System) datasets are developed in line with legislative mandates to improve outcomes and inform decision making regarding individuals receiving Medi-Cal Specialty Mental Health Services (SMHS). The Dashboard gathers information relevant to specific mental health outcomes and provides useful summary reports for ongoing quality improvement and to support decision making. Please note: the Excel file Performance Dashboard has been discontinued and replaced with the SMHS Performance Dashboards found on Behavioral Health Reporting (ca.gov).

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 https://www.dfps.texas.gov/ for information on substitute care placements and all DFPS programs.

Foster Care Placements - Children Served (For Fiscal Years 2006-2013)

The purpose of the study was to examine criminal behavior and criminal justice system involvement among youth making the transition from out-of-home care to independent adulthood. The study collected data from two sources: (1) survey data from the Midwest Study of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth (Midwest Study), and (2) official arrest data. The Midwest Study was a longitudinal panel study that was part of a collaborative effort of the state public child welfare agencies in Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, and the University of Washington. The participating states funded and/or operated the full range of services supported by the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program. The Midwest Study survey data were collected directly from the youth in the sample every two years over three waves, between May 2002 and January 2007. A total of 732 respondents participated in at least one of the in-person interviews over the three waves. This data collection includes some variables that were directly measured from the original Midwest Study survey instrument and other variables that were computed or derived from variables in the original data for purposes of the current study. To supplement the survey data, the research team accessed official arrest data from each state for this study. Researchers obtained data on all criminal arrests that occurred between the respondents' Wave 1 interview and August 31, 2007, a date by which all of the study participants were at least 21 years old. The study contains a total of 85 variables including indicator variables, demographic and background variables, delinquency and crime variables, out-of-home care experiences variables, and social bonds variables.