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.

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).

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

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1. Scope and object of statistics: All child welfare projects based on the Child and Youth Welfare and Rights Protection Act are included in the statistics.2. Standard time for statistics: The dynamic data is based on the facts from January to March for the first quarter, April to June for the second quarter, July to September for the third quarter, and October to December for the fourth quarter. Static data is based on the facts at the end of March, June, September, and December.3. Classification standards: Divided according to the "number of foster families," "number of foster children and youth," and "foster care expenses."4. For detailed information and descriptions, please refer to the "Taichung City Government Statistics Network Information - Query of Public Office Statistics Plans for Various Agencies."

Statistics on government-issued personal identification for youth in foster care reported in compliance with Local Law 48 passed by City Council in 2014

The John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood (the Chafee program) provides funding to support youth/ young adults in or formerly in foster care in their transition to adulthood. The program is funded through formula grants awarded to child welfare agencies in States (including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and participating Tribes. The program is funded at $143 million a year.

Chafee funds are used to assist youth/ young adults in a wide variety of areas designed to support a successful transition to adulthood. Activities and programs include, but are not limited to, help with education, employment, financial management, housing, emotional support and assured connections to caring adults. Specific services and supports are determined by the child welfare agency, vary by State, locality and agency, and are often based on the individual needs of the young person. Many State or local agencies contract with private organizations to deliver services to young people.

Eligibility for the program, as outlined in federal law, includes:

States and Tribes may have additional requirements for eligibility. State and Tribal agencies may elect to serve young adults up to age 23 only if the agencies also offers foster care to young people up to age 21. The following states have opted to provide Chafee services to young people up to age 23: Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

The Chafee program has an additional appropriation of approximately $43 million annually for the Educational and Training Vouchers (ETV) Program. The ETV program provides financial resources to meet the post-secondary education and training needs of young adults who have experienced foster care after age 14. The program provides formula grants to States and participating Tribes to help young people pay for post-secondary educational and training. Under federal program requirements, agencies may award a voucher of up to $5,000 per year per young person to cover the unmet needs of the student’s cost of attendance at a post-secondary institution. The program can provide assistance to young people up to age 26, but an individual may receive a voucher for no more than a total of 5 years.

States receiving Chafee funding are required to submit data to the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD). NYTD data are used to learn more about services provided to and outcomes experienced by youth transitioning out of foster care. For more information on NYTD, visit the Children's Bureau NYTD webpage.

If you or someone you know may be eligible for Chafee services and/or the ETV program, please contact your local child welfare agency or state program manager.

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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.

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.

Number of first entries into foster care for children under age 18. Rates represent a three-year average of data. 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. For rates, LNE (Low Number Event) refers to data that have been suppressed because there were fewer than 20 first entries. N/A means that data are not available. 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 & Neglect, as cited on KIDS COUNT (May 2014). Retrieved May 31, 2015.

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.

This letter from the Children’s Bureau to child welfare leaders summarizes the major themes from 12 roundtable discussions with youth in or formerly in foster care about issues and challenges they are facing. Metadata-only record linking to the original dataset. Open original dataset below.

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.

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 joint Information Memorandum (IM) from the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF); Children’s Bureau (CB); Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB); and the Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) provides an overview of federal statutes related to human trafficking among children and youth in the child welfare system and highlights resources to meet those requirements.

ACF-IM-22-01 (PDF)

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This Information Memorandum (IM) is to remind state and tribal title IV-E agencies of the school enrollment and educational stability requirements for students in foster care included in the title IV-E and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Metadata-only record linking to the original dataset. Open original dataset below.

This dataset tracks the updates made on the dataset "Performance Dashboard Children and Youth in Foster Care" as a repository for previous versions of the data and metadata.

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).

This letter to child welfare directors urges agencies to consider taking additional steps to protect children and youth from identity theft and to explore how to implement the provision to empower youth by deepening their understanding of credit, money management, and other financial issues.

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On April 5, 2023, the Children’s Bureau issued Information Memorandum 23-04 on the changes to Medicaid eligibility for youth/young adults age 18 and older who transition out of foster care and move to a new state. On the webinar, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will provide an overview to the changes made by the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities (SUPPORT) Act and the State Health Official Letter issued by CMS. Following the CMS overview, the Children’s Bureau will provide information on the action steps states can take to collaborate on the implementation.

A critical component of the webinar is to provide information on how the implementation of the SUPPORT Act can be used to address the inequities and health disparities experienced by young people as they transition out of foster care.

Leaders from the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF) presented during the webinar. The webinar was originally recorded on May 11, 2023.

Audio Description Version

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