In 2022, about 60 percent of Hispanic origin children lived with two married parents in the United States. On the other hand, about 4.3 percent of Hispanic origin children in the country lived with their father only.

In 2021, about 48.8 percent of U.S. children were White, non-Hispanic; 26 percent were Hispanic; 13.9 percent were Black, non-Hispanic; and 5.6 percent were Asian, non-Hispanic. The share of Hispanic children in the United States has been steadily increasing since 2000.

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.

These data are related to DCYF’s Office of Innovation, Alignment, and Accountability (OIAA) prevention dashboards, published to support the agency’s efforts to prevent child maltreatment. Those dashboards can be found here: https://www.dcyf.wa.gov/practice/oiaa/reports/prevention-dashboard

Much of the data requested by the Strengthen Families Locally communities to inform their planning, and thus contained in these initial dashboards and datasets, are what we know about children entering out-of-home care (OOH care) – age distribution, counts, rates, trends over time, and race/ethnicity. In 2022, about 3,370 children entered out of home care statewide, a record low for Washington State.

The prevention dashboards and datasets also include descriptive data on children in Child Protection Services (CPS) intakes – rates of intakes “screened-in” for a CPS response, as well as the types of referents referring to CPS. In 2022, DCYF received CPS intakes involving over 89,000 children statewide, and 46,000 total children in intakes screened in for a CPS response.

Some of the data focus on children aged 0 to 1 (or birth to just under 2 years old). This group of children enter out-of-home care at a high rate, and the Strengthen Families Locally communities have identified that early intervention with this group of children and their families can be especially impactful.

OIAA expects to update these dashboards and datasets annually. In addition, we will be working to develop additional dashboards to support other related DCYF prevention efforts.

These data are related to DCYF’s Office of Innovation, Alignment, and Accountability (OIAA) prevention dashboards, published to support the agency’s efforts to prevent child maltreatment. Those dashboards can be found here: https://www.dcyf.wa.gov/practice/oiaa/reports/prevention-dashboard Much of the data requested by the Strengthen Families Locally communities to inform their planning, and thus contained in these initial dashboards and datasets, are what we know about children entering out-of-home care (OOH care) – age distribution, counts, rates, trends over time, and race/ethnicity. In 2022, about 3,370 children entered out of home care statewide, a record low for Washington State. The prevention dashboards and datasets also include descriptive data on children in Child Protection Services (CPS) intakes – rates of intakes “screened-in” for a CPS response, as well as the types of referents referring to CPS. In 2022, DCYF received CPS intakes involving over 89,000 children statewide, and 46,000 total children in intakes screened in for a CPS response. Some of the data focus on children aged 0 to 1 (or birth to just under 2 years old). This group of children enter out-of-home care at a high rate, and the Strengthen Families Locally communities have identified that early intervention with this group of children and their families can be especially impactful. OIAA expects to update these dashboards and datasets annually. In addition, we will be working to develop additional dashboards to support other related DCYF prevention efforts.

In the United States, more white children died due to abuse or maltreatment than other racial or ethnic groups. In 2022, around 549 Black or African-American children died due to abuse or maltreatment, compared to 577 white children. However, the rate of Black or African-American children who died due to abuse stood at 6.37 deaths per 1,000 children, compared to 1.99 deaths per 1,000 children for white children.

This dataset contains aggregate data concerning the number of children that exited DCF care to an Adoption. These figures are broken out by the DCF Region and Office responsible for the child's care, by their Race/Ethnicity, and by whether their exit from care occurred within 24 months of their entry to care or not. It would be appropriate to roll up the data from all variables across multiple time periods, as they represent specific events in the lives of these children. Please note that these figures do not represent unique children, and so should not be used as the basis for creating a rate based on the child population of the state. These data form the basis of measurement for the Juan F. Consent Decree Exit Plan Outcome #8: Adoption Within 24 Months, although those figures are reported to the DCF Court Monitor on a quarterly rather than annual schedule.

This dataset contains aggregate data concerning the number of child placement episodes that ended with a legal discharge from DCF care, and for whom the end of a 12 month observation period (starting with their legal discharge date) terminated during the SFY. These figures are broken out by the DCF Region and Office responsible for the child's care, by their Race/Ethnicity, and by whether another placement episode for that child began within 12 months of their discharge from care or not. It would be appropriate to roll up the data from all variables across multiple time periods, as they represent specific events in the lives of these children. These data form the basis of measurement for the Juan F. Consent Decree Exit Plan Outcome #11: Permanency Maintained (No Re-Entry), although those figures are reported to the DCF Court Monitor on a quarterly rather than annual schedule.

Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women had the highest fertility rate of any ethnicity in the United States in 2022, with about 2,237.5 births per 1,000 women. The fertility rate for all ethnicities in the U.S. was 1,656.5 births per 1,000 women. What is the total fertility rate? The total fertility rate is an estimation of the number of children who would theoretically be born per 1,000 women through their childbearing years (generally considered to be between the ages of 15 and 44) according to age-specific fertility rates. The fertility rate is different from the birth rate, in that the birth rate is the number of births in relation to the population over a specific period of time. Fertility rates around the world Fertility rates around the world differ on a country-by-country basis, and more industrialized countries tend to see lower fertility rates. For example, Niger topped the list of the countries with the highest fertility rates, and Taiwan had the lowest fertility rate.

This dataset contains aggregate data concerning the number of children who entered DCF placement during a given SFY (July 1 – June 30). These figures are broken out by the DCF Region and Office responsible for the child's care, the child's Race/Ethnicity, and the Placement Type category into which the child was initially placed.

This dataset contains aggregate data concerning the number of children with substantiated abuse/neglect reports, and for whom the end of a 6 month observation period (starting with either the date the substantiated report had been accepted, or the specific incident date if one was provided) terminated during the SFY. These figures are broken out by the DCF Region and Office responsible for the child's care, by their Race/Ethnicity, and by whether another report of substantiated abuse/neglect occurred within 12 months of the first substantiation or not. It would be appropriate to roll up the data from all variables across multiple time periods, as they represent specific events in the lives of these children. These data form the basis of measurement for the Juan F. Consent Decree Exit Plan Outcome #7: Safety Maintained (No Repeat Maltreatment), although those figures are reported to the DCF Court Monitor on a quarterly rather than annual schedule.

This dataset contains aggregate data concerning the number of unique children placed in open DCF placements on the observation date (July 1st each year). These figures are broken out by the DCF Region and Office responsible for the child's care, the child's Race/Ethnicity, whether the placement setting is in or out-of-state, and by the categorical Placement Type in which the child is residing on the observation date.

As recommended by the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to ensure consistency across all HHSC agencies, in 2012 DFPS adopted the HHSC methodology on how to categorize race and ethnicity. As a result, data broken down by race and ethnicity in 2012 and after is not directly comparable to race and ethnicity data in 2011 and before.

The population totals may not match previously printed DFPS Data Books. Past population estimates are adjusted based on the U.S. Census data as it becomes available. This is important to keep the data in line with current best practices, but may cause some past counts, such as Abuse/Neglect Victims per 1,000 Texas Children, to be recalculated.

Population Data Source - Population Estimates and Projections Program, Texas State Data Center, Office of the State Demographer and the Institute for Demographic and Socioeconomic Research, The University of Texas at San Antonio.

Current population estimates and projections data as of December 2020.

Visit dfps.texas.gov for information on all DFPS programs.

This dataset includes birth rates for unmarried women by age group, race, and Hispanic origin in the United States since 1970.

Methods for collecting information on marital status changed over the reporting period and have been documented in:

• Ventura SJ, Bachrach CA. Nonmarital childbearing in the United States, 1940–99. National vital statistics reports; vol 48 no 16. Hyattsville, Maryland: National Center for Health Statistics. 2000. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr48/nvs48_16.pdf. • National Center for Health Statistics. User guide to the 2013 natality public use file. Hyattsville, Maryland: National Center for Health Statistics. 2014. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data_access/VitalStatsOnline.htm.

National data on births by Hispanics origin exclude data for Louisiana, New Hampshire, and Oklahoma in 1989; for New Hampshire and Oklahoma in 1990; for New Hampshire in 1991 and 1992. Information on reporting Hispanic origin is detailed in the Technical Appendix for the 1999 public-use natality data file (see (ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Health_Statistics/NCHS/Dataset_Documentation/DVS/natality/Nat1999doc.pdf.)

All birth data by race before 1980 are based on race of the child. Starting in 1980, birth data by race are based on race of the mother.

This dataset contains aggregate data concerning the number of children who entered and/or exited DCF placement during a given calendar month. These figures are broken out by the child's Age Group (based on age at date of entry/exit), and the Race/Ethnicity category with which the child identifies. The dataset is updated every two weeks, with a two week delay built into the update to allow for data entry to be complete and correct.

This statistic shows the number of children without health insurance in the U.S. in 2022, sorted by race/ethnicity. Some 1.6 million non-Hispanic white children in the United States were uninsured. Whereas, the number of uninsured children in the Black-only group was around 0.4 million.

The Census Bureau determines that a person is living in poverty when his or her total household income compared with the size and composition of the household is below the poverty threshold. The Census Bureau uses the federal government's official definition of poverty to determine the poverty threshold. Beginning in 2000, individuals were presented with the option to select one or more races. In addition, the Census asked individuals to identify their race separately from identifying their Hispanic origin. The Census has published individual tables for the races and ethnicities provided as supplemental information to the main table that does not dissaggregate by race or ethnicity. Race categories include the following - White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, Some other race, and Two or more races. We are not including specific combinations of two or more races as the counts of these combinations are small. Ethnic categories include - Hispanic or Latino and White Non-Hispanic. This data comes from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year estimates, table B17001. The ACS collects these data from a sample of households on a rolling monthly basis. ACS aggregates samples into one-, three-, or five-year periods. CTdata.org generally carries the five-year datasets, as they are considered to be the most accurate, especially for geographic areas that are the size of a county or smaller.Poverty status determined is the denominator for the poverty rate. It is the population for which poverty status was determined so when poverty is calculated they exclude institutionalized people, people in military group quarters, people in college dormitories, and unrelated individuals under 15 years of age.Below poverty level are households as determined by the thresholds based on the criteria of looking at household size, Below poverty level are households as determined by the thresholds based on the criteria of looking at household size, number of children, and age of householder.number of children, and age of householder.

Family Preservation Services (FPR) are services provided to the child and the family where the caregiver retains legal custody. Counts children entering Family Based Safety Services Family Preservation Stages during the fiscal year. NOTE: Family Preservation Services is under the umbrella of Family Based Safety Services (FBSS).

OEC summary of Race and Ethnicity of the children with an Active Care 4 Kids Certificate in June of 2017. The Summary is listed by Town.

The typical American picture of a family with 2.5 kids might not be as relevant as it once was: In 2023, there was an average of 1.94 children under 18 per family in the United States. This is a decrease from 2.33 children under 18 per family in 1960.

Familial structure in the United States

If there’s one thing the United States is known for, it’s diversity. Whether this is diversity in ethnicity, culture, or family structure, there is something for everyone in the U.S. Two-parent households in the U.S. are declining, and the number of families with no children are increasing. The number of families with children has stayed more or less constant since 2000.

Adoptions in the U.S.

Families in the U.S. don’t necessarily consist of parents and their own biological children. In 2021, around 35,940 children were adopted by married couples, and 13,307 children were adopted by single women.