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.

Increases in wages and purchase costs have challenged group homes' expenses to erode revenue. However, the industry's weak performance is mainly attributed to declines in demand, the impact of professional advocates campaigning for smaller, community-based settings and government policies supporting transitions to family settings and foster homes. Various socioeconomic conditions had also negatively impacted service providers' earnings. And contributing to softening in demand are decreases in crime, divorce and incarceration rates, which have reduced stressors on families and individuals and the need for group home services. Despite shifts in policy towards family settings, group homes and congregate care facilities serving newborns to young adults continue to provide services, but with industry revenue dropping at a CAGR of 1.0% through 2025 and gaining 0.2% to $9.9 billion in 2025 alone. Unfortunately, under-capacity does provide specific opportunities for group homes by encouraging them to diversify their services and engage more with their local community, including providing support for families. Providers can improve their financial performance by spurring demand by adopting new care and technology strategies, including trauma-informed care and technology-based, efficient health monitoring. The industry will see a higher growth in the number of enterprises than establishments, signaling a trend towards consolidation. However, the placement of enterprises may be influenced more by historical profitability rather than current market needs, potentially leading to a rise in closures of lower-performing providers. California, for instance, has a surplus of service providers for its population size, while some states have a shortage. Despite governmental policies favoring family-centered environments, a lack of foster homes across numerous states could thwart the shift away from group homes and residential treatment facilities will still be required for children who struggle to adapt or fit into a foster setting. Facing these challenges and remaining uncertain over the federal budget impacts for FY 2026, industry revenue is estimated to edge upward at a CAGR of 0.3%, to reach $10.1 billion through 2030, with declining profit.

The purpose of this data set is to provide information on the total number of admissions, discharges, and children in foster care, the type of care, and total Child Protective Services (CPS) reports indicated during period.

The Group Quarters Facilities data layer contains information on both institutional and non-institutional group quarters facilities in Southeast Michigan. According to the Census Bureau, group quarters are places where people live or stay, in a group living arrangement, that is owned or managed by an entity providing housing and/or services for the residents. This is not a typical household-type living arrangement and the people living in group quarters are usually not related to one another. It is important to monitor the group quarters population because they are sampled as individuals within Census Bureau surveys, rather than as members of a household unit, and less information is reported.Group Quarters TypesInstitutional group quarters provide supervised custody or care to inmates or residents. This includes correctional facilities, assisted living, nursing homes, and memory care.Non-institutional group quarters house residents who are able or eligible to be in the labor force. This includes student and military housing, group homes, residential treatment centers, and religious housing.Group Quarters Facility CountsData on group quarters facilities is decentralized, and collected from a variety of federal and state agencies, educational institutions, industry associations, and private sources. Group Quarters Facility AttributesSEMCOG maintains a limited number of attributes on the group quarters facility points data layer. Please note that because a single building may contain group quarters of different types, there will be cases where there is multiple records for a single structure. Table GQ.1 list the current attributes of the buildings dataset: Table GQ.1Group Quarters Dataset AttributesFIELDTYPEDESCRIPTIONCOUNTY_IDIntegerFIPS county code.CITY_IDIntegerSEMCOG code identifying the municipality, or for Detroit, master plan neighborhood, in which the building is located.BUILDING_IDLong IntegerUnique identifier number of each building from SEMCOG’s buildings layer.IDENTIFIERVarchar(20)Unique identifier assigned by a government agency in their own systems.Most often this field is NULL.FAC_NAMEVarchar(50)Name of the group quarters facility record.FAC_ADDRESSVarchar(50)Mailing address of the group quarters facility record.FAC_CITYVarchar(50)Name of legal jurisdiction in which the facility is located.FAC_ZIPCODELong IntegerFive digit zip code of the mailing address of the group quarters facility.LICENSED_BEDSIntegerCount of licensed beds OR maximum capacity of the group quarters facility.RESIDENT_COUNTIntegerCount of residents in the facility in spring 2020.GQ_CODEIntegerGroup quarters facility type classification code.Please see below.Group Quarters Classification CodeSEMCOG’s group quarters classification codes are adopted from the coding system established by the U.S. Census Bureau to classify group quarters in their data products. There are several Census codes not used by SEMCOG as our region does not contain those types of facilities, and one additional code added for a different type of facility. More information on Census group quarters codes, including full descriptions of each classification, can be found on the Census Bureau’s web site. SEMCOG classifies student housing differently than the Census, separating dorms from fraternities and sororities regardless of whether they are located on campus. In addition, student cooperative housing is added as an additional type due to the large number of such buildings in Ann Arbor. In addition, Census counts of homeless persons are distributed to government buildings in the largest community in each county and the City of Detroit to ensure their inclusion in the data layer.Table GQ.2Group Quarters Classification CodesGQ CODEDESCRIPTIONPRIMARY SOURCE102Federal PrisonsU.S. Bureau of Prisons103State PrisonsMichigan Department of Corrections104County JailsMichigan Department of Corrections201Juvenile Group HomesMichigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs202Juvenile Residential Treatment CentersU.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Admin203Juvenile Correctional FacilitiesMichigan Department of Corrections301Assisted Living and Skilled Nursing HomesU.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid andMichigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs401Adult Mental Hospitals and Psychiatric Units in HospitalsMichigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs402Pediatric Mental Hospitals and Psychiatric Units in HospitalsMichigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs403Palliative Care such as Hospice, Traumatic Brain Injury, etc.Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs404Special Psychiatric PopulationsMichigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs405Neonatal Intensive Care UnitsMichigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs501College Student DormitoriesIndividual College Housing Department502Fraternities and SororitiesPublic Research503College Student Cooperative HousingPublic Research701Transitional Housing SheltersPublic Research and U.S. Census Bureau702Homeless SheltersPublic Research and U.S. Census Bureau801Adult Foster HomesMichigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs802Adult Residential Treatment CentersU.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Admin904Religious Quarters and Domestic Violence SheltersMichigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs

In 2022, the child abuse rate for children of Hispanic origin was at 7, indicating 7 out of every 1,000 Hispanic children in the United States suffered from some sort of abuse. This rate was highest among American Indian or Alaska Native children, with 14.3 children out of every 1,000 experiencing some form of abuse. Child abuse in the U.S. The child abuse rate in the United States is highest among American Indian or Alaska Native victims, followed by African-American victims. It is most common among children between two to five years of age. While child abuse cases are fairly evenly distributed between girls and boys, more boys than girls are victims of abuse resulting in death. The most common type of maltreatment is neglect, followed by physical abuse. Risk factors Child abuse is often reported by teachers, law enforcement officers, or social service providers. In the large majority of cases, the perpetrators of abuse were a parent of the victim. Risk factors, such as teen pregnancy, violent crime, and poverty that are associated with abuse and neglect have been found to be quite high in the United States in comparison to other countries.

A household consists of all the people occupying a housing unit. A household includes related and unrelated persons, if any, such as lodgers, foster children, wards, or employees who share the housing unit. A person living alone in a housing unit, or a group of unrelated people sharing a housing unit such as partners or roomers, is also counted as a household. The count of households excludes group quarters. Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, American Community Survey Years Available: 2010, 2015-2019