How many children are in foster care in the United States? In my state? How long do children stay in foster care? What happens to them after they emancipate?

Publication Date: July 15, 2021
Current as of:

Answer

The Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) is the main source of statistical data regarding children who enter foster care. The AFCARS reports include national data on the demographics (e.g., age, gender, race and ethnicity) of children in the public foster care system, their length of stay in foster care, placement settings, case goals, reasons for discharge, and the number of entries and exits for the fiscal year.

Children may exit out-of-home care for several reasons, including reunification with parents or adoption. On average, children and youth are in an out-of-home placement for 1 to 2 years before exiting care. All available reports, including additional state-by-state adoption and foster care statistics, are posted on the Children's Bureau website.

Another federal source of statistics on children in foster care is the Child Welfare Outcomes reports. These reports, a requirement of the Adoption and Safe Families Act, examine each state's performance on seven child welfare outcomes, including increasing permanency for children in foster care, reducing the time in foster care to reunification without increasing reentry, and reducing time in foster care to adoption.

Research on the foster care population that aged out of care is limited, and the few studies that are available have typically focused on a small number of states. The National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD) is a national data collection system that is used to identify outcomes for young adults who are either currently or have been involved in foster care.

NYTD data collection has helped advance a national goal of better understanding which independent living services are more likely to lead to positive outcomes for young people. The NYTD outcomes reports summarize the demographic data and the financial and social outcomes of former youth who recently transitioned out of foster care.

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