From Child Welfare Information Gateway Statistics on Foster Care Children In Care

As of September 30, 2003, there were an estimated 523,000 children in foster care.

Placement Types

Of the estimated 523,000 children in foster care as of September 30, 2003, 46 percent were in nonrelative foster family homes, 23 percent were in relative foster homes, 19 percent were in group homes or institutions, 5 percent were in pre-adoptive homes, and 7 percent were in other placement types.

Permanency Goals

Of the estimated 523,000 children in foster care as of September 30, 2003, 48 percent had a goal of reunification with parent(s) or principal caregiver(s), 20 percent had a goal of adoption, 8 percent had a goal of living with a relative or guardian, 8 percent had a goal of long-term foster care, 6 percent had a goal of emancipation, and 10 percent had not yet had a permanency goal established.

Outcomes

Exits. Of the estimated 281,000 children who exited foster care during FY 2003, 55 percent were reunified with parent(s) or primary caretaker(s), 18 percent were adopted, 15 percent went to live with a relative or guardian, 8 percent were emancipated, and 4 percent had other outcomes. The percentage of children adopted increased by 4 percent, while the percentage of children reunified with family decreased by 7 percent between FY 1998 and FY 2003.

Length of Stay

Of the estimated 281,000 children who exited foster care during FY 2003, 18 percent had been in care less than 1 month, 32 percent had been in care for 1 to 11 months, 20 percent had been in care for 12 to 23 months, 11 percent had been in care for 24 to 35 months, 10 percent had been in care for 36 to 59 months, and 9 percent had been in care for 5 or more years. The median length of stay was 11 months in FY 1998 and 11.9 months in FY 2002.

Age

The median age of the children in foster care on September 30, 2003, was 10.9 years. The median age of children entering foster care during FY 2003 was 8.3 years. The median age of children exiting foster care during FY 2003 was 10.0 years.

Race/Ethnicity

Of the estimated 523,000 children in foster care as of September 30, 2003, 39 percent were White/Non-Hispanic, 35 percent were Black/Non-Hispanic, 17 percent were Hispanic, and 9 percent were other races/ethnic origins.

Gender

Of the estimated 523,000 children in foster care as of September 30, 2003, 53 percent were male and 48 percent were female.

Reentries

According to Child Welfare Outcomes 2002: Annual Report, a median of 9.9 percent of children who entered foster care in FY 2002 were reentering the system within 12 months of a previous discharge (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2005c).

Abuse and Neglect by Foster Parents

As reported in Child Maltreatment 2003, 0.5 percent of the perpetrators of abuse or neglect were foster parents (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2005b).

Cost

The Urban Institute estimates that in FY 2002, total spending (Federal, State, and local) for out-of-home care was at least $10 billion (Scarcella et al., 2004).

From Public Broadcasting Front Line Failure to Protect

It wasn't until the mid-1990s that the federal government set up the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) and started collecting data from states about the children in their foster care systems. We now know, for instance, that the largest portion of children in foster care are those aged 11 to 15 years, and that boys slightly outnumber girls. Following is a sample of other stats and facts generated by AFCARS and other national databases and resources.

»Overview

• Total number of reports to child protective agencies in 2000: 2.8 million
• Percentage of those reports that met the standards for an investigation and/or assessment: 62 percent, or 1.7 million cases
• Number of substantiated cases of abuse/neglect in 2000: Approximately 500,000
• Number of children placed in foster care in 2000: 291,000

»Life in the System

• Total number of children in foster care in 2000: 556,000
• Average length of stay in foster care for those in the system in 2000: 33 months; the median is 20 months
• Percentage of children in foster care on Sept. 30, 1998, who had been placed in five or more homes: 16 percent
  

»Demographic Profile of Children in Care

POVERTY:
According to estimates from the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means, more than 50 percent of the children in foster care in 1999 were given federal foster care assistance, which is tied to eligibility for welfare benefits. "The number of children in federally assisted foster care has grown significantly in the years since funding first became available under AFDC in the early 1960s," the committee said in its 2000 Green Book.

RACE OF CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE (2000):

»Outcomes for Children in Foster Care (2000):

• Children in foster care whose parents' parental rights were terminated: 75,000
• Number of children adopted from foster care: 51,000
• Reasons children exited foster care

»An Uncertain Legacy:

According to a survey of foster care alumni conducted by Casey Family Programs, 13 percent reported being homeless at least once since being discharged. Further, fully 15 percent of the alumni reported being arrested since leaving foster care. "When the system fails, the children are very likely to move out of the system into the juvenile justice system, into the welfare system, into the adult criminal justice system," says Richard Gelles, dean of the University of Pennsylvania's School of Social Work and one of the authors of the 1997 Adoption and Safe Families Act.

»Sources

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Child Maltreatment 2000 (2002); AFCARS, interim FY2000 estimates as of August 2002; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Child Welfare Outcomes 1999: Annual Report (2002); U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means, Green Book 2000; Casey Family Programs, "Assessing Foster Care Alumni Outcomes: A Short-Term Follow Up Study."