How many people are in foster care?

Foster Care. Many of America's child welfare systems are badly broken — and children can suffer serious harm as a result. Some will be separated from their siblings. Others will be bounced from one ... In 2015, more than 20,000 young people aged out of foster care without permanent families. read more

This factsheet provides the most recent national statistical estimates for children and youth in foster care from fiscal year (FY) 2016 and also provides earlier data from FY 2006 to allow for some estimate of trends over time. read more

On any given day, there are nearly 428,000 children in foster care in the United States. In 2015, over 670,000 children spent time in U.S. foster care. On average, children remain in state care for nearly two years and six percent of children in foster care have languished there for five or more years. read more

Through the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), the Children’s Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, collects data from the States about children who enter and exit foster care and children who are adopted from foster care. read more