506,483 U.S. Children in Foster Care are Waiting for Reform

Children in foster care would benefit from federal financing reform, which would let states use funds flexibly to provide services before, during and after foster care. Savings could be reinvested: to reunite children with their families, place them with adoptive families, or provide guardianships when reunification and adoption are not possible.

In the United States, only 10% of federal dollars for child welfare can be spent flexibly to serve children and families. Approximately $742 million dollars out of a total of $7.2 billion child welfare dollars are flexible.

Who are the children waiting in the U.S. foster care system?

506,483 children in foster care
31.9% of foster children are between ages of 0 and 5
28.2% of foster children are between ages of 6 and 12
39.7% of foster children are between ages of 13 and 21
Average number of birthdays a child spends in foster care: 2 birthdays (28.8 months)
42% of children experience three or more foster care placements
18.2% (93,521) of children live in group care or institutional settings

What are United States' foster children waiting for?

251,020 (49.6%) are waiting to be reunified with their birth families
115,893 (22.9%) are waiting to be adopted
Average time foster care children have been waiting to be adopted: 42 months

Where did the United States' children go after leaving foster care in 2005?

286,005 children exited foster care
153,335 (53.6%) were returned to their parents
50,599 (17.7%) were adopted
43,457 (15.2%) left to live with relatives or via guardianships
24,211 (8.5%) "aged out" of foster care at 18 or older
11,425 (4.0%) left for other reasons (ran away, transferred, died)

This information is from federal AFCARS data, 2005