Definitions: Children and youth adopted from birth up to age 20 in the child welfare system who have been adopted by age. Most states allow children to remain in the foster care system until their 18th birthday, though some states have age limits that extend a few years beyond this. The current indicator includes children up to age 20 regardless of their state limit.
Percent estimates in each age group are based on the total ages 0 to 20 where age is known. Missing age data are excluded from percentage and frequency distributions. Age at adoption was calculated as the difference between the child’s date of birth and date of adoption finalization. In the AFCARS adoption file, only the month and year of the child’s birth are provided, so the date of children’s birth was imputed as being on the 15th day of the month. National estimates include Puerto Rico.
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Data Source: Child Trends analysis of data from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), made available through the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect.
Footnotes:
Updated May 2013.
N.A. - Data not available.
Note: Maps use the natural break classification method, which reflects patterns
in the data by dividing the map into naturally occurring groups. Using statistical tools, this method
determines cut-off points for each group by identifying large gaps in data values.
Note: The District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are
not included in maps and rankings because they are not states and therefore comparisons on many
indicators of child well being are not meaningful.