Definitions: The number of children and youth from birth up to age 20 in the foster care system by placement type. 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 of children in each placement type are based on the total ages 0 to 20 in foster care, where placement type is known. Missing placement type data are excluded from percentage and frequency distributions. Youth are categorized as being in foster care if they entered prior to the end of the current fiscal year and have not been discharged from their latest foster care spell by the end of the current fiscal year. Placement type is the setting in which the child was living at the end of the fiscal year.
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 April 2013.
N.A. - 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.