Kids Count Data Center

Definitions: The number of children and youth from birth up to age 20 in the foster care system. 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. 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. National estimates include Puerto Rico.

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. - Data not available. 

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.