Foster care facts

About Foster Care

Aging out of the system

20% of children in foster care will become instantly homeless

Only 15% of foster children will attend college

1 out of 2 foster kids will have some form of employment

The system

  • On average a foster child will move four or move homes before aging out.
  • 10% of foster children spend more than 5 years in foster care.
  • Children in foster care wait 3 years or more to be adopted.
  • About 51% of children in foster care reunify with their birth parents.
  • About 61% of children are removed from their home due to abusive neglect.
  • About 52% of foster children are adopted by their foster parent.
  • There are more boys in the foster care system than girls (52% to 48%).
  • The average age of a foster child leaving foster care is 7 to 9 years old.
  • 26% of children entering foster care are under the age of 1.