Foster Care in the United States

On any given day, there are nearly 443,000 children in foster care in the United States.

In 2017, more than 690,000 children spent time in U.S. foster care.

On average, children remain in state care for nearly two years and six percent of children in foster care have languished there for five or more years.

Despite the common perception that the majority of children in foster care are very young, the average age of kids entering care is 8.

In 2017, one third of children entering U.S. foster care were young people of color.

While most children in foster care live in family settings, a substantial minority — 11 percent — live in institutions or group homes.

In 2017, more than 69,000 children – whose mothers’ and fathers’ parental rights had been legally terminated – were waiting to be adopted.