How often does a child enter the U.S. foster care system?

Every 2 minutes, a child enters foster care in America. That works out to over 200,000 new entries every year.

How many foster youth age out of the system each year without a family?

Approximately 20,000 young adults age out of the U.S. foster care system every year without a permanent family or legal guardian.

What percentage of youth who age out of foster care experience homelessness?

Roughly 50% of youth who age out of foster care will experience homelessness within two years of leaving the system.

The Data · 365 Days a Year

Foster Care, By the Numbers.

Q: How many children are currently in the U.S. foster care system?

More than 400,000 children are currently in the U.S. foster care system. Data sourced from AFCARS (U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services), The Casey Foundation, and the National Foster Youth Institute.

Shining a light on the reality of the system through data.

Headline Figures · United States

400,000+

Children currently in the U.S. foster care system.

20,000

Young adults “age out” of the system every year without a permanent family.

50%

Of youth who age out will experience homelessness within two years.

Every 2 min.

A child enters foster care in America.

Data sourced from AFCARS (U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services), The Casey Foundation, and the National Foster Youth Institute.

Demographics · Care Profile

Who is in care — and for how long.

Foster care is not one experience. It's an infant placed at birth, a teenager in a fifth home, a sibling group held together by a grandparent, a youth turning 18 with nowhere to go. The averages below outline the shape of the system.

Source: AFCARS FY 2023 Report (Children's Bureau, 2024).

Average age in care

8.4 years

Median time in care

15.5 months

Children re-entering care

~26,000/year

Placed with relatives (kinship)

35%

Placed in non-relative foster families

45%

Placed in group homes / institutions

After the System · The Outcomes We Don't Talk About

What happens when no one shows up.

For the 20,000 youth who exit foster care each year without a permanent family, the outcomes are not theoretical. They are measurable — and devastating. These figures are why 365 exists: because awareness for one month a year is not enough.

60%

of child sex trafficking victims have a history of foster care or group homes

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, 2024

2×

more likely to suffer from PTSD than U.S. war veterans (former foster youth)

Casey Family Programs — Northwest Alumni Study

<3%

of former foster youth earn a college degree by age 25 (vs. 36% of general population)

National Foster Youth Institute

1 in 4

former foster youth experience PTSD-level symptoms within 4 years of leaving care

Casey Family Programs

70%

of girls who age out of care become pregnant by age 21

Annie E. Casey Foundation · Midwest Study

~25%

of foster youth become incarcerated within 2 years of leaving the system

Juvenile Law Center, 2023

Methodology

How these numbers were gathered.

All headline figures are drawn from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services' Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), FY 2023 report (released 2024). AFCARS is the federal mandatory reporting system covering every state and territory.

Outcome statistics — aging-out, education, trafficking links, mental-health outcomes — are drawn from Casey Family Programs (Northwest Alumni Study and Midwest Evaluation), the National Foster Youth Institute, the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Kids Count Data Center, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, and the Juvenile Law Center.

Figures are updated annually as new federal data is released. If you spot a source that is out of date, please flag it.

From Data to Action

Numbers don't change lives.

People do. Become a foster parent, a mentor, a respite caregiver, a court-appointed advocate, a donor, or a story-sharer. Every role matters.

Ways to Help Am I Ready to Foster?