Facing the Quiet Crisis
A Growing Population. On any given day, there are nearly 542,000 children and youth in foster care, over an 80% increase since 1987. Nearly half of those children are over the age of ten and almost a third are in the system for more than three years.
The State or the Streets? While many live with licensed foster parents, 18% of children in the foster care system are in a group home or institution. Nearly 10,000 foster children are runaways.1
Cutting Family Ties. Though national statistics are not available, estimates are that over half of children in foster care have siblings who are also in care. In January, 2003, for example, 68% of children in the California child welfare system had at least one sibling on out-of-home care.2
A Permanent Mark. Children in foster care are three to six times more likely than children not in care to have emotional, behavioral, and developmental problems, including conduct disorders, depression, difficulties in school, and impaired social relationships.3
The Real Outcome. A recent study has found that 12-18 months after leaving foster care:3
- 27% of the males and 10% of the females had been incarcerated.
- 33% were receiving public assistance
- 37% had not finished high school
- 50% were unemployed
In fact, three in ten of the nation’s homeless have spent time in foster care.3
1Data for the period ending Sept. 30, 2001 and taken from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) Report: Preliminary FY2001. Courtesy of The Casey Family Programs Child Welfare Fact Sheet 3.15.2004.
2Child Welfare Services (CWS/CMS) Report: Timely and useful data about children in the California Child Welfare System. Child Welfare Sibling Placement from CWS/CMS Highlights January 2003. Courtesy of The Casey Family Programs Child Welfare Fact Sheet 3.15.2004.
3 Casey Family Programs National Center for Resource Family Support.