Foster Care Statistics
Foster care facts and statistics.
Behind every statistic in foster care is a child with dreams, fears, and infinite potential. While the numbers below reflect a system in crisis, they also represent thousands of opportunities for caring adults to step forward and make a profound difference.
Foster Care (also known as out-of-home care) is a temporary service provided by states for children who cannot live with their families.
Children in foster care may live with relatives or with unrelated foster parents. Foster care can also refer to placement settings such as group homes, residential care facilities, emergency shelters, and supervised independent living.
In 2024 there were over 118,362 referrals made to child welfare agencies in Colorado. More than 3,655,730 were made throughout the United States in 2023.
According to the most recent federal data, there are currently more than 368,000 children in foster care in the United States.
The most common reasons for entering foster care include:
- Neglect 62%
- Parental Substance Use 38%
- Physical Abuse 13%
46% of foster care placements end with reunification and 27% end with adoption.
The Crisis
Too many children in Colorado don’t have a safe place to call home.
In July of 2020 there were 4,502 children in out-of-home care in Colorado and only 2,372 certified foster or kinship families.
4,502
Children in Foster Care
and only
2,372
Certified Foster Homes
In 2023, there were 15,590 young adults across the country that left the child welfare system due to aging out. A survey done by the National Youth Advocate Program showed more than 1/3 of foster youth who leave the system in Colorado are homeless by age 21.
In 2022, the average age of a child in foster care was 8.
More than half were under 10 years old and 27% were teenagers.
