Foster Care Stats & Reports

DFPS Placements During Fiscal Year (2022) | 4967 kids in care in Region 6 (Houston and surrounding counties) link to data map

Texas Children at a Glance | 32,150 in out of home care in Texas (2017)

Testing a Dynamic Automated Substance Use Intervention Model for Youths Exiting Foster Care | Of the more than 400,000 youths receiving services in the United States foster care system, approximately 26,000 annually will exit, or “age out,” of that system (most at age 18) and are removed from state-supported services.

Stats Show Our Nation’s Foster Care System Is in Trouble | Of the estimated 200,000 licensed foster homes, between 30–60% of foster parents drop out of foster parenting each year. This high turnover rate has led to a revolving door of recruiting and educating new foster parents and puts a strain on states. With more than 437,000 children in foster care — and growing — our nation has a critical shortage of homes.

Child Sex Trafficking in America | 88% of the reported runaways who were victims of child sex trafficking were in the care of social services when they went missing

Texas Foster Care Alumni Study Technical Report: Executive Summary | By 24 years old, almost 40% of former foster kids had been homeless at some point and 50% had been "couch surfing" since leaving care.

Disrupting the Pathway from Foster Care to the Justice System - A Former Prosecutor’s Perspectives on Reform | Over 90% of foster youth who move more than four times will end up in juvenile justice.

Why Human Traffickers Prey on Foster Care Kids

Report: Foster Kids Face Tough Times After Age 18 (NPR)

Foster Family Resources, Psychosocial Functioning, & Retention | 40% of foster families discontinued fostering during the first year

Who Disrupts from Placements in Foster and Kinship Care? | During any 12-month period, up to 50% of children in foster care disrupt from their placements and have to be moved to another home or to a more restrictive setting.

Juvenile Delinquency in Child Welfare: Investigating Group Home Effects | 76% placement disruptions are due to foster parents' inability or unwillingness to continue fostering

Sex and Human Trafficking in the U.S. Disproportionately Affects Foster Youth | 60% of child sex trafficking victims recovered through FBI raids across the U.S. were from foster care or group homes.

Profiles and Predictors of Behavioral Resilience Among Children in Child Welfare | A greater number of changes in caregiver across the study period significantly reduced the likelihood of a child following a No emotional problems (i.e., resilient trajectory).

Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms in Preschool Children in Foster Care: The Influence of Placement and Foster Family Environment | Taking care of a traumatized child who shows difficulties in different areas could be a challenge for foster parents and may elevate their stress levels and need for more support.

Trajectories of Post-Traumatic Stress and Externalizing Psychopathology Among Maltreated Foster Care Youth: A Parallel Process Latent Growth Curve Model | Aggressive behaviors are the single most common reason foster parents give for requesting removal of children from placement.

Strategically Speaking: The Overrepresentation of Foster Youth in Sex Trafficking | The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reported that, "1 in 6 of the 18,500 runaways reported to [the center] in 2016 were likely sex trafficking victims." Of that number, 86% of these victims were under the protection of foster care or social services. A number of states have conducted studies on the prevalence of sex trafficking among foster youth within their own borders. For example, the Los Angeles Probation Department reported that 60% of youths arrested for prostitution had been involved in foster care. The percentage is even higher for children who have had contact with the child welfare system. For instance, 86 out of 88 children that were identified as victims of sex trafficking in Connecticut had been involved with the child welfare system in the past. Thus, it is not surprising to learn that traffickers target group homes and foster care facilities in order to recruit new victims.  of the almost 427,000 children in foster care are 14 years old or older. When a little over 18,000 youths age out of foster care at the age of 18 each year in the United States, they are The Overrepresentation of Foster Youth in Sex Trafficking immediately exposed to a plethora of potential hazards. These hazards include lack of viable employment, incarceration, pregnancy, lower levels of education, and homelessness, thus increasing their vulnerability to sex traffickers.