Foster Care Standards

Library: Foster Care

The AFCARS Report
Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System

Reprinted From: The Administration for Children and Families - Children's Bureau Website
Date Posted: 1/03

Interim FY 2000 Estimates as of August 2002 (7)

How many children were in foster care on September 30, 2000? 556,000

SOURCE: Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) data submitted for the FY 2000, 10/1/99 through 9/30/00.

NOTES: Of the 52 jurisdictions (including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico) participating in AFCARS, useable foster care data was received from 51. Although the percentage distributions within questions have remained relatively constant since the first report (TAR 1), there is considerable variation in the estimated numbers. This is due in part to improvements in the quality of the data and to the use of different estimation procedures. (See TAR 5 for a detailed discussion of the various estimation procedures that have been utilized.) The estimates for the number of children in foster in TAR 7 are lower than previous estimates for FY 2000 because this estimate is based on resubmitted data from a large number of states containing more accurate counts of children who discharged from foster care. Data from both regular and revised submissions received by June 19, 2002 are included in the estimates. Some percentages do not total 100% and/or the estimated numbers do not add up to the total number in the category due to rounding.

What were the ages of the children in foster care?

Mean Yrs	10.1
Median Yrs	10.4

Under 1 Yr	4%	22,766
1 thru 5 Yrs	24%	134,919
6 thru 10 Yrs	25%	137,047
11 thru 15 Yrs	29%	161,397
16 thru 18 Yrs	16%	89,751
19 + Yrs	2%	10,120

What were the placement settings of children in foster care?

Pre-Adoptive Home	4%	23,159
Foster Family Home (Relative)	25%	137,385
Foster Family Home (Non-Relative)	47%	260,636
Group Home	8%	43,893
Institution	10%	56,512
Supervised Independent Living	1%	5,108
Runaway	2%	9,964
Trial Home Visit	3%	19,343

What were the lengths of stay for the children in foster care?

Mean Months	33
Median Months	20

< 1 Month	4%	23,057
1 to 5 Mos	16%	87,222
6 to 11 Mos	15%	83,723
12 to 17 Mos	12%	64,299
18 to 23 Mos	9%	47,742
24 to 29 Mos	7%	41,101
30 to 35 Mos	6%	32,799
3 to 4 Yrs	15%	82,784
5 Yrs or More	17%	93,274

What were the case goals of the children in foster care?

Reunify with Parent(s) or Principal Caretaker(s)	43%	239,552
Live with Other Relative(s)	5%	25,291
Adoption	20%	110,536
Long Term Foster Care	9%	49,609
Emancipation	6%	33,026
Guardianship	3%	15,201
Case Plan Goal Not Yet Established	15%	82,785

What was the race/ethnicity of the children in foster care?

AI/AN Non-Hispanic	2%	10,994
Asian/PI Non-Hispanic	1%	5,978
Black Non-Hispanic	40%	220,660
Hispanic	15%	81,890
White Non-Hispanic	38%	208,632
UnKnown/Unable to Determine	4%	20,280
Two or More Races Non-Hispanic	1%	7,566

NOTE: Using U.S. Bureau of the Census standards, children of Hispanic origin may be of any race. Beginning in FY 2000, children could receive more than one race designation.

What was the gender of the children in foster care?

Male	52%	291,340
Female	48%	264,660

How many children entered foster care during FY 2000? 291,000

What were the ages of the children who entered care during FY 2000?

Mean Yrs	8.6
Median Yrs	8.7

Under 1 Yr	13%	39,060
1 thru 5 Yrs	25%	71,505
6 thru 10 Yrs	21%	62,535
11 thru 15 Yrs	29%	85,593
16 thru 18 Yrs	11%	32,091
19+ Yrs	0%	216

What was the race/ethnicity of the children who entered care during FY 2000?

AI/AN Non-Hispanic	3%	7,906
Asian/PI Non-Hispanic	2%	4,550
Black Non-Hispanic	29%	83,283
Hispanic	15%	42,480
White Non-Hispanic	47%	135,566
UnKnown/Unable to Determine	4%	12,049
Two or More Races Non-Hispanic	2%	5,166

NOTE: Using U.S. Bureau of the Census standards, children of Hispanic origin may be of any race. Beginning in FY 2000, children could receive more than one race designation.

How many children exited foster care during FY 2000? 275,000

What were the ages of the children who exited care during FY 2000?

Mean Yrs	10.2
Median Yrs	10.2

Under 1 Yr	4%	11,136
1 thru 5 Yrs	26%	71,223
6 thru 10 Yrs	23%	63,953
11 thru 15 Yrs	24%	66,806
16 thru 18 Yrs	21%	56,617
19 + Yrs	2%	5,265

What was the race/ethnicity of the children who exited care during FY 2000?

AI/AN Non-Hispanic	2%	6,550
Asian/PI Non-Hispanic	2%	4,426
Black Non-Hispanic	31%	84,920
Hispanic	15%	40,097
White Non-Hispanic	45%	123,021
UnKnown/Unable to Determine	4%	11,987
Two or More Races Non-Hispanic	1%	3,998

NOTE: Using U.S. Bureau of the Census standards, children of Hispanic origin may be of any race. Beginning in FY 2000, children could receive more than one race designation.

What were the lengths of stay of the children who exited foster care during FY 2000?

Mean Months	22.7
Median Months	12.0

< 1 Month	19%	52,312
1 to 5 Mos	17%	46,091
6 to 11 Mos	14%	39,288
12 to 17 Mos	11%	29,377
18 to 23 Mos	8%	20,872
24 to 29 Mos	6%	16,409
30 to 35 Mos	5%	13,108
3 to 4 Yrs	11%	30,204
5 Yrs or More	10%	27,338

What were the outcomes for the children exiting foster care during FY 2000?

Reunification with Parent(s) or Primary Caretaker(s)	57%	157,712
Living with Other Relative(s)	10%	26,291
Adoption	17%	46,581
Emancipation	7%	19,895
Guardianship	4%	10,341
Transfer to Another Agency	3%	7,726
Runaway	2%	5,865
Death of Child	0%	589

NOTE: Deaths are attributable to a variety of causes including medical conditions, accidents and homicide.

How many children were waiting to be adopted on September 30, 2000? 131,000

NOTES: Waiting children are identified as children who have a goal of adoption and/or whose parental rights have been terminated. Children 16 years old and older whose parental rights have been terminated and who have a goal of emancipation have been excluded from the estimate.

What is the gender distribution of the waiting children?

Male	52%	68,686
Female	48%	62,314

What is the racial/ethnic distribution of the waiting children?

AI/AN Non-Hispanic	2%	2,306
Asian/PI Non-Hispanic	1%	1,119
Black Non-Hispanic	43%	56,195
Hispanic	13%	17,441
White Non-Hispanic	34%	45,130
UnKnown/Unable to Determine	5%	6,612
Two or More Races Non-Hispanic	2%	2,197

NOTE: Using U.S. Bureau of the Census standards, children of Hispanic origin may be of any race. Beginning in FY 2000, children could receive more than one race designation.

How old were the waiting children when they were removed from their parents or caretakers?

Mean Yrs	4.5
Median Yrs	3.7

less that 1	27%	35,322
1-5	40%	51,874
6-10	26%	33,957
11-15	7%	9,584
16-18	0%	263

How old were the waiting children on September 30, 2000?

Mean Yrs	8.1
Median Yrs	8.0

less than 1	3%	3,932
1-5	33%	43,697
6-10	34%	44,868
11-15	26%	33,572
16-18	4%	4,930

How many months have the waiting children been in continuous foster care?

Mean Months	44
Median Months	35

less than 1 month	1%	717
1 through 5 months	4%	4,779
6 through 11 months	7%	9,253
12 through 17 months	10%	12,691
18 through 23 months	10%	13,466
24 through 29 months	11%	13,949
30 through 35 months	9%	12,053
36 through 59 months	25%	32,966
60 or more months	24%	31,126

Where were the waiting children living on September 30, 2000?

Pre-Adoptive Home	14%	18,239
Foster Family Home (Relative)	19%	24,966
Foster Family Home (Non-Relative)	58%	75,613
Group Home	3%	3,906
Institution	6%	7,280
Supervised Independent Living	0%	92
Runaway	0%	483
Trial Home Visit	0%	422

How many children in foster care had their parental rights terminated for all living parents? 75,000

As of September 30, 2000, how many months had elapsed since the parental rights of these foster children were terminated?

Mean Months	22
Median Months	14

How many children were adopted from the public foster care system in FY 2000? 51,000

SOURCE: Adoptions can be reported to the AFCARS adoption database at any time after the adoption has been finalized. TAR 7 includes adoptions finalized in FY 2000 reported in regular and revised submissions by June 19, 2002.

NOTES: The number of jurisdictions reporting useable data was 52, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The previous estimate of 50,000 adoptions for FY 2000 which has been reported in other materials from the Children's Bureau was based on data reported in regular and revised data submissions received by May 15, 2001. The number of adoptions reported here do not equal the number of adoption discharges reported under foster care exits because the adoptions reported here include adoptions of some children who were not in foster care but received other support from the public agency. In addition, states have historically under reported adoption discharges. In contrast, states tend to more accurately report the adoptions to the AFCARS adoption database because those are the adoptions used to calculate adoption incentive awards. Some percentages do not add up to 100% and/or the estimated numbers do not add up to the total number in the category due to rounding.

What is the gender distribution of the children adopted from the public foster care system?

Male	50%	25,460
Female	50%	25,540

What is the racial/ethnic distribution of the children adopted from the public foster care system?

AI/AN Non-Hispanic	1%	643
Asian/PI Non-Hispanic	1%	489
Black Non-Hispanic	39%	19,659
Hispanic	14%	7,234
White Non-Hispanic	38%	19,562
UnKnown/Unable to Determine	5%	2,463
Two or More Races Non-Hispanic	2%	951

NOTE: Using U.S. Bureau of the Census standards, children of Hispanic origin may be of any race. Beginning in FY 2000, children could receive more than one race designation.

How old were the children when they were adopted from the public foster care system?

Mean Yrs	6.9
Median Yrs	6.3

under 1	2%	929
1-5	45%	23,149
6-10	35%	17,835
11-15	16%	7,954
16-18	2%	1,087
19+	0%	43

How many months did it take after termination of parental rights for the children to be adopted?

Mean Months	16
Median Months	12

<1 mos	4%	1,903
1-5 mos	18%	8,994
6-11 mos	29%	14,617
12-17 mos	20%	10,449
18-23 mos	12%	6,224
24-29 mos	6%	3,185
30-35 mos	4%	1,960
3-4 yrs	5%	2,661
5+ yrs	2%	1,009

What proportion of the children adopted are receiving an adoption subsidy?

Yes	88%	44,986
No	12%	6,014

What was the relationship of the adoptive parents to the child prior to the adoption?

non-relative	18%	9,326
foster parent	61%	30,969
step-parent	0%	94
other relative	21%	10,612

NOTE: Relatives who were also foster parents were counted as relatives.

Adoptive Family Structure

Married Couple	66%	33,440
Unmarried Couple	1%	451
Single Female	32%	16,083
Single Male	2%	1,026

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