Foster Care and Adoption Stats

Foster care and adoption are issues likely to be addressed in the 105th Congress. Limited data are available on a national basis; additional information on individual states is available from university-based and other researchers. This report compiles commonly requested and cited statistics regarding foster care, adoption of foster children, and adoption in general. Data are grouped by source, and source documents are identified at the end of the report.

Among numerous other things, the data show that the number of children in foster care nationwide has increased significantly since the early 1980's, while the total number of children adopted annually has dropped somewhat. The number of children adopted through public child welfare agencies has remained about the same. Babies and very young children are entering foster care at a growing rate; relatives are playing a larger role as foster parents for the children of their kin; African-American children are disproportionately represented in foster care, and are more likely to be waiting for adoption than to have been adopted. Of foster children with established "permanency goals" of adoption, less than a third are legally available to be adopted; of children who are legally available for adoption, almost half wait 2 or more years for an adoptive home.

Until recently, the primary source of national data on children in foster care has been a voluntary survey of states, conducted annually since 1982 by the American Public Welfare Association (APWA). This survey is known as the Voluntary Cooperative Information System (VCIS). Because the survey is voluntary, not all states participate or respond to all questions, and reporting periods and definitions are not consistent for all states. Nonetheless, most of the national data on numbers and characteristics of foster children in recent years have been generated through VCIS. Preliminary data on the total number of children in care are available from VCIS for 1995; however, 1990 is the most recent year for which detailed data are available on the characteristics of children in care.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is currently implementing a mandatory date collection system, known as the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), in which all states are required to participate. So far, only limited data are available from AFCARS for 1994; however, when fully operational, AFCARS will provide comprehensive, detailed information on children and their experiences in the public child welfare system.

In addition, researchers have collected and analyzed information from the administrative data systems operated by child welfare agencies in several states. The Multistate Foster Care Data Archive, conducted by the Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago, has published information on California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, and Texas, which together serve almost half of the nation's foster care population. The following section also cites data from the HHS Inspector General, which conducted a survey on the use of kinship caregivers by states in 1990.

* Preliminary estimates indicate that 494,000 children were in foster care at the end of 1995. An estimated 468,000 children were in foster care at the end or 1994. Comparable figures for earlier years are: 400,000 children at the end of 1990; 280,000 children at the end of 1986; and 262,000 at the end of 1982.

* The median age of children in foster care at the end of 1990 was 8.6 years, compared to a median age of 12.6 at the end of 1982.

* Of children in foster care at the end of 1990, 5% were under age 1; 31% were ages 1-5; 32% were 6-12; and 32% were 13 or older. Of these children, 39% were white; 40% were African-American; 12% were Hispanic; and the rest were of other backgrounds. Almost 75% lived in foster family homes; 16% in group homes and facilities or emergency shelters; 3% in adoptive placements that were not yet finalized; and the rest in other settings.

* For 88% of the children in foster care at the end of 1990, there had been no relinquishment or termination of parental rights. For 12%, parental rights had been relinquished or terminated. The permanency goal was family reunification for 60% of these children, adoption for 15%, long-term foster care for 12%, independent living for 5%, guardianship for 2%, and unknown for the rest.

* Of children in foster care at the end of 1990, 18% had been in care for less than 6 months; 15% for 6-12 months; 24% for 1-2 years; 16% for 2-3 years; 17% for 3-5 years; and 11% had been in care 5 years or longer.

* The median length of stay for children in foster care at the end of 1990 was 1.7 months, compared to 1.3 months for children in care in 1987; 1.7 months for children in care in 1982; and 2.4 months for children in care in 1977 (data for 1977 collected by Westat, Inc.).

* Of children who entered foster care in 1990, 16% were under age 1; 26% were 1-5, 26% were 6-12; and 31% were 13 or older. Of these children, 47% were white; 31% were African-American; 14% were Hispanic; and the rest were of other backgrounds. More than 50% entered care for protective services, 21% because of parental absence; and the rest for a variety of reasons. * Of children who left care in 1990, 5% were under 1; 26% were 1-5; 26% were 6-12; and 43% were 13 or older. Half the children were white; 29% were African-Americans; 13% were Hispanic; and the rest had other backgrounds. Almost 67% were reunited or placed with family; 8% were adopted; almost 7% reached age of majority or were emancipated; the rest had other outcomes.

* Of children who left care in 1990, 45% had been in care for less than 6 months; 15% for 6-12 months; 17% for 1-2 years; 9% for 2-3 years; 9% for 3-5 years; and 6% for more than 5 years. ( This includes all children who left care, regardless of outcome.)

* An estimated 469,073 children were in foster care at the end of 1994. Of these children, 4% were under age 1; 31% were 1-5; 35% were 6-12; and 30% were 13 or older. Almost 47% were African-American; 32% were White; 14% were Hispanic; almost 1% were Native American/Alaskan Native and Asian/Pacific Islander; and the background of the rest was unknown. Multistate Data Archive

* Between 1983 and 1993 the number of children in foster care had increased as follows in selected states: 154% in California; 158% in Illinois; 67% in Michigan; 120% in New York; and 123% in Texas.

* Between 1990 and 1993, 24% of the children entering foster care in the five states listed above were under age 1; the largest share were newborns.

* Between 1983 and 1993, most of the growth in foster care in New York and Illinois was absorbed by kinship care. In other words, while the number of foster children under state supervision increased in those states, relatives cared for most of the children who accounted for this growth. By 1993 kinship providers cared for a third of the foster children in New York, 40% of foster children in California, and almost half of the foster children in Illinois.

* The median length of a child's first spell in foster care during 1988-1993 varied as follows: Texas, 8.7 months; Michigan, 12 months; California, 18.1 months; New York, 24.5 months; and Illinois, 35.8 months.

* Between 1986 and 1990, 25 states reported an increase in their use of kinship caregivers, from 18% of their foster care caseload to 31%. New York, Illinois, and California were responsible for much of this increase.

As described above, VCIS has been the primary source of national data in recent years on children in foster care, including those who are adopted through the public child welfare system. In addition to these data, information is provided below from analyses of child welfare administrative data in California, conducted by the Child Welfare Research Center at the University of California at Berkeley.

* In 1990, adoptions were finalized for more than 17,000 foster children. Another 18,000 foster children were living in adoptive homes that had not yet been finalized. About 20,000 foster children were legally free for adoption in 1990 but were waiting of an adoptive placement (i.e., the rights of their biological parents had been terminated or relinquished). A total of 69,000 foster children at the end of 1990 had a permanency goal of adoption, including the 20,000 who were legally free. The remaining 49,000 were not legally available for adoption, event though adoption had been established as their permanency goal.

were under age 1; 50% were ages 1-5; 37% were 6-12; and 8% were 13 or older. Almost 51% were white; 29% were African-American; 13% were Hispanic; and the rest were of other or unknown backgrounds. About two-thirds of the children had one or more special needs.

* Of former foster children whose adoptions were finalized in 1990, almost 47% were adopted by their foster parents to whom they were not otherwise related; 42% were adopted by people completely unrelated to them; and 7% were adopted by relatives. The relationships of the remaining children to their adoptive parents are unknown.

* Of foster children who were legally free and awaiting adoption in 1990, 4% were under age 1; 36% were 1-5; 43% were 6-12; and 17% were 13 or older. About 44% were white; 43% were African-American; 7% were Hispanic; and the rest were of other backgrounds. Almost 72% had one or more special needs.

* Of foster children who were legally free and awaiting adoption in 1990, about 19% had been waiting for adoption less than 6 months; 12% had been waiting 6-12 months; 21% had been waiting 1-2 years; and 46% had been waiting 2 years or longer.

* Roughly 100,000 adopted children were eligible to receive federal or state adoption subsidies in 1990; almost half were eligible for federal subsidies. Child Welfare Research Center

* In California, among children who entered foster care in 1988 and early 1989: those who entered before age 1 were twice as likely to be adopted within the first 3.5 years of care than children who entered after age 1; African-American children were 5 times less likely to be adopted during the first 3.5 years of care than white children; and children placed in kinship care were half as likely to be adopted during the first 3.5 ears of care than children placed with non-relatives. Adoptions by non-white parents took longer to be finalized than adoptions by white parents.

Most adoptions occur outside the public child welfare system, and data on private adoptions are scarce. The National Center for State Courts(NCSC) collects information from states on the total number of finalized adoptions, including those arranged by public and private agencies, tribal organizations, and independent adoptions. However, complete information is not necessarily available for every state. The first NCSC data are for 1987; the most recent are for 1992. The National Council for Adoption (NCFA, formerly National Committee for Adoption) collected similar data from states for 1982 and 1986. Information on adoptions of foreign-born children is reported by the State Department and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).

Information on families who are seeking to adopt children also is very limited. Data on this topic are cited below from the National Survey of Family Growth, Cycle IV, conducted in 1988 by the National Center for Health Statistics.

* The total number of adoptions in 1992 was 126,951. Comparable figures are 118,730 in 1991; 118,138 in 1990; and 118,449 in 1987. An estimated 42% of adoptions in 1992 were by stepparents; and 15% of adoptions in 1992 were arranged through public agencies.

* Excluding foreign-born children, 104,088 children were adopted in 1986, compared with 141,861 in 1982. The decrease from 1982 to 1986 was exclusively due to a drop in the number of adoptions by relatives. The number of children adopted by non-relatives in 1986 was 51,157; compared with 50,720 in 1982.

* Of domestic unrelated adoptions in 1986, 39% were arranged by public agencies; 29% by private agencies; and 31% were independent adoptions. (Public agency adoptions constituted 19% of the total domestic adoptions, including those by relatives.) Almost half of domestic unrelated adoptions were of infants.

* Preliminary estimates indicate that 11,340 foreign-born children were adopted by Americans in 1996, with the largest numbers of children coming from the following countries; China (3,388); Taiwan (3,333); and former regions of the Soviet Union (2,797). Final numbers from previous years are: 9,679 in 1995; 7,093 in 1990; and 9,945 in 1986. The majority of children adopted I 1986 were from Korea (6,188).

* About 2 million women between the ages of 15 and 44, who were surveyed in 1988, had ever sought to adopt a child. Of these, 1.3 million did not adopt and were no longer seeking; 620,000 had adopted one or more children; and 204,000 were currently seeking.

Bachrach, Christine A., Kathryn A. London, and Penelope L. Maza. "On the Path to Adoption: Adoption Seeking in the United States, 1988," in Child Welfare Research Review, vol. 1, Columbia University Press, NY, 1944.

Barth, Richard P., Mark Courtney, Jill Duerr Berrick, and Vicky Albert, From Child Abuse to Permanency Planning: Child Welfare Services Pathways and Placements, Aldine de Gruyter, NY, 1944. (Source of data form the Child Welfare Research Center, University of California at Berkeley)

Committee on Ways and Means. U.S. House of Representatives 1996. Green Book Section 12, WMCP: 104-14, Washington, D.C., November 4, 1996. (Source for AFCARS data)

Department of Health and Human Services. Using Relatives for Foster Care. EI-06-90-02390, Office of Inspector General, Washington, D.C., July 1992.

Flango, Victor E., and Carol R. How Many Children Were Adopted in 1992. Child Welfare, Child Welfare League of America, Washington, D.C., September/October 1995.

Goerge, Robert M., Fred H. Wulczyn, and Allen W. Harden. An Update from the Multistate Foster Care Date Archive, Foster Care Dynamics, 1983-1993, Chapin Hall Center for Children, University of Chicago, Illinois, undated.

National Council for Adoption (formerly National Committee for Adoption), Adoption Factbook, Washington, D.C., June 1989.

Intercountry Adoptions, 1986-1996. National Adoption Reports. Vol. 17, no. 2, Washington, D.C., December 1996. (Source for data on adoptions of foreign-born children)

Tatara, Toshio, Characteristics of Children in Substitute and Adoptive Care, Based on FY82 through FY90 Data. Voluntary Cooperative Information System, American Public Welfare Association, Washington, D.C., October 1993.

U.S. Child Substitute Care Flow Data for FY1994. American Public Welfare Association, Washington, D.C., June 1996.

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