Decrease in Overall Numbers
At the end of 2009, there were 423,773 children in foster care in the United States, which was 22% fewer children than in 2000.
On any given day, there are nearly one half-million children in foster care in the United States. The ideal result for these children is to be placed in a strong, supportive family over being placed in an institution or group home. New data available on the KIDS COUNT Data Center highlight the progress made by many states to increase the rates of children in foster care who are living with families. Child placement is the most critical issue facing public child welfare systems, and monitoring the trends is important in determining the focus and efforts of these systems.
Majority of state child welfare systems have reduced their reliance on group and institutional foster care settings over the past decade.