Declining Share of Children in Foster Care Are Placed With Families
The KIDS COUNT® Data Center recently updated more than 35 indicators about children and youth in the foster care and child welfare systems. These measures describe children who experienced maltreatment (529,092 confirmed in 2024) as well as those who entered foster care, their demographic characteristics, where they lived while in care, why they left foster care, whether they were adopted and more.
One such measure shows a concerning national trend: A declining share of children in foster care are being placed with families (either relatives or non-kin) — down from 78% in 2022 to 73% in 2024. At the same time, the share placed in group homes or institutions rose from 9% to 12%. Much more work is needed to ensure that every child, youth and young adult in the foster care system lives with a family, when possible.
Read our full summary of the latest foster care and child welfare statistics
Keeping Foster Children in Families
Increasingly, policymakers, researchers and other experts agree that when children must be removed from their homes and placed into foster care, they are more likely to thrive if placed with families — ideally with relatives or close friends who can provide continuity with a child’s school, community and cultural identity, or with non-relative foster families — rather than in group homes or institutions. While short-term placements in group settings are sometimes needed to address specific needs, these can add to the trauma that children removed from their homes already have experienced and may not provide the individualized care and nurturing that children need.
According to the KIDS COUNT Data Center, past data from 2000 to 2021 showed some positive trends, with foster care placements in group homes decreasing and placements with relatives increasing. However, the latest data from 2022 forward are not comparable to older years due to methodology changes, and they reveal less encouraging trends.
The Troubling News
From 2022 to 2024, the share of children placed with relatives decreased from 34% to 30% and placements with non-relative foster families also inched down from 44% to 43%. During the same period, placements in group homes or institutions increased from 9% to 12%.
U.S. Children in Foster Care By Placement Type | ||
|---|---|---|
| Placement Type | 2022 | 2024 |
| Foster family home — relative | 34% | 30% |
| Foster family home — non-relative | 44% | 43% |
| Group home or institution | 9% | 12% |
Certain children of color — namely American Indian or Alaska Native, multiracial and Black young people — are more likely to be placed in group care than others. In 2024, for instance, American Indian or Alaska Native children and youth had nearly three times the rate of placement in group settings (1.6 per 1,000) than the national rate (0.6 per 1,000).
Disparities for certain groups of kids are not new. The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2019 report, Keeping Kids in Families, described concerning trends that progress in placing foster children with families at that point had been slower for older youth compared with younger kids and for children of color versus white kids. The report found that Black children were least likely to be placed with families. A 2021 study on group care commissioned by the Foundation echoed similar findings for Black children in foster care.
Being part of a family is essential to every child’s well-being, as they need stable, caring relationships to support their healthy development and help them navigate the critical transitions through adolescence and young adulthood. This is especially important for children in care who need extra support as they heal from the trauma of separation from their families, in addition to abuse or neglect they may have experienced.
These findings underscore the urgent need to reduce unnecessary placements of children in non-family settings, especially for children of color and older youth. Many of the resources below outline actions that policymakers, child welfare leaders and others can take to help keep these young people with families.
Learn More and Stay Connected
See all foster care and child welfare data in the KIDS COUNT Data Center and access the Foundation’s numerous resources on this topic, including these selected examples:
- Report sponsored by the Foundation: Transforming Congregate Care: A White Paper on Promising Policy and Practice (2022)
- Report sponsored by the Foundation: Using Congregate Care: What the Evidence Tells Us (2021)
- Report sponsored by the Foundation: Away from Home: Youth Experiences of Institutional Placements in Foster Care (2021)
- Foundation report: Keeping Kids in Families (2019)
- Resource pages on foster care, kinship care, permanence and more
Additional resources:
- Pediatrics article: State Implementation of Congregate Care Reforms for Children in Foster Care (2024)
- Casey Family Programs strategy brief: How can we end the need for group placements in child welfare? (2023)
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