PF 2.3

CHILDREN LIVING IN FOSTER CARE⁷

 
A child is placed in foster care when a court determines that his or her family cannot provide a minimally safe environment. This determination often follows an investigation by a state or county child protective services worker. Placement most commonly occurs either because a member of a household has physically or sexually abused a child or because a child’s caretaker(s) has severely neglected the child. In some cases, children with severe emotional disturbances may also be put into foster care.

Since both federal and state laws discourage removal of children from their families unless necessary to ensure a child’s safety, placement in foster care is an extreme step taken only when a child is in immediate danger or when attempts to help the family provide a safe environment have failed. Thus, the frequency of placements in foster care is an indicator of family dysfunction that is so severe that a child cannot remain safely with his or her family.

The number of children in foster care rose sharply from 262 thousand in 1982 to 462 thousand in 1994. As shown in Figure PF 2.3, the rate of children living in foster care (i.e., the number of children in foster care per one thousand children under age 18) also rose dramatically during the same time period, from 4.2 foster children per one thousand children under age 18 in 1982 to 6.8 in 1994 — an increase of over 60 percent. Between 1990 and 1994, the rate of children in foster care continued to increase, but at a slower pace.

 

Figure PF 2.3  Children Living in Foster Care: 1982–1994 (Rate per thousand)

Note: Estimate of total is the number of children in foster care on the last day of the fiscal year. 1994 is the last year in which data on foster care was collected through the Voluntary Cooperative Information System (VCIS). The Administration on Children and Families (ACF) has implemented the Adoption and Foster are Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) as a replacement for VCIS. While VCIS was a voluntary reporting system, states are required to participate in AFCARS and must use uniform definitions. Most importantly, AFCARS collects case-level foster care data. Thus, the new system may bring about a significant change in estimates of children in foster care. However, the first release of data from AFCARS show no significant change in estimates of children in foster care.

Source: Tatara, Tashio. “U.S. Child Substitute Care Flow Data for FY 1993 and Trends in the State Child Substitute Care Populations,” VCIS Research Notes, No. 11, August 1995. U.S. Bureau of the Census, Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1995 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1995).

 

Table PF 2.3   Number and Rate (per thousand) of Children Living in Foster Care: 1982–1994
	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993		1994
	——	——	——	——	——	——	——	——	——	——	——	——		——
Total Number
(in thousands)	262	269	270	270	280	300	340	383	400	414	427	445		462
Rate
(per thousand)	4.2	4.3	4.3	4.3	4.5	4.8	5.4	6	6.3	6.4	6.5	6.6	6.8
Note: Estimate of total is the number of children in foster care on the last day of the fiscal year. 1994 is the last year in which data on foster care was collected through the Voluntary Cooperative Information System (VCIS). The Administration on Children and Families (ACF) has implemented the Adoption and Foster are Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) as a replacement for VCIS. While VCIS was a voluntary reporting system, states are required to participate in AFCARS and must use uniform definitions. Most importantly, AFCARS collects case-level foster care data. Thus, the new system may bring about a significant change in estimates of children in foster care. However, the first release of data from AFCARS show no significant change in estimates of children in foster care.  Source: Tatara, Tashio. "U.S. Child Substitute Care Flow Data for FY 1993 and Trends in the State Child Substitute Care Populations," VCIS Research Notes, No. 11, August 1995. U.S. Bureau of the Census, Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1995 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1995).