Sadly, Statistics Say So….

• Every day more than 3 children die as a result of abuse and neglect. Over 75% of the child abuse fatalities were children under the age of 5.

• Children who have been abused experience anxiety, depression, poor self-esteem, substance abuse, and even worse many contemplate or attempt suicide.

• Over 50% of foster youth become juvenile delinquents and furthermore, commit violent crimes as adults. Studies conducted in prisons have shown that over 50% of the inmates had spent some point of their life in the foster care or juvenile system.

• Roughly 50% of foster youth do not complete high school.

Sources:

California Department of Social Services Research Development Division
UC Berkeley Center for Social Services Research

What and How Many Children Are In American Foster Care?

On September 30, 2004, 518,000 children were in our country’s foster care system. Most children are placed in foster care temporarily due to parental abuse or neglect.

Average Length of Stay in Foster Care
The average length of stay for a foster child is 2½ years. However, this figure does not include subsequent re-entries into foster care.

Age of Children in Foster Care

Average age: 10.1 years

Age	Percentage
Younger than 1 year	5%
Age 1-5	25%
Age 6-10 years	20%
Age 11-15 years	29%
Age 16-18 years	18%
Over 18	2%

Race and Ethnicity

As a percentage, there are more children of color in the foster care system than in the general U.S. population. Child abuse and neglect, however, occur at about the same rate in all racial and ethnic groups.

Ethnicity	Foster Care	General Population
Black, Non-Hispanic	34%	15%
White, Non-Hispanic	40%	61%
Hispanic	18%	17%
American Indian/Alaska Native, Non- Hispanic	2%	1%
Asian/Pacific Islander, Non-Hispanic	1%	3%
Unknown	2%	N/A
Two or More Races, Non-Hispanic	2%	4%

Gender

Gender	Percentage
Male	53%
Female	47%

Foster Homes

In 2002, there were 170,000 foster homes nationwide.

Adoptions

In 2004, 59% of adopted children were adopted by their foster parents. Of children adopted in 2004, 24% were adopted by a relative.

What Happens to Children Who Leave Foster Care as Young Adults?

Each year, an estimated 20,000 young people age out of the U.S. foster care system. Many are only 18 years old and still need support and services. Several foster care alumni studies show that without a lifelong connection to a caring adult, these older youth often are left vulnerable to a host of adverse situations:

Outcome	Percentage
Earned a high school diploma	54%
Obtained college bachelors degree or higher	2%
Became a parent 12-18 months after discharge	84%
Were unemployed	51%
Had no health insurance	30%
Had been homeless	25%
Received public assistance	30%

*The above information was provided courtesy of the Child Welfare League of America. For more information contact: Child Welfare League of America, 2345 Crystal Drive, Suite 250, Arlington, VA 22002, or cwla.org.

ChildStats.Gov::

America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2007 is one in a series of annual reports to the Nation on the condition of children in America. In this restructured report, three background measures describe the changing population of children and provide demographic context and 38 indicators depict the well-being of children in the areas of family and social environment, economic circumstances, health care, physical environment and safety, behavior, education, and health. Highlights from each section of the report follow.

Demographic Background

• In 2006, there were 73.7 million children ages 0–17 in the United States, or 25 percent of the population, down from a peak of 36 percent at the end of the “baby boom” (1964). Children are projected to compose 24 percent of the population in 2020.
• Racial and ethnic diversity continues to increase over time. In 2006, 58 percent of U.S. children were White, non-Hispanic; 20 percent were Hispanic; 15 percent were Black; 4 percent were Asian; and 4 percent were all other races. The percentage of children who are Hispanic has increased faster than that of any other racial or ethnic group, growing from 9 percent of the child population in 1980 to 20 percent in 2006.

Family and Social Environment

• In 2006, 67 percent of children ages 0–17 lived with two married parents, down from 77 percent in 1980.
• The nonmarital birth rate in 2005 increased to 48 per 1,000 unmarried women ages 15–44 years, up from 46 in 2004. The recent increases in nonmarital birth rates have been especially notable among women age 25 and older. Births to unmarried women constituted 37 percent of all U.S. births, the highest level ever reported.
• In 2005, 20 percent of school-age children spoke a language other than English at home and 5 percent of school-age children had difficulty speaking English.
• The adolescent birth rate for females ages 15–17 continued to decline in 2005. The rate fell by more than two-fifths since 1991, reaching 21 births per 1,000 females ages 15–17 in 2005. The 2004–2005 decline was particularly steep among Black, non-Hispanic and Asian or Pacific Islander adolescents. The birth rate for Black, non-Hispanic adolescents dropped three-fifths during 1991–2005.
• In 2005, there were 12 substantiated reports of child maltreatment per 1,000 children.

Economic Circumstances

• In 2005, 18 percent of all children ages 0–17 lived in poverty; among children living in families, the poverty rate was 17 percent.
• The percentage of children in families living below the federal poverty threshold has fluctuated since the early 1980s: it reached a high of 22 percent in 1993 and decreased to a low of 16 percent in 2000.
• The percentage of children who had at least one parent working year round, full time rose from 77.6 percent in 2004 to 78.3 percent in 2005.

Health Care

• In 2005, 89 percent of children had health insurance coverage at some point during the year, down from 90 percent in 2004.
• In 2005, 48 percent of children ages 2–4 had a dental visit in the past year, compared with 84 percent of children ages 5–11 and 82 percent of children ages 12–17. In 2003–2004, 23 percent of children ages 2–5 and 14 percent of children ages 6–17 had untreated dental caries (cavities) upon dental examination.

Physical Environment and Safety

• In 2005, 60 percent of children lived in counties in which concentrations of one or more air pollutants rose above allowable levels.
• The percentage of children served by community drinking water systems that did not meet all applicable health based standards declined from 20 percent in 1993 to about 8 percent in 1998. From 1998 to 2005 the percentage has fluctuated between 5 and 10 percent.
• In 2001–2004, about 1 percent of children ages 1–5 had elevated blood lead levels [greater than or equal to 10 micrograms per deciliter (µg/dL)]. The median blood lead concentration for children ages 1–5 dropped from 14 µg/dL in 1976–1980 to about 2 µg/dL in 2003–2004.
• In 2005, 40 percent of households with children had one or more housing problems, up from 37 percent in 2003. The most common type of housing problem is cost burden, followed by physically inadequate housing and crowded housing.
• In 2004, the injury death rate for children ages 1–4 was 13 deaths per 100,000 children.
• The leading causes of injury-related emergency department visits amo