United States > U.S. Statistics > Births

Children in Foster Care

The following table shows the number and percent of children in foster care in the United States, according to age, gender, race, and length of stay.

	Percent	Number
Total		532,000
Ages
Under 1 year	5%	24,290
1–5 years	22	128,946
6–10 years	24	116,801
11–15 years	30	158,290
16–18 years	17	92,091
19 years and over	2	10,321
Gender
Male	52	278,916
Female	48	252,932
Race/ethnicity
White, non-Hispanic	39%	205,478
Black, non-Hispanic	37	195,040
Hispanic¹	17	89,177
American Indian/Alaskan Native, non-Hispanic	2	9,792
Asian, non-Hispanic	1	3,423
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic	0	1,465
Unknown/unable to determine	3	14,432
Two or more races non-Hispanic	2	12,986
Lengths of stay
Less than 1 month	5	23,948
1–5 months	18	94,399
6–11 months	16	84,707
12–17 months	12	62,036
18–23 months	8	45,008
24–29 months	7	36,236
30–35 months	5	27,196
3–4 years	13	70,754
5 years or more	16	87,694

NOTE: Preliminary FY 2002 estimates as of August 2004. Percentages may not add up to 100% and numbers may not add up to totals due to rounding.

1. Hispanic can be of any race.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Admin. for Children and Families, Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) Report #9. Web: www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/cb .

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