With a Focus on Prevention and Kinship Care, Number of Children Entering Foster Care Decreases for the Fourth Consecutive Year

National foster care and adoption data released today show the number of children entering foster care has decreased for the fourth consecutive year, and the number of children adopted from foster care decreased for the second consecutive year. We continue to encourage safe family reunification, with over half the children who exit foster care being placed with family members.

The data, compiled and published by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is from the annual Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) (PDF). The new report indicates the number of children in foster care decreased to an estimated 391,000 at the end of Fiscal Year 2021, from 407,000 reported at the end of FY 2020. The number of adoptions with U.S. child welfare involvement decreased to 52,400 compared to 2020's 57,900.

These numbers align with ACF's priorities on providing necessary resources and supports to keep families together as well as supporting kinship care. ACF has been emphasizing prevention and kinship services provided in the community, which are intended to reduce foster care entries across the states. ACF has also been encouraging states to explore options that result in fewer permanent family separations including emphasis on reunification and permanency alternatives other than adoption, such as kinship care, to maintain family connections.

"This report helps describe the journey of children and families at some of the most difficult moments of their lives," said ACF Assistant Secretary January Contreras. "We are encouraged that less children are entering the foster care system, and that the system is more focused on keeping children with families. ACF will keep working with our state, tribal and territorial partners to promote preventive services, safe family reunification, kinship care, and the well-being of the overall family unit."

The new child welfare numbers released today show a continued, significant decline in foster care entries, at 207,000 in FY 2021, down from 217,000 children in 2020, which represents the lowest number in the last two decades. The number of children waiting to be adopted fell to 114,000 in FY 2021 compared to 117,000 in FY 2020.

"We hit a record-high level of adoptions from foster care two years ago, which followed years of increasing admissions, but now the foster care census is declining, which absolutely is the direction we want to go," said Aysha Schomburg, Associate Commissioner of ACF Children's Bureau. "Fewer entries to foster care will over time lead to fewer exits, and to fewer children in care, including those waiting to be adopted. Therefore, if foster care rolls continue to drop in the future, we should expect the number of adoptions from foster care to also continue to fall."

More complex factors that also contribute to the observed decreases in foster care and adoption are under examination and include several possible explanations. For example, the impact of the pandemic slowed foster care entry rates and exit processes in 2020, and that combined with the lingering judicial delays may have continued impact on foster care and adoption trends.

Additionally, high workforce turnover may cause delays in routine child welfare practices.

In keeping with its overall mission, ACF is committed to seeking equitable outcomes for the children, youth, and families it serves.

For more information on ACF programs please visit: www.acf.hhs.gov.

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