Waiting Children

·         Children enter foster care through no faults of their own as victims of child abuse, neglect or abandonment. They are removed from their biological families for their own safety and left without a permanent, loving home.

·         More than 26,000 foster youth age out of the system each year with no one to call family and no place to call home.

·         46% of foster youth who age out of the system have not completed high school; 48% were unemployed in the first 12-16 months; 25% experienced homelessness within four years after leaving care; 84% became parents outside of wedlock; and 30% became dependent on public assistance.

·         Foster care is designed to be temporary, yet the average time in care is almost 21 months, and 33% of children ages 9 and older did not have case plans that included permanency goals for living with a family, but rather include plans for long-term foster care or emancipation.

·         65% of former foster children and youth experienced 7 or more school changes while living in the foster care system.

·         The average child waits for an adoptive family for more than 3 years; 19% spend 5 years or more waiting for a family.

Source: U.S. Department Health & Human Services and Annie E. Casey Foundation KIDS COUNT 2008 Data Book