AFCARS Report - Preliminary FY 2009 Estimates as of July 2010 (17)

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Children's Bureau, www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb

The AFCARS Report

Preliminary FY 2009 Estimates as of July 2010 (17)

SOURCE: Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) FY 2009 data (October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009).

NOTES: Data from both the regular and revised AFCARS file submissions received by July 29, 2010 are included in the information below. Missing data are excluded from the distributions presented below.

How many children were in foster care on September 30, 2009? 423,773

What were the ages of the children in foster care?

Mean Age	9.6
Median Age	9.7

Less than 1 Year	6%	24,505
1 Year	7%	31,141
2 Years	7%	28,304
3 Years	6%	24,356
4 Years	5%	21,447
5 Years	5%	19,443
6 Years	4%	18,099
7 Years	4%	17,143
8 Years	4%	16,750
9 Years	4%	15,902
10 Years	4%	15,693
11 Years	4%	15,597
12 Years	4%	16,227
13 Years	4%	18,371
14 Years	5%	22,366
15 Years	7%	28,549
16 Years	8%	34,989
17 Years	9%	36,079
18 Years	3%	11,697
19 Years	1%	4,002
20 Years	1%	2,634

What were the lengths of stay of children in foster care?

Mean Months	26.7
Median Months	15.4

Less than 1 Month	5%	21,375
1 – 5 Months	19%	82,514
6 – 11 Months	18%	74,731
12 – 17 Months	13%	56,977
18 – 23 Months	9%	38,533
24 – 29 Months	7%	30,164
30 – 35 Months	5%	22,259
3 – 4 Years	12%	49,122
5 Years or More	11%	48,088

What were the placement settings of children in foster care?

Pre-Adoptive Home	4%	17,280
Foster Family Home (Relative)	24%	101,688
Foster Family Home (Non-Relative)	48%	200,179
Group Home	6%	25,302
Institution	10%	40,502
Supervised Independent Living	1%	4,690
Runaway	2%	8,047
Trial Home Visit	5%	23,010

What were the case goals of the children in foster care?

Reunify with Parent(s) or Principal Caretaker(s)	49%	202,065
Live with Other Relative(s)	4%	14,763
Adoption	25%	102,615
Long Term Foster Care	8%	32,361
Emancipation	6%	26,547
Guardianship	4%	15,990
Case Plan Goal Not Yet Established	5%	16,280

What was the gender of the children in foster care?

Male	53%	222,685
Female	47%	200,999

What was the race/ethnicity of the children in foster care?

Alaska Native/American Indian	2%	8,491
Asian	1%	2,603
Black	30%	127,821
Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander	0%	792
Hispanic (of any race)	20%	86,581
White	40%	167,235
Unknown/Unable to Determine	2%	8,118
Two or more races	5%	21,584

NOTE: Using U.S. Bureau of the Census standards, all races exclude children of Hispanic origin. Beginning in FY 2000, children could be identified with more than one race designation.

How many children entered foster care during FY 2009? 255,418

What were the ages of the children who entered care during FY 2009?

Mean Age	7.9
Median Age	7.1

Less than 1 Year	16%	40,931
1 Year	8%	19,230
2 Years	7%	16,701
3 Years	6%	14,021
4 Years	5%	12,717
5 Years	4%	11,372
6 Years	4%	10,755
7 Years	4%	9,951
8 Years	4%	9,230
9 Years	3%	8,711
10 Years	3%	8,234
11 Years	3%	8,232
12 Years	4%	9,069
13 Years	4%	10,984
14 Years	6%	14,279
15 Years	7%	18,074
16 Years	7%	18,611
17 Years	5%	12,436
18 Years	0%	633
19 Years	0%	91
20 Years	0%	43

What was the race/ethnicity of the children who entered care during FY 2009?

Alaska Native/American Indian	2%	5,450
Asian	1%	2,189
Black	25%	64,690
Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander	0%	630
Hispanic (of any race)	20%	51,628
White	44%	110,933
Unknown/Unable to Determine	3%	6,500
Two or more races	5%	12,566

NOTE: Using U.S. Bureau of the Census standards, all races exclude children of Hispanic origin. Beginning in FY 2000, children could be identified with more than one race designation.

How many children exited foster care during FY 2009? 276,266

What were the ages of the children who exited care during FY 2009?

Mean Age	9.6
Median Age	8.9

Less than 1 Year	5%	12,409
1 Year	8%	21,070
2 Years	8%	21,525
3 Years	7%	18,204
4 Years	6%	15,674
5 Years	5%	13,846
6 Years	5%	12,700
7 Years	4%	11,890
8 Years	4%	10,860
9 Years	4%	10,065
10 Years	3%	9,549
11 Years	3%	8,794s
12 Years	3%	8,630
13 Years	3%	9,040
14 Years	4%	10,936
15 Years	5%	13,621
16 Years	6%	16,323
17 Years	6%	17,514
18 Years	10%	26,416
19 Years	2%	4,213
20 Years	1%	1,837

What were the outcomes for the children exiting foster care during FY 2009?

Reunification with Parent(s) or Primary Caretaker(s)	51%	140,061
Living with Other Relative(s)	8%	21,424
Adoption	20%	55,684
Emancipation	11%	29,471
Guardianship	7%	19,290
Transfer to Another Agency	2%	6,291
Runaway	1%	2,141
Death of Child	0%	417

NOTE: Deaths are attributable to a variety of causes including medical conditions, accidents, and homicide.

What were the lengths of stay of the children who exited foster care during FY 2009?

Mean Months	22.0
Median Months	13.7

Less than 1 Month	13%	35,340
1 – 5 Months	15%	41,459
6 – 11 Months	18%	49,475
12 – 17 Months	14%	38,631
18 – 23 Months	10%	28,110
24 – 29 Months	7%	20,673
30 – 35 Months	5%	14,932
3 – 4 Years	10%	28,226
5 Years or More	7%	19,307

What was the race/ethnicity of the children who exited care during FY 2009?

Alaska Native/American Indian	2%	5,389
Asian	1%	2,111
Black	27%	74,264
Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander	0%	674
Hispanic (of any race)	20%	55,200
White	43%	118,422
Unknown/Unable to Determine	2%	6,062
Two or more races	5%	13,573

NOTE: Using U.S. Bureau of the Census standards, all races exclude children of Hispanic origin. Beginning in FY 2000, children could be identified with more than one race designation.

How many children were waiting to be adopted on September 30, 2009? 114,556

NOTES: Waiting children are identified as children who have a goal of adoption and/or whose parental rights have been terminated. Children 16 years old and older whose parents' parental rights have been terminated and who have a goal of emancipation have been excluded from the estimate.

What is the gender distribution of the waiting children?

Male	53%	60,287
Female	47%	54,269

How many months have the waiting children been in continuous foster care?

Mean Months	38.0
Median Months	29.0

Less than 1 Month	1%	661
1 – 5 Months	4%	4,991
6 – 11 Months	8%	9,206
12 – 17 Months	13%	15,313
18 – 23 Months	14%	15,479
24 – 29 Months	12%	14,248
30 – 35 Months	10%	11,015
36 – 59 Months	22%	24,773
60 or more Months	16%	18,876

What is the racial/ethnic distribution of the waiting children?

Alaska Native/American Indian	2%	1,920
Asian	0%	535
Black	30%	34,088
Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander	0%	213
Hispanic (of any race)	22%	25,231
White	38%	43,918
Unknown/Unable to Determine	2%	1,807
Two or more races	6%	6,807

NOTE: Using U.S. Bureau of the Census standards, all races exclude children of Hispanic origin. Beginning in FY 2000, children could be identified with more than one race designation.

How old were the waiting children when they were removed from their parents or caretakers?

Mean Age	5.0
Median Age	4.1

Less than 1 Year	25%	28,315
1 Year	9%	10,092
2 Years	8%	8,800
3 Years	7%	7,998
4 Years	7%	7,686
5 Years	7%	7,404
6 Years	6%	7,150
7 Years	6%	6,578
8 Years	5%	6,177
9 Years	5%	5,343
10 Years	4%	4,718
11 Years	3%	3,954
12 Years	3%	3,304
13 Years	2%	2,545
14 Years	2%	1,792
15 Years	1%	1,037
16 Years	0%	450
17 Years	0%	89

Where were the waiting children living on September 30, 2009?

Pre-Adoptive Home	14%	15,759
Foster Family Home (Relative)	22%	25,165
Foster Family Home (Non-Relative)	54%	61,362
Group Home	3%	3,980
Institution	6%	6,331
Supervised Independent Living	0%	128
Runaway	1%	636
Trial Home Visit	1%	725

How old were the waiting children on September 30, 2009?

Mean Age	8.1
Median Age	7.5

Less than 1 Year	4%	4,351
1 Year	9%	9,817
2 Years	9%	9,953
3 Years	8%	8,767
4 Years	7%	7,800
5 Years	6%	7,054
6 Years	6%	6,515
7 Years	5%	6,225
8 Years	5%	6,023
9 Years	5%	5,884
10 Years	5%	5,635
11 Years	5%	5,534
12 Years	5%	5,373
13 Years	5%	5,335
14 Years	5%	5,547
15 Years	5%	5,814
16 Years	4%	5,014
17 Years	3%	3,921

How many children in foster care had their parental rights terminated for all living parents? 69,947

As of September 30, 2009, how many months had elapsed since the parental rights of these foster children were terminated?

Mean Months	24.6
Median Months	12.7

How many children were adopted with public agency involvement in FY 2009? 57,466

SOURCE: Adoptions can be reported to the AFCARS adoption database at any time after the adoption has been finalized. This report includes adoptions finalized in FY 2009 reported in regular and revised submissions by July 29, 2010.

NOTES: The number of adoptions reported here do not equal the number of adoption discharges reported under foster care exits because the adoptions reported here include adoptions of some children who were not in foster care but received other support from the public agency. Missing data are not used in the calculation of the percentages.

What is the gender distribution of the children adopted from the public foster care system?

Male	51%	29,146
Female	49%	28,306

How old were the children when they were adopted from the public foster care system?

Mean Age	6.3
Median Age	5.2

Less than 1 Year	2%	1,136
1 Year	11%	6,486
2 Years	15%	8,366
3 Years	11%	6,543
4 Years	9%	5,270
5 Years	8%	4,505
6 Years	7%	3,904
7 Years	6%	3,478
8 Years	5%	3,096
9 Years	5%	2,642
10 Years	4%	2,418
11 Years	4%	2,042
12 Years	3%	1,812
13 Years	3%	1,523
14 Years	2%	1,308
15 Years	2%	1,091
16 Years	2%	911
17 Years	1%	725
18 Years	0%	150
19 Years	0%	24
20 Years	0%	14

What percentage of the children adopted receive an adoption subsidy?

Yes	88%	50,481
No	12%	6,754

What is the racial/ethnic distribution of the children adopted from the public foster care system?

Alaska Native/American Indian	2%	923
Asian	0%	280
Black	25%	14,211
Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander	0%	120
Hispanic (of any race)	21%	11,878
White	44%	25,418
Unknown/Unable to Determine	2%	874
Two or more races	7%	3,754

NOTE: Using U.S. Bureau of the Census standards, all races exclude children of Hispanic origin. Beginning in FY 2000, children could be identified with more than one race designation.

How many months did it take after termination of parental rights for the children to be adopted?

Mean Months	13.9
Median Months	10.2

Less than 1 Month	2%	1,373
1 – 5 Months	23%	13,007
6 – 11 Months	33%	18,326
12 – 17 Months	18%	10,242
18 – 23 Months	10%	5,364
24 – 29 Months	5%	2,867
30 – 35 Months	3%	1,648
3 – 4 Years	4%	2,299
5 Years or More	2%	867

What is the family structure of the child's adoptive family?

Married Couple	66%	36,133
Unmarried Couple	2%	1,299
Single Female	28%	15,408
Single Male	3%	1,567

What was the relationship of the adoptive parents to the child prior to the adoption?

Non-Relative	14%	7,637
Foster Parent	54%	29,417
Stepparent	0%	120
Other Relative	32%	17,300

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Children's Bureau, www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb
Preliminary Estimates for FY 2009 as of July 2010 (17).