Today, more than 400,000 children are in the U.S. foster care system,
with 100,000 eligible for adoption.
As a society, we’ve promised these 400,000 children in foster care that we would find them safe, supportive homes.
Here’s what happens when we don’t fulfill this promise. Approximately 23,000 children age out of the system annually.
This means they turn 18 (or 21 in some states), aren’t adopted and leave the foster system with no family support system.
within two years of aging out of the system:
One out of four former foster children
is involved with the justice system.
Two out of four former foster
children are homeless.
a child in foster care.
a lifetime for each child who
ages out of foster care.
Ultimately, we imagine a future in which every American foster child – whether through reunification or adoption – belongs in a loving, safe, and permanent home.