In the United States, more than 442,000 children were in foster care in 2017 — the most recent year of data on record. The total number of kids in care has increased annually since 2011.
Foster care is a temporary living situation for children whose parents cannot take care of them. While in care, children may live with relatives, with foster families or in group facilities. There are four ways children can leave foster care for permanent homes: Reunification with birth parents, adoption, guardianship, and placement with relatives. Among children exiting foster care each year, about half — nearly 122,000 kids in 2017 — are reunited with a parent or primary caretaker.