442,995
Number of youth living in foster care in the United States as of September 2017, according to data from the Administration for Children and Families. That’s a 1.5% increase from 2016 and an 11.6% increase from 2012, when the number began to rise after more than 10 years of decline.
36%
The percentage of children entering the foster care system in 2017 because of parental drug use, compared with 15% in 2000. In 2016, five out of six states with the highest rates of death from opioid overdoses had increases in foster care rates, with West Virginia holding the highest rates of both.
60%
The percentage of children under age 5 who entered foster care due to parental drug use in 2017, compared with 40% in 2000. These children were also 9% more likely to be white and 14% more likely to be from the southern United States than they were in 2000.
