Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System

As The Imprint reported last week, and projected last year in our “Who Cares” project, the number of youth in foster care declined slightly in 2018. And there was good news on both ends of the system as well: entries into foster care were down, and exits from foster care were up.

The number of youth in foster care declined for the first time since 2011, according to an annual report on youth in care released by the Department of Health and Human Services.

The number of youth in foster care in America rose for a fifth consecutive year in 2017, according to a federal report released today, though state data obtained by The Imprint suggests that the total may have plateaued or even decreased this year.

Earlier this week, while reporting on the confirmation of new Administration for Children and Families (ACF) leader Lynn Johnson, Youth Services Insider speculated that perhaps an agreement had been reached, or assurances had been made, about a timeline to finalize new child welfare data collection.

The Trump administration wanted public feedback on Obama-laid plans to collect more information about youth and adults involved in the foster care system. It heard from more than 200 parties, almost all of them weighing in with comments in the final week of the public period.

As Youth Services Insider reported back in March, the Trump administration has indicated that it might roll back some or many of the Obama-era changes to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), which is how the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reports state and national data on child welfare.

Note: An early draft of this column was originally posted, and has been updated here with the final version In many facets of life, American society writ large is a more tolerant and welcoming place for gay and transgender people.

Last Thursday, The Imprint reported on the topline of the recently released Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) report, the annual report produced by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF).

The number of youth living in foster care has increased for a fourth straight year, rising to 437,465 in 2016, according to data released today by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF).