Children in foster care are more likely than other children to exhibit high levels of behavioral and emotional problems. They are also more likely to be suspended or expelled from school and to exhibit low levels of school engagement and involvement with extracurricular activities. Children in foster care are also more likely to have received mental health services in the past year, to have a limiting physical, learning, or mental health condition, or to be in poor or fair health. One study found that almost 60 percent of young children in foster care, ages 2 months to two years, were at a high risk for a developmental delay or neurological impairment.
Youth who "age out" of foster care instead of returning home have an accumulated set of problems that make a successful transition to adulthood difficult. According to the only national study of youth aging out of foster care, 38 percent were emotionally disturbed, 50 percent had used illegal drugs, and 25 percent were involved with the legal system. Educational and career preparation was also a problem for these young people. Only 48 percent of foster youth who had "aged out" of the system had graduated from high school at the time of discharge, and only 54 percent had graduated two to four years after discharge. As adults, children who spent long periods of time in multiple foster care homes were more likely than other children to experience problems such as unemployment, homelessness, incarceration, and early pregnancy.Trends
Differences by Type of Placement
In 2005, nearly half (46 percent) of all foster children lived in foster family homes with non-relatives (preliminary estimate). Nearly a quarter (24 percent) lived in family foster homes with relatives-often known as "kinship care." Eighteen percent of foster children lived in group homes or institutions, 4 percent lived in pre-adoptive families, and the rest lived in other types of facilities (based on preliminary estimates).
Differences by Length of Stay in Foster Care
A third (33 percent) of children who exited foster care in 2005 lived in foster care for less than six months, and another 17 percent spent six to eleven months in care (preliminary estimates). Thirty-three percent spent one to three years in care, and 17 percent spent more than three years in care (preliminary estimates).
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Welfare
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Normer Adams, Editor
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