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Trends: Exits from Foster Care to Adoption

This table shows the percentage of children in foster care on the first day of the year who were in foster care for at least 17 months who were adopted by the end of the year.    

To view Exits from Foster Care to Adoption, select a jurisdiction and click "View Data" below.  You may also compare data to the national median, which is a comparison that is made in the Child Welfare Outcomes Report to Congress  (2002-2005) .  Comparisons of states should be considered cautiously given the significant differences in state policies regarding placement and permanency.

View Data

United States
Alabama Louisiana Oklahoma
Alaska Maine Oregon
Arizona Maryland Pennsylvania
Arkansas Massachusetts Puerto Rico
California Michigan Rhode Island
Colorado Minnesota South Carolina
Connecticut Mississippi South Dakota
Delaware Missouri Tennessee
District of Columbia Montana Texas
Florida Nebraska Utah
Georgia Nevada Vermont
Hawaii New Hampshire Virgin Islands
Idaho New Jersey Virginia
Illinois New Mexico Washington
Indiana New York West Virginia
Iowa North Carolina Wisconsin
Kansas North Dakota Wyoming
Kentucky Ohio

Questions to Consider

·   How do federal, state and local policy and practice changes account for the trend? 

·   How does your state’s timeliness to adoption compare to the national median? 

·   What can additional data tell you about whether or not children who are adopted are in stable homes, as evidenced by dissolution and disruption rates?

·   What can additional data (age, race, etc.) tell us about children who are adopted or still in care after 24, 36, and 48 months and the barriers to timely adoption?     

What's Wrong With AFCARS? Information on the limitations of AFCARS.

Learn More. Information on additional child welfare data.