AFCARS Report - Final Estimates for FY 1998 through FY 2002

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Children's Bureau, www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb

The AFCARS Report

Final Estimates for FY 1998 through FY 2002 (12)

NOTES: For a description of the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) and a discussion of critical aspects of the system, see Note #1 in the Technical Notes section at the end of this report.

Final Estimates

NOTE: For a description of the subpopulations in the graph above and in this report, see NOTE #2 in the Technical Notes section at the end of this report.

I. Children in foster care on September 30th

How many children were in foster care on September 30th of each year?

FY 1998		FY 1999		FY 2000		FY 2001		FY 2002
559,000		567,000		552,000		545,000		533,000

What were the ages of the children in foster care?

	FY 1998		FY 1999		FY 2000		FY 2001		FY 2002
Mean Years	9.6		9.9		10.0		10.1		10.2
Median Years	9.6		10.1		10.4		10.6		10.8

Less than 1 Year	5%	28,195	4%	23,174	4%	22,839	4%	23,301	5%	24,490
1 Year	5%	27,689	5%	28,690	5%	28,991	5%	28,448	5%	29,133
2 Years	5%	28,721	5%	28,850	5%	28,453	5%	28,545	5%	27,438
3 Years	5%	28,861	5%	27,661	5%	26,611	5%	26,662	5%	26,023
4 Years	5%	29,298	5%	27,606	5%	25,233	5%	24,720	5%	24,513
5 Years	5%	30,182	5%	27,488	5%	25,090	4%	23,513	4%	22,522
6 Years	5%	30,193	5%	28,793	5%	25,663	4%	23,586	4%	22,098
7 Years	6%	30,922	5%	29,198	5%	26,774	5%	24,751	4%	22,219
8 Years	6%	30,796	5%	29,925	5%	27,364	5%	25,816	4%	23,159
9 Years	5%	29,452	5%	29,442	5%	28,153	5%	26,489	5%	24,470
10 Years	5%	28,507	5%	28,753	5%	28,049	5%	27,547	5%	25,448
11 Years	5%	27,425	5%	28,030	5%	28,086	5%	27,883	5%	26,647
12 Years	5%	27,797	5%	28,426	5%	28,447	5%	28,936	5%	28,063
13 Years	5%	29,387	5%	30,784	6%	30,663	6%	31,081	6%	30,827
14 Years	6%	31,708	6%	34,422	6%	34,470	6%	34,365	7%	34,672
15 Years	6%	34,812	7%	37,811	7%	38,411	7%	38,693	7%	38,682
16 Years	6%	35,174	7%	39,329	7%	39,041	7%	40,036	8%	40,910
17 Years	5%	29,588	6%	35,080	6%	35,032	6%	35,224	7%	36,672
18 Years	2%	12,661	3%	14,796	3%	14,982	3%	15,023	3%	14,655
19 Years	1%	4,961	1%	5,888	1%	6,366	1%	6,610	1%	6,458
20 Years	0%	2,670	1%	2,853	1%	3,280	1%	3,771	1%	3,902

NOTE: For a discussion of why the age distribution is presented in this format, see NOTE #3 in the Technical Notes at the end of this report.

What were the placement settings of the children in foster care?

	FY 1998		FY 1999		FY 2000		FY 2001		FY 2002
Pre-Adoptive Home	3%	15,289	3%	19,776	4%	22,124	4%	21,409	5%	25,340
Foster Family Home (Relative)	28%	158,611	26%	147,255	25%	138,143	24%	133,149	24%	125,955
Foster Family Home (Non-Relative)	48%	266,183	47%	268,105	47%	258,007	47%	257,449	46%	246,550
Group Home	7%	41,223	8%	42,548	8%	43,975	8%	43,623	9%	46,029
Institution	9%	49,849	11%	60,234	10%	55,833	10%	56,369	10%	54,884
Supervised Independent Living	1%	4,454	1%	5,368	1%	4,976	1%	5,145	1%	5,723
Runaway	1%	5,360	1%	8,054	2%	10,077	2%	8,743	2%	9,569
Trial Home Visit	3%	18,031	3%	15,660	3%	18,864	4%	19,113	4%	18,950

What were the lengths of stay in foster care?

	FY 1998		FY 1999		FY 2000		FY 2001		FY 2002
Mean Months	32.6		31.8		32.3		32.5		31.7
Median Months	20.5		19.8		19.8		19.2		18.1

Less than 1 Month	4%	21,320	4%	23,955	4%	23,194	4%	22,899	4%	23,943
1 to 5 Months	16%	87,213	16%	92,941	16%	87,892	17%	92,382	18%	94,547
6 to 11 Months	15%	85,855	15%	83,885	15%	83,713	15%	84,000	16%	84,922
12 to 17 Months	11%	62,880	11%	64,733	12%	64,332	11%	61,941	12%	62,206
18 to 23 Months	9%	48,427	9%	51,149	9%	47,583	8%	46,283	8%	45,060
24 to 29 Months	7%	40,385	8%	42,945	7%	40,557	7%	38,434	7%	36,346
30 to 35 Months	5%	30,291	6%	32,772	6%	32,360	5%	29,045	5%	27,233
3 to 4 Years	15%	86,483	14%	82,202	15%	81,197	14%	78,442	13%	70,966
5 Years or More	17%	96,146	16%	92,418	17%	91,173	17%	91,573	16%	87,777

What were the case goals of the children in foster care?

	FY 1998		FY 1999		FY 2000		FY 2001		FY 2002
Reunify with Parent(s) or Principal Caretaker(s)	39%	220,428	42%	239,006	41%	228,932	43%	235,432	46%	244,796
Live with Other Relative(s)	3%	19,230	4%	23,327	4%	22,961	5%	28,182	5%	26,905
Adoption	20%	114,148	20%	114,203	21%	114,125	22%	117,818	21%	110,983
Long Term Foster Care	7%	38,639	8%	44,401	8%	45,272	9%	46,434	9%	47,029
Emancipation	5%	29,913	6%	33,745	6%	33,691	6%	34,527	6%	34,024
Guardianship	3%	14,423	2%	14,165	3%	14,278	3%	17,491	3%	16,703
Case Plan Goal Not Yet Established	22%	122,219	17%	98,153	17%	92,742	12%	65,117	10%	52,559

What was the race/ethnicity of the children in foster care?

	FY 1998		FY 1999		FY 2000		FY 2001		FY 2002
AI/AN-Non Hispanic	2%	9,914	2%	10,632	2%	10,959	2%	10,178	2%	9,915
Asian-Non Hispanic	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	1%	4,370	1%	3,686	1%	3,434
Asian/PI-Non Hispanic	1%	5,967	1%	5,865	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Hawaiian/ PI-Non Hispanic	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0%	1,565	0%	1,489	0%	1,470
Black -Non Hispanic	43%	240,166	38%	214,364	39%	217,615	38%	205,074	37%	195,425
Hispanic	15%	85,020	17%	95,710	15%	81,823	17%	89,950	17%	89,443
White-Non Hispanic	35%	194,130	35%	196,098	38%	207,970	38%	205,549	39%	205,769
Unknown/Unable to Determine	4%	22,140	7%	41,221	4%	19,656	3%	17,192	3%	14,399
Two or More Races-Non Hispanic	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	1%	8,043	2%	11,881	2%	13,145
Not Applicable	0%	1,662	1%	3,110	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

NOTE: Using U.S. Bureau of the Census standards, children of Hispanic origin may be of any race. Beginning in FY 2000, children could be identified with more than one race designation. For further discussion of this change, see NOTE #4 in the Technical Notes section at the end of this report.

What was the gender of the children in foster care?

	FY 1998		FY 1999		FY 2000		FY 2001		FY 2002
Male	52%	289,544	52%	296,793	52%	289,187	52%	285,505	52%	279,457
Female	48%	269,456	48%	270,207	48%	262,813	48%	259,495	48%	253,543

II. Children Entering Foster Care

How many children entered foster care during each year?

FY 1998		FY 1999		FY 2000		FY 2001		FY 2002
299,000		293,000		293,000		296,000		303,000

What were the ages of the children who entered care during each year?

	FY 1998		FY 1999		FY 2000		FY 2001		FY 2002
Mean Years	8.6		8.6		8.6		8.6		8.5
Median Years	8.5		8.7		8.8		8.7		8.6

Less than 1 Year	14%	41,332	13%	37,511	13%	37,996	13%	38,453	13%	40,714
1 Year	6%	16,801	6%	16,927	6%	17,336	6%	17,867	6%	18,745
2 Years	5%	15,641	5%	15,100	5%	15,410	6%	16,326	6%	16,708
3 Years	5%	14,394	5%	13,969	5%	13,861	5%	14,637	5%	15,362
4 Years	5%	14,109	5%	13,592	4%	12,937	4%	13,288	5%	13,892
5 Years	5%	14,107	5%	13,385	4%	12,821	4%	12,742	4%	13,306
6 Years	5%	13,993	5%	13,467	4%	13,059	4%	12,712	4%	12,520
7 Years	5%	13,540	5%	13,373	4%	12,834	4%	12,657	4%	12,363
8 Years	4%	12,996	4%	12,871	4%	12,603	4%	12,542	4%	12,269
9 Years	4%	11,950	4%	12,464	4%	12,683	4%	12,489	4%	12,278
10 Years	4%	11,472	4%	11,745	4%	12,167	4%	12,464	4%	12,463
11 Years	4%	11,579	4%	11,624	4%	11,977	4%	12,549	4%	12,726
12 Years	5%	13,498	5%	13,214	5%	13,575	5%	13,921	5%	13,996
13 Years	6%	16,635	6%	16,908	6%	16,726	6%	16,662	6%	17,201
14 Years	7%	20,411	7%	20,498	7%	21,118	7%	20,205	7%	20,799
15 Years	8%	23,736	8%	23,131	8%	23,159	8%	23,324	8%	23,192
16 Years	7%	20,243	7%	20,351	7%	20,086	7%	20,250	7%	21,225
17 Years	4%	11,330	4%	11,685	4%	11,614	4%	11,890	4%	12,210
18 Years	0%	960	0%	919	0%	803	0%	846	0%	820
19 Years	0%	182	0%	177	0%	157	0%	143	0%	156
20 Years	0%	91	0%	88	0%	77	0%	31	0%	54

NOTE: For a discussion of why the age distribution is presented in this format, see NOTE #3 in the Technical Notes at the end of this report.

What was the race/ethnicity of the children who entered care during each year?

	FY 1998		FY 1999		FY 2000		FY 2001		FY 2002
AI/AN-Non Hispanic	3%	7,519	3%	7,678	3%	7,958	2%	7,395	2%	6,890
Asian-Non Hispanic	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	1%	3,565	1%	2,984	1%	2,854
Asian/PI-Non Hispanic	2%	5,032	1%	4,361	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Hawaiian/ PI-Non Hispanic	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0%	947	0%	1,086	0%	1,115
Black -Non Hispanic	30%	88,861	27%	79,128	29%	84,460	28%	83,718	28%	83,777
Hispanic	16%	48,445	16%	46,828	15%	42,769	16%	47,542	17%	51,472
White-Non Hispanic	45%	133,832	42%	123,901	46%	136,214	46%	137,226	46%	140,003
Unknown/Unable to Determine	5%	13,923	10%	28,797	4%	11,725	3%	8,758	3%	8,490
Two or More Races-Non Hispanic	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	2%	5,362	2%	7,292	3%	8,399
Not Applicable	0%	1,387	1%	2,307	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

III. Children Exiting Foster Care

How many children exited foster care during each year?

FY 1998		FY 1999		FY 2000		FY 2001		FY 2002
257,000		250,000		272,000		269,000		282,000

What were the ages of the children who exited care during each year?

	FY 1998	FY 1999	FY 2000	FY 2001	FY 2002
Mean Years	10.3	10.3	10.2	10.1	10.1
Median Years	10.3	10.3	10.2	10.1	10.2

Less than 1 Year	4%	11,427	4%	10,156	4%	11,025	4%	11,555	4%	12,159
1 Year	5%	12,059	5%	12,475	5%	13,867	5%	14,783	6%	16,190
2 Years	5%	13,786	5%	13,349	6%	15,210	6%	15,951	6%	17,273
3 Years	5%	14,132	5%	13,303	5%	14,826	6%	15,020	6%	16,118
4 Years	5%	13,628	5%	12,862	5%	13,615	5%	13,775	5%	14,480
5 Years	5%	13,297	5%	12,673	5%	13,149	5%	12,772	5%	13,322
6 Years	5%	12,930	5%	12,306	5%	13,275	5%	12,528	4%	12,625
7 Years	5%	12,538	5%	12,009	5%	13,026	5%	12,274	4%	12,345
8 Years	5%	11,694	5%	11,695	5%	12,747	5%	12,284	4%	12,431
9 Years	4%	10,810	4%	10,935	5%	12,634	4%	12,042	4%	12,103
10 Years	4%	9,989	4%	10,153	4%	11,546	4%	11,665	4%	11,909
11 Years	4%	9,278	4%	9,592	4%	10,838	4%	11,073	4%	11,592
12 Years	4%	9,706	4%	9,388	4%	10,704	4%	10,984	4%	11,803
13 Years	4%	11,354	4%	10,859	4%	11,858	4%	11,728	4%	12,410
14 Years	5%	13,865	5%	13,223	5%	14,666	5%	13,968	5%	14,685
15 Years	7%	17,186	7%	16,322	6%	17,484	6%	17,452	6%	17,280
16 Years	7%	18,749	7%	18,123	7%	19,182	7%	18,436	7%	19,098
17 Years	7%	18,769	8%	21,079	7%	19,770	6%	17,408	7%	21,042
18 Years	6%	15,377	6%	13,933	6%	17,385	7%	18,308	6%	16,560
19 Years	2%	3,947	1%	3,430	1%	3,369	1%	3,050	1%	3,776
20 Years	1%	2,479	1%	2,136	1%	1,825	1%	1,944	1%	2,801

NOTE: For a discussion of why the age distribution is presented in this format, see NOTE #3 in the Technical Notes at the end of this report.

What was the race/ethnicity of the children who exited care during each year?

	FY 1998		FY 1999		FY 2000		FY 2001		FY 2002
AI/AN-Non Hispanic	2%	5,911	3%	6,386	2%	6,520	2%	6,579	2%	6,331
Asian-Non Hispanic	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	1%	3,307	1%	2,714	1%	2,757
Asian/PI-Non Hispanic	2%	4,227	2%	3,771	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Hawaiian/ PI-Non Hispanic	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0%	1,006	0%	1,037	0%	977
Black -Non Hispanic	32%	82,666	29%	72,128	31%	84,065	30%	81,356	30%	84,698
Hispanic	15%	39,295	16%	38,952	15%	39,909	15%	41,307	16%	45,236
White-Non Hispanic	44%	112,449	41%	103,472	45%	121,322	45%	120,025	45%	125,786
Unknown/Unable to Determine	4%	11,255	10%	23,813	4%	11,844	4%	9,676	3%	8,702
Two or More Races-Non Hispanic	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	1%	4,026	2%	6,306	3%	7,513
Not Applicable	0%	1,197	1%	1,478	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

NOTE: Using U.S. Bureau of the Census standards, children of Hispanic origin may be of any race. Beginning in FY 2000, children could be identified with more than one race designation. For further discussion of this change see NOTE #4 in the Technical Notes section at the end of this report.

What were the lengths of stay of the children who exited foster care during each year?

	FY 1998		FY 1999		FY 2000		FY 2001		FY 2002
Mean Months	22.3		22.1		22.7		21.5		21.7
Median Months	11.2		11.6		12.0		11.5		11.7

Less than 1 Month	20%	52,200	20%	50,380	19%	51,852	20%	53,164	19%	53,215
1 to 5 Months	17%	44,522	17%	42,292	17%	45,667	17%	46,158	17%	46,987
6 to 11 Months	14%	36,861	14%	35,160	14%	38,830	14%	39,005	16%	43,813
12 to 17 Months	11%	26,993	11%	27,116	11%	29,020	11%	29,977	12%	32,608
18 to 23 Months	7%	18,676	8%	19,397	8%	20,672	8%	21,259	8%	22,614
24 to 29 Months	5%	13,420	6%	14,176	6%	16,243	6%	15,414	6%	16,961
30 to 35 Months	4%	10,779	4%	10,784	5%	13,030	5%	12,163	4%	12,618
3 to 4 Years	11%	27,561	11%	26,525	11%	29,854	11%	28,357	10%	28,627
5 Years or More	10%	25,988	10%	24,171	10%	26,832	9%	23,502	9%	24,557

What were the outcomes for the children exiting foster care during each year?

	FY 1998		FY 1999		FY 2000		FY 2001		FY 2002
Reunification with Parent(s) or Primary Caretaker(s)	60%	155,267	58%	145,341	57%	156,050	57%	154,645	56%	158,597
Living with Other Relative(s)	9%	24,194	10%	24,019	10%	25,896	10%	26,724	10%	28,888
Adoption	15%	38,221	17%	41,692	17%	47,040	17%	46,778	18%	51,124
Emancipation	7%	17,310	8%	18,964	7%	20,172	7%	19,039	7%	20,358
Guardianship	2%	5,916	3%	6,713	3%	9,043	3%	8,325	4%	10,535
Transfer to Another Agency	3%	8,300	3%	7,335	3%	7,461	3%	7,765	3%	7,052
Runaway	3%	7,203	2%	5,381	2%	5,752	2%	5,180	2%	4,893
Death of Child	0%	589	0%	555	0%	586	0%	545	0%	553

NOTE: “Emancipation” includes children who are legally emancipated as well as those children who age out of the system.

NOTE: Deaths are attributable to a variety of causes including medical conditions, accidents and homicide. Emancipation includes children who are legally emancipated and children who age out of the system.

IV. Children Waiting to be Adopted

NOTE: See NOTE #2 in the Technical Notes section at the end of this report for the definition of waiting children.

How many children were waiting to be adopted on September 30th of each year?

FY 1998	FY 1999	FY 2000	FY 2001	FY 2002
125,000	130,000	131,000	129,000	124,000

What is the gender distribution of the waiting children?

	FY 1998		FY 1999		FY 2000		FY 2001		FY 2002
Male	52%	64,974	52%	67,869	52%	68,620	52%	67,717	53%	65,426
Female	48%	60,026	48%	62,131	48%	62,380	48%	61,283	47%	58,574

What is the racial/ethnic distribution of the waiting children?

	FY 1998		FY 1999		FY 2000		FY 2001		FY 2002
AI/AN-Non Hispanic	2%	1,912	2%	2,227	2%	2,200	2%	2,157	2%	2,116
Asian-Non Hispanic	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	1%	664	0%	522	0%	524
Asian/PI-Non Hispanic	1%	835	1%	976	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Hawaiian/ PI-Non Hispanic	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0%	434	0%	401	0%	334
Black -Non Hispanic	53%	65,944	42%	55,148	44%	57,345	44%	56,397	42%	52,051
Hispanic	10%	12,908	15%	18,852	13%	17,050	12%	15,837	13%	16,117
White-Non Hispanic	29%	36,358	32%	41,969	34%	44,898	35%	44,778	36%	44,675
Unknown/Unable to Determine	5%	6,325	8%	9,761	5%	6,133	4%	5,717	4%	4,679
Two or More Races-Non Hispanic	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	2%	2,277	2%	3,191	3%	3,505
Not Applicable	1%	718	1%	1,067	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

NOTE: Using U.S. Bureau of the Census standards, children of Hispanic origin may be of any race. Beginning in FY 2000, children could be identified with more than one race designation. Beginning in FY 2000, children could be identified with more than one race designation. For further discussion of this change, see NOTE #4 in the Technical Notes section at the end of this report.

How old were the waiting children when they were removed from home?

	FY 1998		FY 1999		FY 2000		FY 2001		FY 2002
Mean Years	4.1		4.3		4.5		4.6		4.8
Median Years	3.2		3.5		3.7		3.9		4.2

Less than 1 Year	29%	36,114	27%	35,743	26%	34,507	26%	33,157	25%	30,569
1 Year	10%	12,650	10%	12,602	9%	12,255	9%	11,661	9%	10,791
2 Years	9%	11,380	9%	11,385	8%	10,983	8%	10,423	8%	9,641
3 Years	8%	10,322	8%	10,241	8%	10,182	7%	9,525	7%	8,946
4 Years	8%	9,626	8%	9,898	7%	9,677	7%	9,318	7%	8,676
5 Years	7%	8,963	7%	9,478	7%	9,422	7%	9,046	7%	8,655
6 Years	6%	7,872	7%	8,531	7%	8,810	7%	8,686	7%	8,461
7 Years	5%	6,753	6%	7,506	6%	7,966	6%	7,995	6%	7,998
8 Years	5%	5,642	5%	6,369	5%	6,917	5%	7,094	6%	7,138
9 Years	4%	4,687	4%	5,403	4%	5,786	5%	6,188	5%	6,274
10 Years	3%	3,628	3%	4,150	4%	4,693	4%	5,120	4%	5,432
11 Years	2%	2,613	2%	3,144	3%	3,568	3%	3,870	3%	4,087
12 Years	2%	1,936	2%	2,315	2%	2,612	2%	2,902	2%	3,053
13 Years	1%	1,262	1%	1,524	1%	1,712	2%	1,939	2%	2,150
14 Years	1%	836	1%	934	1%	1,134	1%	1,209	1%	1,273
15 Years	0%	491	0%	524	0%	522	0%	643	0%	594
16 Years	0%	187	0%	199	0%	212	0%	182	0%	224
17 Years	0%	39	0%	54	0%	41	0%	44	0%	38

NOTE: For a discussion of why the age distribution is presented in this format, see NOTE #3 in the Technical Notes at the end of this report.

How old were the waiting children on September 30th of each year?

	FY 1998		FY 1999		FY 2000		FY 2001		FY 2002
Mean Years	7.8		7.8		8.1		8.2		8.5
Median Years	7.5		7.6		8.0		8.2		8.5

Less than 1 Year	3%	3,946	3%	4,413	3%	3,957	3%	4,473	3%	4,193
1 Year	6%	7,167	6%	8,184	6%	8,062	6%	8,265	6%	7,972
2 Years	7%	8,682	7%	9,448	7%	9,491	7%	9,050	7%	8,519
3 Years	7%	8,875	7%	9,413	7%	9,131	7%	8,868	7%	8,164
4 Years	8%	9,452	7%	9,119	7%	8,819	6%	8,274	6%	7,929
5 Years	8%	9,756	7%	9,153	7%	8,623	6%	7,844	6%	7,343
6 Years	8%	9,567	7%	9,574	7%	8,653	6%	7,822	6%	7,088
7 Years	8%	9,572	7%	9,400	7%	9,067	6%	8,021	6%	7,119
8 Years	8%	9,425	7%	9,514	7%	9,212	7%	8,473	6%	7,429
9 Years	7%	8,841	7%	9,180	7%	9,135	7%	8,734	6%	7,784
10 Years	7%	8,237	6%	8,409	7%	8,913	7%	8,591	6%	8,056
11 Years	6%	7,305	6%	7,744	6%	8,178	7%	8,391	7%	8,085
12 Years	5%	6,456	5%	6,848	6%	7,579	6%	7,855	6%	7,838
13 Years	4%	5,499	5%	6,004	5%	6,787	6%	7,105	6%	7,316
14 Years	4%	4,607	4%	5,053	4%	5,812	5%	6,281	6%	6,829
15 Years	3%	3,768	3%	4,264	4%	4,787	4%	5,460	5%	5,988
16 Years	2%	2,342	2%	2,559	2%	2,990	3%	3,378	3%	3,869
17 Years	1%	1,503	1%	1,721	1%	1,803	2%	2,113	2%	2,480

NOTE: For a discussion of why the age distribution is presented in this format, see NOTE #3 in the Technical Notes at the end of this report.

How many months have the waiting children been in continuous foster care?

	FY 1998		FY 1999		FY 2000		FY 2001		FY 2002
Mean Months	45.1		42.8		43.5		43.4		43.7
Median Months	37.4		34.1		35.1		34.3		34.4

Less than 1 Month	1%	1,007	1%	1,029	1%	745	1%	768	0%	521
1 through 5 Months	5%	5,981	5%	6,070	4%	4,880	4%	5,348	4%	4,387
6 through 11 Months	7%	9,140	8%	9,962	7%	9,275	8%	10,060	7%	9,184
12 through 17 Months	9%	10,634	10%	12,781	10%	12,719	10%	13,219	10%	12,959
18 through 23 Months	9%	11,729	10%	13,190	10%	13,566	11%	13,762	11%	13,582
24 through 29 Months	10%	12,036	11%	13,726	11%	14,109	10%	13,440	11%	13,409
30 through 35 Months	8%	9,805	9%	11,796	9%	12,081	8%	10,903	9%	10,835
36 through 59 Months	26%	32,106	24%	30,836	25%	32,962	24%	31,039	24%	29,256
60 or more Months	26%	32,562	24%	30,610	23%	30,665	24%	30,460	24%	29,868

Where were the waiting children living on September 30 of each year?

	FY 1998		FY 1999		FY 2000		FY 2001		FY 2002
Pre-Adoptive Home	10%	12,987	13%	16,595	13%	17,540	13%	16,752	17%	20,644
Foster Family Home (Relative)	24%	30,168	20%	25,744	19%	25,370	19%	24,210	17%	20,527
Foster Family Home (Non-Relative)	58%	72,356	59%	76,699	58%	75,993	59%	75,502	56%	68,926
Group Home	3%	3,505	3%	3,397	3%	3,858	3%	4,183	4%	4,737
Institution	4%	4,864	5%	6,602	6%	7,205	6%	7,437	7%	8,085
Supervised Independent Living	0%	93	0%	97	0%	94	0%	81	0%	74
Runaway	0%	380	0%	447	0%	514	0%	446	0%	582
Trial Home Visit	1%	647	0%	419	0%	426	0%	389	0%	425

How many children in foster care had their parental rights terminated for all living parents?

FY 1998	FY 1999	FY 2000	FY 2001	FY 2002
60,000	72,000	73,000	66,000	67,000

As of September 30 of each of the following years, how many months had elapsed since the parental rights of these foster children were terminated?

	FY 1998	FY 1999	FY 2000	FY 2001	FY 2002
Mean Months	22.1	20.5	21.5	23.6	25.1
Median Months	12.8	12.0	13.5	14.8	15.7

V. Children Adopted with Public Agency Involvement

NOTE: For a discussion of this population, see NOTE #2 in the Technical Notes section at the end of this report. For a discussion of the relationship to of these numbers to the numbers of adoptions reported for the population exiting foster care, see NOTE #5.

How many children were adopted in each Fiscal Year?

FY 1998	FY 1999	FY 2000	FY 2001	FY 2002
37,000	47,000	51,000	51,000	53,000

What is the gender distribution of the children adopted?

	FY 1998		FY 1999		FY 2000		FY 2001		FY 2002
Male	51%	18,730	50%	23,462	50%	25,472	50%	25,639	50%	26,591
Female	49%	18,270	50%	23,538	50%	25,528	50%	25,361	50%	26,409

What is the racial/ethnic distribution of the children adopted?

	FY 1998		FY 1999		FY 2000		FY 2001		FY 2002
AI/AN-Non Hispanic	1%	448	1%	551	1%	656	1%	726	1%	690
Asian-Non Hispanic	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	1%	290	1%	264	1%	309
Asian/PI-Non Hispanic	1%	464	1%	443	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Hawaiian/ PI-Non Hispanic	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0%	199	0%	165	0%	170
Black -Non Hispanic	43%	15,909	41%	19,373	38%	19,566	35%	17,843	35%	18,809
Hispanic	13%	4,652	14%	6,750	15%	7,430	17%	8,492	16%	8,607
White-Non Hispanic	37%	13,617	35%	16,508	38%	19,462	38%	19,382	39%	20,845
Unknown/Unable to Determine	5%	1,909	7%	3,374	5%	2,445	5%	2,597	3%	1,742
Two or More Races-Non Hispanic	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	2%	951	3%	1,531	3%	1,828
Not Applicable	0%	1	0%	1	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

How old were the children when they were adopted?

	FY 1998		FY 1999		FY 2000		FY 2001		FY 2002
Mean Years	6.9		6.9		6.9		6.9		7.0
Median Years	6.3		6.4		6.3		6.3		6.3

Less than 1 Year	2%	612	2%	856	2%	939	2%	979	2%	1,011
1 Year	6%	2,151	7%	3,212	7%	3,614	8%	3,861	8%	4,314
2 Years	9%	3,384	10%	4,537	10%	5,169	11%	5,427	11%	5,855
3 Years	11%	3,916	10%	4,748	10%	5,269	10%	5,260	10%	5,463
4 Years	10%	3,817	10%	4,506	9%	4,661	9%	4,706	9%	4,757
5 Years	10%	3,578	9%	4,164	9%	4,422	8%	4,183	8%	4,023
6 Years	9%	3,297	8%	3,966	8%	4,071	8%	3,835	7%	3,740
7 Years	8%	3,060	8%	3,694	8%	3,837	7%	3,630	7%	3,543
8 Years	7%	2,720	7%	3,433	7%	3,565	7%	3,471	6%	3,360
9 Years	6%	2,388	7%	3,075	7%	3,413	6%	3,247	6%	3,283
10 Years	6%	2,060	6%	2,677	6%	2,945	6%	2,922	6%	2,999
11 Years	4%	1,659	5%	2,205	5%	2,427	5%	2,502	5%	2,726
12 Years	3%	1,262	4%	1,810	4%	2,000	4%	2,078	4%	2,355
13 Years	3%	1,050	3%	1,352	3%	1,561	3%	1,580	3%	1,781
14 Years	2%	772	2%	1,039	2%	1,169	2%	1,183	3%	1,436
15 Years	1%	541	2%	774	2%	789	2%	881	2%	1,009
16 Years	1%	365	1%	507	1%	589	1%	672	1%	723
17 Years	1%	250	1%	307	1%	385	1%	426	1%	462
18 Years	0%	85	0%	101	0%	129	0%	107	0%	124
19 Years	0%	25	0%	28	0%	23	0%	28	0%	23
20 Years	0%	8	0%	9	0%	23	0%	20	0%	11

NOTE: For a discussion of why the age distribution is presented in this format, see NOTE #3 in the Technical Notes at the end of this report.

How many months did it take after termination of parental rights for the children to be adopted?

	FY 1998		FY 1999		FY 2000		FY 2001		FY 2002
Mean Months	16.8		16.0		15.8		16.2		16.2
Median Months	12.4		11.7		12.0		12.4		12.0

Less than 1 Month	3%	1,230	4%	1,654	4%	1,981	4%	1,904	4%	1,967
1 thru 5 Months	16%	5,849	18%	8,520	18%	8,988	17%	8,752	18%	9,786
6 thru 11 Months	29%	10,817	30%	13,987	29%	14,557	28%	14,045	28%	14,704
12 thru 17 Months	20%	7,318	19%	8,959	20%	10,410	20%	10,138	19%	10,218
18 thru 23 Months	12%	4,286	11%	5,158	12%	6,218	12%	6,299	11%	5,856
24 thru 29 Months	7%	2,544	6%	2,998	6%	3,178	7%	3,805	7%	3,668
30 thru 35 Months	4%	1,551	4%	1,788	4%	1,975	4%	2,069	4%	2,357
3 thru 4 Years	7%	2,495	6%	2,872	5%	2,665	6%	3,019	6%	3,348
5 Years or More	2%	910	2%	1,063	2%	1,028	2%	968	2%	1,095

What is the family structure of the child’s adoptive family?

	FY 1998		FY 1999		FY 2000		FY 2001		FY 2002
Married Couple	67%	24,634	66%	31,065	66%	33,513	67%	33,976	66%	35,042
Unmarried Couple	1%	455	1%	347	1%	456	1%	677	2%	876
Single Female	30%	11,242	31%	14,592	31%	15,966	30%	15,130	30%	15,786
Single Male	2%	669	2%	996	2%	1,065	2%	1,217	2%	1,296

What was the relationship of the adoptive parents to the child prior to the adoption?

	FY 1998		FY 1999		FY 2000		FY 2001		FY 2002
Non-Relative	21%	7,682	20%	9,355	18%	9,316	17%	8,748	15%	7,928
Foster Parent	64%	23,574	64%	29,953	61%	30,911	59%	30,099	61%	32,442
Relative	16%	5,745	16%	7,693	21%	10,774	24%	12,153	24%	12,630

Technical Notes

NOTE #1

Description of AFCARS

The Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) was created under the authority of section 479a of the Social Security Act. Twice each fiscal year, State child welfare agencies electronically transmit to the Children’s Bureau case level data for every child who experienced foster care (children served) in the public child welfare system (foster care database) and for every child adopted with public child welfare agency involvement (adoption database) during the specified six month period. The six-month reports are combined to correspond to the federal fiscal year (FY) which begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. For example, FY 2002 began on October 1, 2001 and ended on September 30, 2002. AFCARS annual files contain only one record for each child no matter how many times the child entered and exited care during the FY.

Description of The AFCARS Report (12)

The AFCARS Report (12) provides the final estimates associated with the following sub-populations for FY 1998 through FY 2002: those children who enter foster care, those who exit foster care, those who are in foster care on the last day of the FY, those who are waiting for adoption, those whose parental rights for all living parents have been terminated, and those who are adopted with public child welfare agency involvement. This report replaces all previous AFCARS Reports for this time period--FY 1998-FY 2002—AFCARS reports #1 through #9.

Estimates of the total number of children in each subpopulation are rounded to the nearest 1,000 because there continue to be inconsistencies in reporting from the states that preclude the establishment of an exact number. Numbers are not rounded in the tables so that when they are totaled they will equal the subpopulation total estimate. (See below for a further discussion of estimation within tables.)

Missing Data

The table below indicates the number of jurisdictions that provided useable data for each of the sub-populations for each FY. Missing data for the aggregate totals were estimated for all subpopulations except for adoption. The primary method used was from “plugging” in data from the most recent year available. The missing aggregate data for adoption was not estimated because any reasonable estimate for the missing jurisdictions would have had no effect on the estimated total.

Number of Jurisdictions¹ Reporting Useable Data for Each FY

FY	Entries	Exits	In Care	Waiting	TPR	Adoption
1998	44	45	44	43	32	49
1999	51	51	51	48	45	52
2000	50	50	50	49	46	52
2001	52	51	52	50	47	52
2002	52	52	52	52	50	52
¹ Jurisdictions include the 50 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico

In this report, percentages are calculated only for those children whose data are reported, i.e. not missing. The associated estimated numbers are calculated by multiplying the percent by the estimated total for the sub-population. For example, if in an FY 105 children entered care, but the birthdates were reported for only 100, the percentages would be based only on those 100 children for whom birth dates were available. For example, if 5% of the children who entered care in an FY were 17 years old, the number associated with that group would be .05 X 100, or 5. The percentages reported for each category in a table are rounded. Further, the percentages in some tables may not total 100% due to rounding.

Interpretation

Over the years, the accuracy and completeness of the data reported to AFCARS have improved dramatically. Therefore, care should be taken in interpreting trends appearing in the earlier years because they may be primarily a function of data quality improvement.

The mean is the average of a group of values. The median is the value associated with the middle case in a distribution. For example, if the ages of 11 children were presented from highest to lowest, the age of child #6 would be the median.

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NOTE #2

In foster care on the last day of the federal fiscal year (September 30th)

This is an estimated count of all the children in foster care on the last day of the year. An individual child is included in the count for each year for which he or she is in foster care on the last day.

Entering care during the federal fiscal year

This is an estimated count of all children who enter foster care during the year. An individual child is counted only once for each year, even if the child entered, exited and re-entered care during the year. If an individual child entered in one year and then exits and re-enters in a subsequent year, he or she is included in the count of entries for both years.

Exiting care during the federal fiscal year

This is an estimated count of all children who exited foster care during the year. An individual child is counted only once for each year, even if the child exited, re-entered and exited again during the year. If an individual child exits care in one year and then re-enters and exits again in a subsequent year, he or she is included in the count of exits for both years.

Waiting to be adopted

This is an estimated count of all children who are waiting to be adopted on the last day of the year. An individual child is included in the count for each year in which he or she is waiting to be adopted on the last day. There is no federal definition for a child waiting to be adopted. For analytical purposes, children waiting to be adopted include children with a goal of adoption and/or children whose parental rights have been terminated. Children whose parental rights have been terminated who are 16 years old and older, and who have a goal of emancipation are excluded from the “waiting” population.

Parental rights have been terminated

This is an estimated count of the children in care on the last day of the year that are waiting to be adopted and their parental rights have been terminated. An individual child is counted only once for each year. An individual child is included in the count for each year that he or she has these characteristics on the last day of the year.

Adopted

This is an estimated count of all children adopted during the year with public child welfare agency involvement. Public agency involvement includes children who had been in the public foster care system and children who were not in the public foster care system but are receiving an adoption subsidy from the title IV-E adoption assistance program.

Data quality issue

Ideally, if the number of children in the “in care” count declines, as it did during this period, the number of exits should consistently be greater than the number of entries in that year. However, this does not occur with these data. Underreporting of foster care exits by some states is the major reason for this data quality issue.

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NOTE #3

Format of age categories

In AFCARS Reports 1 through 9, ages of children were presented in grouped categories. In this AFCARS Report, ages of children have been presented in one-year increments to permit readers to construct categories relevant to their interest. The ages are truncated. This means that a child is classified as being that age until the child’s next birthday. For example, all children 16 and older but less than 17 years old are classified as 16.

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NOTE #4

Change in how race/ethnicity data are reported

In FY 2000, the categories for race/ethnicity in AFCARS were changed to correspond to the categories used in the 2000 Census, including the option to identify the person as being of more than one race. The categories for the two ways of collecting of race/ethnicity information have been adjusted to appear as similar as possible. However, there still remain categories that are not relevant to both systems. They are identified as “NA” or not applicable.

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NOTE #5

Discrepancies between the number of adoption reported as foster care exits and the number of adoptions reported as finalized adoptions

The estimated total number of adoptions used in the adoption section of this report does not equal the number of adoption discharges reported under foster care exits because the number in the adoption section includes some children who were not in foster care but who received other support from the public agency. In addition, states have historically underreported adoption discharges. In contrast, states tend to report finalized adoptions more accurately to the AFCARS adoption database because those are the adoptions used to calculate the adoption incentive awards.

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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Children's Bureau, www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb
Preliminary Estimates for FY 2005 as of September 2006 (12).