Stop unfiar removals from aingke disabled parents and stop adoptionand foster care homes and

Petition updateEnd Unfair Child Removal from Single Disabled Parents and stop adoptions and Foster ansStop unfiar removals from aingke disabled parents and stop adoptionand foster care homes and

Donna WinkQUEEN ELIZABETH House, ENG, United Kingdom

Oct 9, 2025

Community Care

Jobs Live Inform

Adopter shortage continues to grow leaving more children facing long waits to be placed, figures show

There was a shortfall of 750 adopter families as of March 2025, almost three times as many as a year previously, with a 55% rise in the number of children waiting for over a year with a placement order

By Mithran Samuel on July 30, 2025 in Children, Social work leaders

The word 'adoption' spelt out in coloured letters beneath cut-outs of a family

Photo: zimmytws/Adobe Stock

The shortage of adopters in England has continued to grow leaving more children facing long waits to be placed, official figures have shown.

There was a shortfall of 750 adopter families as of March 2025, an almost threefold increase in a year, according to the latest cut of the Adoption and Special Guardianship Quarterly Data Collection.

Over the same period, the number of children with a placement order (PO) waiting to be placed grew by 13%, with a 55% rise in the number waiting over a year with a PO, reported charity Coram-i, which produces the data for the Department for Education (DfE).

Adoption England, the national body that supports regional adoption agencies (RAAs), said the lack of adopters was a “big concern” and that the number coming forward had been in decline since the Covid pandemic, but added that it was something it was striving to address.

More adoption orders, fewer placement orders

The data showed that 3% more adoption orders – which confer parental responsibility on adoptive parents – were made in 2024-25 (3,070) than 2023-24 (2,980).

At the same time, the number of POs – through which the family court authorises a council to place a child for adoption – fell by 4% from 3,360 in 2023-24 to 3,210 in 2024-25.

However, despite these trends, the number of children with a PO waiting to be placed with adoptive parents increased for the third consecutive year, to 2,910 in March 2025, up 13% on the figure a year earlier (2,580).

Sharp rise in children facing longest waits

There was an even sharper rise in the number of children with POs facing long waits. As of March 2025:

790 children had been waiting to be placed for at least a year since the grant of their PO, up 55% on the March 2024 figure.

390 children had been waiting to be placed for at least 18 months since the grant of their PO, up 63% on the March 2024 number.

Three-quarters of those waiting at least 12 months (590) had “harder to place” characteristics, meaning they were aged over five, had a disability, were part of a sibling group or were from an ethnic minority (other than white minorities).

This proportion was a slight drop on the figure 12 months previously (76%), though the share of children waiting at least 18 months with a POwho had harder to place characteristics increased, from 79% to 82%.

Falls in number of children matched and placed

The increasing waits for children reflect significant falls in the numbers matched or placed with adoptive families in 2024-25.

During the year, 2,740 children were matched, down 8% on 2023-24, while 2,740 were placed, a decrease of 7% on the year before.

This, in turn, reflects a fall in the supply of adopters.

Reduction in supply of adopters

While the numbers of adopters registered (3,240) and approved (2,230) during 2024-25 were broadly static year on year, the number of approved adopter families waiting to be matched (1,510) by the year end was down 16% on the year before.

Coram-i said there were 1,870 children for whom active family finding was taking place, for whom 1,440 adopter families were needed. However, there were just 690 adopter families involved in family finding, leaving a shortfall of 750 as of March 2025.

The equivalent figure for March 2024 was 265.

Sufficiency of adopters ‘is big concern’

In response to the figures, Adoption England’s national adoption strategic lead, Sarah Johal, said: “Sufficiency of adopters is a big concern and remains a key priority for us and adoption agencies.

“The number of people coming forward to adopt has been in decline since the Covid pandemic, and we know that the impact of the ongoing rise in cost of living and other societal factors are contributing to this.”

One of the objectives of Adoption England’s 2024-27 strategy is to ensure that “adopters from diverse communities are recruited, prepared and supported to meet children’s needs”.

Among actions taken during 2024-25 was launching national adopter journey practice standards, which Adoption England said was designed to “standardise the adopter experience, ensuring fairness and quality throughout the process”.

Understanding hesitancy among prospective adopters

Of £8.8m in funding Adoption England has received from the DfE for 2025-26, £1m is for adopter recruitment with a further £1.5m to support matching, with children’s minister Janet Daby highlighting both as key priorities for the organisation.

Johal added: “We have very recently undertaken research to better understand hesitancy, particularly for those who are already considering adoption but haven’t yet taken the step, and will be applying the learning from this.

“We are also doing a lot of work to improve the adopter journey, right from a prospective adopter’s very first contact with an agency, all the way through to a child moving in with adopters.

“We would encourage anyone considering adoption to visit our recruitment website www.youcanadopt.co.uk where they can find lots of helpful information and details of local agencies to talk to.”

adoption, social care statistics

7 Responses to Adopter shortage continues to grow leaving more children facing long waits to be placed, figures show

Emma Evans July 30, 2025 at 1:50 pm #

As an adopter myself, I feel very conflicted with this issue. As on the one hand, I am passionate about how transformative adoption can be for some of the most vulnerable children in society. However, adoption can only be transformative to severely traumatised children, with sufficient, specialist support. This support is required long after the children are placed with adopters and long after the Adoption Order is signed. Unfortunately, in my humble opinion, the reason for the huge shortfall in adopters, is largely due to the fact there is barely any support for adoptive families. Even when my family were in crisis, no one would help us. I had to battle the Local Authority and SEND team on and off for years in order to get both of our children a place at a therapeutic, specialist school. The issue is that once the Adoption Order is signed, all help disappears. With the recent cuts to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support fund, I imagine the number of people choosing to adopt will decrease even further. Parenting severely traumatised children is impossible without sufficient, specialist support. Recruiting more adopters without tackling the lack of meaningful post adoption support, is simply setting even more families upto fail.

Rebecca Jaworska August 2, 2025 at 10:51 am #

As an adopter I also feel that the landscape around support will be impacting significantly on the numbers coming forward to adopt. The high levels and complexity of need among adopted children are now better understood and documented. The general failings that are the current landscape in SEN provision, health care, CAMHS etc hit this group hard. The ASGSF provided some security that assessment and support for adopted children and young people would be available to those starting out on their adoption journey. With the significant cuts in funding available this year, (reduction in fair access limit from £5000 to £3000 and no separate funding for assessment,) and a lack of commitment to the continuation of the fund past March 2026, it isn’t suprising that there is hesitancy among those considering adoption. They need reassurance that timely, specialist support will be available. A solution has to be government committing to the ASGSF in the long term and a restoration of previous fair access limits with increases in line with inflation.

LJ Barnes August 4, 2025 at 1:22 pm #

My husband and I have both been forced to step back from work, him into early retirement due to stress-related autoimmune disease, me into reduced hours, just to cope with the relentless challenges of parenting adopted children carrying profound developmental trauma. When we adopted, we were promised therapeutic support through the ASGSF. That fund has since been slashed by 60%, with assessments now completely removed. We were assured robust SEN support; it simply isn’t there. If there’s one devastating lesson from our adoption journey, it’s that we’ve been profoundly misled. Officials have broken promises and shattered our trust; it’s an awful, lonely place to be.

I recently spoke to a couple considering adoption who asked me ‘what it’s really like’. When I explained the painful reality, that we were promised help but have instead faced funding cuts and been left isolated, exhausted and financially strained, they were genuinely shocked. ‘There must be more support than that,’ they said. I laughed bitterly, because we’ve searched everywhere and found nothing. If anything, the government is dismantling that support brick by brick, leaving families like ours to bear the emotional, practical and financial cost alone. Adoption Poverty is a thing that nobody is talking about.

Unless this crisis in post-adoption support is urgently addressed, more families will break, and vulnerable children will pay the heaviest price. Why would anyone come forward to adopt?

P.S. There’s more research being done into the high prevalence of autoimmune diseases in the adoption community and adoption poverty. I wish you’d do articles on this.

Sandra Georgeson August 5, 2025 at 6:53 pm #

As an adoption support agency I am not surprised by this drop in adopters given the uncertainty around the support adopters will receive in the future and the current reduction in the fair access limit. I also hear from families that they have different support from different local authorities, with some being really proactive in offering adopters pathways to support and others being less helpful. In my experience the best packages of support transition the child from foster care to adoption. This allows for the opportunity to assess the child’s therapeutic and attachment needs to put the correct therapy in place prior to adoption. It also allows the adopters to receive informed support from the start instead of waiting for crisis. I’m very lucky with our local authority Barnsley, as they support these transition packages and have seen the benefits for children and their adoptive parents. If more packages were in place from the start it may help attract adopters. The current climate is sadly creating a very unstable environment for adoption, which in turn leaves our most vulnerable children without permanency or a sense of safety.

M Etchels August 9, 2025 at 12:24 pm #

I totally concur with all of the above comments. As adoptive parents we have long felt that more support (not less!) is needed for families such as ours, and that was before, out of the blue, the Government decided in its wisdom to make cuts to the ASGSF, so now we have less support than before. Our children are amazing, but they have suffered trauma and have a number of diagnoses. My husband now has a number of long term health issues directly attributable to stress we have been under for many years. If anyone asks us about adoption, we now warn them of the challenges we’ve faced and the continual fight for support. Prospective adopters need to go into adoption with their eyes wide open, and also to understand there is a chance that one of them may need to give up their job permanently due to their child’s needs. When we heard of the cuts to the ASGSF, along with the shock of realising our son’s therapy would directly be affected (along with a reduction in regular sessions, to date he has not had any therapy since March 2025 due to the Government’s delay in confirming any funding, and now due to the backlog in applications), our next thought was the impact this would have on recruiting future adopters.

James Mutton August 9, 2025 at 3:59 pm #

“..We are also doing a lot of work to improve the adopter journey, right from a prospective adopter’s very first contact with an agency, all the way through to a child moving in with adopters.”

…and then, the strong implication being, you’re on your own forever.

They’d rather talk about anything other than genuine adoption support.

I’m not conflicted about this at all.

Falling adoption numbers are the only thing that will bring about change.

JK August 11, 2025 at 12:51 pm #

Feels like drawbridges are being pulled up for families in England…adoption is much more of an ‘ask’ now, sadly since the 10 years ago when we adopted. Research has taught us so much about the range of issues and support these children come with, and need. We also know more about how to meet those needs for them to flourish, which is great, but we need to push for better structural, societal support for families with needs full stop. To prevent some of the things that stop children needing to be removed, to support them in permanency if they need alternative care, community family support, the SEND/education system, as well as it not being the case that making rent/mortgage payments doesn’t take 2 FT salaries. To find better, more equitable ways to access therapy and to understand that some children placed for adoption will need more and others less – not an annual cap situation, but an understanding that investment in some years/developmental phases reaps more rewards down the line.

Job of the week

Social Worker – Adult Social Care

Employer Profiles

Bournemouth beachBournemouth, Christchurch and PooleHampshire County CouncilA picture of an Oxford college quadOxfordshire County CouncilTwo colleagues talkingSouth Gloucestershire CouncilWokingham town centre imageWokingham Borough Council

Workforce Insights

Podcast: supporting social workers to flourish in their careersPodcast: exploring myths around fosteringPodcast: Hampshire Hive – fostering through a community of familiesProviding a lifeline for social workers who want to get back into the sectorThe highs and lows of a children’s services’ transformation journeyHand putting wooden cube block on blue background with word CAREER and copy space for your text. Business career planning growth to success conceptWorkforce Insights – showcasing a selection of the sector’s top recruiters

More from Community Care

Network

The networking platform for social workers

Connect with peers

Jobs

The latest job opportunities within the social work sector

Search for jobs

Events

The largest free to attend event for the social work sector

Learn

The online learning and practice resource for social workers

Find out more

Connect with us

facebookFacebook

LinkedInLinkedIn

InstagramInstagram

Topics

Adults

Children

Workforce

Social work leadership

More information

About us

Write for Community Care

Accessibility

Advertise with us

Privacy

Terms & conditions

Mark Allen Group

© MA Education 2025. St Jude's Church, Dulwich Road, Herne Hill, London SE24 0PB, a company registered in England and Wales no. 04002826. MA Education is part of the Mark Allen Group. All Rights Reserved

CookiesYes, adoption is falling in the UK, with a significant decline in adopter recruitment and adoption numbers since the Covid-19 pandemic. Factors contributing to this decline include the rising cost of living impacting potential adopters, an increase in the number of children in care, and the growing use of kinship care.
Key indicators of the decline:
Falling adopter numbers: There are fewer people coming forward to adopt, creating an adopter shortage.
Decreased adoption rates: The number of children adopted in England has fallen, with a 2% decrease in the year to March 2023 and a significant drop from a 2015 peak.
More children waiting: The number of children who are ready for adoption and waiting for a family has increased.
Increased wait times: Children are waiting longer to be placed with adopters.
Reasons for the fall:
Cost of living crisis: The rising cost of living is a significant factor, causing prospective adopters to hold back.
Increased children in care: A rising number of children are entering the care system, increasing the need for permanent homes but also putting pressure on the available adopters.
Kinship care: The greater use of kinship care, where family members or friends care for children, has also reduced the number of children available for adoption.

Yes, adoption is falling in the UK, with a significant decline in adopter recruitment and adoption numbers since the Covid-19 pandemic. Factors contributing to this decline include the rising cost of living impacting potential adopters, an increase in the number of children in care, and the growing use of kinship care.
Key indicators of the decline:
Falling adopter numbers: There are fewer people coming forward to adopt, creating an adopter shortage.
Decreased adoption rates: The number of children adopted in England has fallen, with a 2% decrease in the year to March 2023 and a significant drop from a 2015 peak.
More children waiting: The number of children who are ready for adoption and waiting for a family has increased.
Increased wait times: Children are waiting longer to be placed with adopters.
Reasons for the fall:
Cost of living crisis: The rising cost of living is a significant factor, causing prospective adopters to hold back.
Increased children in care: A rising number of children are entering the care system, increasing the need for permanent homes but also putting pressure on the available adopters.
Kinship care: The greater use of kinship care, where family members or friends care for children, has also reduced the number of children available for adoption.

Yes, adoption is falling in the UK, with a significant decline in adopter recruitment and adoption numbers since the Covid-19 pandemic. Factors contributing to this decline include the rising cost of living impacting potential adopters, an increase in the number of children in care, and the growing use of kinship care.
Key indicators of the decline:
Falling adopter numbers: There are fewer people coming forward to adopt, creating an adopter shortage.
Decreased adoption rates: The number of children adopted in England has fallen, with a 2% decrease in the year to March 2023 and a significant drop from a 2015 peak.
More children waiting: The number of children who are ready for adoption and waiting for a family has increased.
Increased wait times: Children are waiting longer to be placed with adopters.
Reasons for the fall:
Cost of living crisis: The rising cost of living is a significant factor, causing prospective adopters to hold back.
Increased children in care: A rising number of children are entering the care system, increasing the need for permanent homes but also putting pressure on the available adopters.
Kinship care: The greater use of kinship care, where family members or friends care for children, has also reduced the number of children available for adoption. There are no definitive global statistics on the total number of children available for adoption, but the number of children in residential care across the world is in the hundreds of thousands, and potentially millions, with figures varying by region. Data varies by country, including numbers of children awaiting adoption and annual adoption rates, which can fluctuate due to changes in national regulations.

Estimates and Data

Residential Care: The International Foster Care Organisation (IFCO) provides estimates for children in residential care, showing that in the regions of Central and Eastern Europe/CIS, there were 664,000 children, and in industrialized countries, there were 384,000 children in residential care in 2019.

Varying Statistics: Adoption statistics are not uniform globally. For example, in 2023, Haiti had 80 total adoptions, Nigeria had 62, and Taiwan had 59. These figures differ significantly from the 4,764 adoptions recorded in England and Wales in 2006, according to Wikipedia.

Changing Regulations: The number of children available for adoption changes over time due to shifts in national adoption laws. For example, Ethiopia used to be a popular country for international adoptions, but it banned international adoptions in 2018, resulting in fewer adoptions from the country. Explore

About

Get involved

Resources

Events

Donate Connect locally

Get in touch

Home For Good Logo

Statistics

National statistics for fostering and adoption

Why we track national statistics

At Home for Good, we are dedicated to finding a loving home for every child through adoption, fostering, or supported lodgings. Behind every figure we analyse - whether highlighting disparities or barriers - are not data points but precious children in need of care and stability. Working with policymakers, agencies, churches, and families, we believe everyone has a role to play. Together, we can ensure every child finds a home where they can thrive.

National Statistics

All Statistics

UK-Wide Statistics

39,000 entering care

This year in the UK around 39,154 children and young people will enter the care system.1 That is 107 children every day.

104,000 away from home

There are around 104,368 children in the UK who are looked after away from home.2

Around the UK

Wales has the highest rate of looked after children away from home in the UK at 116 per 10,000 of the under 18 population. Scotland has a slightly lower rate at 94 per 10,000 while the rates in Northern Ireland and England are much lower at 92 per 10,000 and 70 per 10,000 respectively.3

A need for homes

69,877 children live with over 52,300 fostering households across the UK. (4) In 2023, there were 2210 children waiting for adoption in England and 237 children waiting for adoption in Wales.5

Racial disparity

Black children are disproportionately represented in our care system. While Black children make up 5% of the general population, they make up 7% of the looked after children population.6 Black children are then less likely to go on to be adopted and wait longer to find their adoptive family.7 When other factors are held constant, Black children spend on average 5-8 months longer in the adoption process before moving in with their adoptive family.8

Caring for teenagers

Children in care are predominantly older with 38% aged 10-15 years and 27% aged 16 years and over.9

View all statistics

All statistics

England

Scotland

Wales

Northern Ireland

Global

Overview

There are 83,630 children in the care system in England, a decrease of 0.5% from 2023, but a 23% increase from 2014.10

33,050 children entered the care system in 2024, very similar to last year, but an increase of 8% from 2014.11

33,620 children left the care system in 2024. This is an increase of 6% from 2023 and an increase of 10% from 2014.12

11% of children who left care in 2024 left under a special guardianship order and 9% left through adoption. There has been a 1% decrease in the number of children adopted compared to 2023.13

Children in care are predominantly older with 38% aged 10-15 years and 27% aged 16 years and over.14

During 2024, 69% of children in care had one placement in the year, while 10% experienced high instability (3 or more placements).15

22% of children in care are placed over 20 miles from their home area.16

Fostering

67% of children in care live with a foster family (n=56,390) this has decreased 3% since 2022.17

There are 42,615 fostering households in England. This is a 2% decrease since 2022 and a 4% decrease since 2020.18

At the end of March 2024 there were 3,785 new approved fostering households.19

There are now 57,065 approved foster cares in England. This is a 4% decrease since 2022 and an 15% decrease since 2020.20

Adoption

In 2024, 2,980 children were adopted, similar to the previous year.21

The average age of a child at adoption is 3 years and 4 months, which is down slightly by one month compared to last year but is up from 3 years in 2020. 22

In 2024, the average time between a child entering care and being placed for adoption was 1 year and 7 months, the same as last year. It then takes a further 9 months (on average) for an adoption order to be granted and the adoption to be completed.23

As of October 2024, there were 2600 children waiting for adoption this is an decrease of 25% since 2022. 47% of these children have been waiting for 18 months or more, a 1% decrease from last year.24

In 2024, Children aged over 5, male, from an Ethnic Minority (excludes White minorities) background, with a disability and in a sibling group were more likely to be waiting with a PO and less likely to be adopted.25

Care leavers and care-experienced young people

In 2023, 13,112 young people in England aged out of the care system on their 18th Birthday. This has increased by 4% since 2020.26

The number of care leavers aged 18-20 experiencing homelessness has increased by 54% over the past five years.27

Care leavers make up 25% of the adult homeless population.28

Almost 25% of the adult prison population have previously been in care,29 and nearly 50% of under 21-year-olds in contact with the criminal justice system have spent time in care.30

Looked-after children are more at risk of interacting with the criminal justice system in early adulthood than their peers. Among looked-after children 52% were convicted of a criminal offence by the academic year they turned the age of 24, compared to 13% of children who had not experienced care.31

7% of care leavers aged 17 years; 3% of care leavers aged 18 years and 6% of care leavers aged 19-21 are in accommodation considered to be unsuitable.32

39% of care leavers aged 19-21 years are not in education, employment, or training (NEET), compared to 13% of all 19- to 21-year-olds. The number of care leavers aged 19-21 who are not in education, employment, or training has increased by 1% since 2023.33

Just 9% of care leavers enter HE by their 19th birthday, compared to 47% of the wider population.34

Care-experienced applicants are 179% more likely to apply for health and social care degrees than non-care-experienced students, and 50% more likely to apply for nursing and midwifery.35

Reference information is available here (updated May 2025)

Are you using our statistics? Get in touch with our Policy and Research Lead, Hannah – hannah.greer@homeforgood.org.uk

I would like to find out what is

going on in my area

Your postcode

Join our mailing list for the latest Home for Good news and ways to get involved.

Together, we can find a home for every child who needs one.

Home For Good Logo

Your journey

Exploring fostering

Exploring adoption

Supported lodgings

Start your journey

Accessing support

Join us

Become a volunteer

Donate

Stand with us

Job opportunities

Home for Good churches

Get Involved

Individuals and churches

Pray with us

Fundraise

Advocacy

Business supporters

Connect locally

In your area

Events

Book a speaker

Keep up-to-date

Quick links

Press

Statistics

Trustees

Safeguarding Commitment

Instagram Twitter Facebook

Home for Good

4 Diamond Court, Kingston Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE3 2EN

t: 0300 001 0995

e: info

Instagram Twitter

Search...

Privacy NoticeCookie PolicyContact Preferences

Fundraising RegulatorPremier Digital Awards logo

Registered Charity in England and Wales No. 1150405 and Registered Charity in Scotland No. SC048207 and Company Limited by Guarantee Registered in England and Wales No. 08134971. The Registered Office is 4 Diamond Court, Kingston Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE3 2EN.
Foster Care and Adoption Statistics – AFCARS 2025 Update

May 13, 2025

Nicole Davi

Earlier today, as a part of National Foster Care Month, the U.S. Administration for Children and Families (ACF) released its annual report on adoption and foster care statistics. This article provides a brief review of notable figures and key insights from the report.

View the new AFCARS data

View historical AFCARS reports

The AFCARS report presents adoption and foster care data each fiscal year. The newest report covers data from fiscal year 2023 (October 1, 2022 - September 30, 2023). While this is the most current federal data available, it is important to note it reflects data from over a year ago. For the first time, ACF has released this data through an interactive dashboard, intended to offer a more transparent and user-friendly experience, as well as new data elements required by the final rule published in 2020. While this new data allows for more detailed analysis and greater specificity, it also presents challenges when comparing some data from previous years. ACF has also noted that this data is preliminary, as many states will continue to update their data and does not currently include data from the states of Washington and Wyoming.

In general, fiscal year 2023 reflects the continued downward trends seen since 2019 across several key areas, including the number of children entering foster care, exiting foster care, awaiting adoption, and being adopted. According to Ryan Hanlon, NCFA President and CEO,

"It is important to remember that an increase or decrease in the number of children entering foster care should not be our measure of success."

"Rather," Hanlon continues, "our goal should be to reduce child maltreatment rates, reduce time spent outside permanent family care, and reduce timeframes and numbers of children awaiting adoption."

This report shows that adoptions from foster care have continued to decline, reaching their lowest level since 2003. In FY 2023, 50,193 children were adopted from foster care—a decrease of over 5% from the previous year, and over a 24% decrease since 2019.

Children Adopted and Awaiting Adoption

In FY 2023, while 50,193 children were adopted from foster care, 36,411 children remained in foster care despite being both legally free for adoption and having a primary permanency plan of adoption.

Legal status and case plan goal must be considered when identifying children that are available for or awaiting adoption. In FY 23, only 75% of children that were legally free had a primary goal of adoption, with many having reunification, APPLA, or guardianship permanency goals. Additionally, children with a permanency plan of adoption may still be many steps away from finalizing an adoption, as many of these children are not yet legally free for adoption. In FY 2023, more than 52% of children with a primary permanency plan of adoption had not yet completed the termination of parental rights (TPR) process.

This new report included changes to data reporting, including replacing information on “children awaiting adoption” with two distinct groups: “children legally free” (i.e., children whose parental rights have been terminated) and “children with a permanency plan for adoption” (limited to those with a sole or primary permanency plan). The dashboard offers the total counts of children in each of these groups from fiscal years 2019 through 2023, however, additional detailed data was not offered for fiscal years prior to 2023. As a result, trends on the number of children who are both legally free and have a primary permanency goal of adoption cannot be offered.

Profile of Children Awaiting Adoption

There were 36,411 children awaiting adoption at the end of FY 2023. In this section, we are defining children awaiting adoption as those that are both legally free and have an adoption permanency plan.

2% were less than one year old, 39% were aged 1-5, 26% were aged 6-10, 29% were aged 11-16, 3% were aged 17, and 1% were aged 18-24.

43% were White, 22% were Hispanic, 21% were Black, 10% were two or more races, 2% were American Indian or Alaska Native, 1% were unknown, <1% were Asian, and <1% were Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander.

Profile of Children Adopted from Foster Care

There were 50,193 children adopted from foster care in FY 2023.

2% were less than one year old, 54% were aged 1-5, 25% were aged 6-10, 17% were aged 11-16, 2% were aged 17, and <1% were aged 18-24.

48% were White, 22% were Hispanic, 17% were Black, 9% were two or more races, 2% were American Indian or Alaska Native, 1% were unknown, <1% were Asian, and <1% were Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander.

Exits from Foster Care

Of the 184,095 youth that exited foster care in FY 2023, less than half (44%) reunified with their families, while 27% were adopted and 10% exited into guardianship placements.

Length of Time in Foster Care

This report showed that more than a third of children who exited foster care in FY 2023 spent more than two years in foster care—amounting to 67,746 children and youth. Of those, over 37,000 children spent three or more years in care.

Conclusion

This report shows that over 77,000 children and teens are waiting for permanency with a loving, nurturing family to help them thrive during their most formative years. It also demonstrates that states are not following federally mandated timeframes to move children to a permanent family.

Related Resources

Adoptive Parents

Adopting from Foster Care

There are over 120,000 children and youth in the United States foster care system waiting for a permanent, loving family. Learn more about how adoption from foster care works, and discover resources a...

Adoptive Parents

Can I Adopt a Baby from Foster Care?

In May, we recognize National Foster Care Awareness Month. In the same breath, we advocate for children in foster care who wait for adoptive families.

Adoption Professionals

Breaking Barriers to Permanency for All Kids

She scanned the room of the various individuals who came to learn more about adoption from foster care, and after sitting quietly for a short, but weighted and deafening period, she pierced the sil...

ncfa-logo-full-color

Stay Connected

We’re always updating our resources as new research, training, and information become available. Stay up-to-date on everything NCFA is doing and the resources we have available for you by signing up below.

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

Yes, I want to receive advocacy alerts by text message from NCFA

City

State

Zip

General NCFA News

General Adoption Education & Training

Professional Education & Training

Policy & Legislative Advocacy

NCFA Conferences

Member Login

NCFA Blog

Press Releases

Support NCFA

Foster Care and Adoption Statistics – AFCARS 2025 Update
May 13, 2025
Nicole Davi
Earlier today, as a part of National Foster Care Month, the U.S. Administration for Children and Families (ACF) released its annual report on adoption and foster care statistics. This article provides a brief review of notable figures and key insights from the report.
View the new AFCARS data
View historical AFCARS reports
The AFCARS report presents adoption and foster care data each fiscal year. The newest report covers data from fiscal year 2023 (October 1, 2022 - September 30, 2023). While this is the most current federal data available, it is important to note it reflects data from over a year ago. For the first time, ACF has released this data through an interactive dashboard, intended to offer a more transparent and user-friendly experience, as well as new data elements required by the final rule published in 2020. While this new data allows for more detailed analysis and greater specificity, it also presents challenges when comparing some data from previous years. ACF has also noted that this data is preliminary, as many states will continue to update their data and does not currently include data from the states of Washington and Wyoming.

"It is important to remember that an increase or decrease in the number of children entering foster care should not be our measure of success."

"Rather," Hanlon continues, "our goal should be to reduce child maltreatment rates, reduce time spent outside permanent family care, and reduce timeframes and numbers of children awaiting adoption."

For the fifth year in a row, the number of children in foster care declined, with a total of 343,077 children in care. The number of children legally free for adoption and those with permanency plans of adoption have also decreased to their lowest points since 2019. The total number of exits from foster care was 184,095, constituting the fewest number of exits from foster care since AFCARS reporting began.
Children Adopted and Awaiting Adoption
In FY 2023, while 50,193 children were adopted from foster care, 36,411 children remained in foster care despite being both legally free for adoption and having a primary permanency plan of adoption.

Additionally, while the number of children adopted decreased significantly in 2023, when compared to the total number of children in foster care, the percentage of children adopted (15%) remained almost exactly the same as the prior year.
Profile of Children Awaiting Adoption
There were 36,411 children awaiting adoption at the end of FY 2023. In this section, we are defining children awaiting adoption as those that are both legally free and have an adoption permanency plan.
2% were less than one year old, 39% were aged 1-5, 26% were aged 6-10, 29% were aged 11-16, 3% were aged 17, and 1% were aged 18-24.
43% were White, 22% were Hispanic, 21% were Black, 10% were two or more races, 2% were American Indian or Alaska Native, 1% were unknown, <1% were Asian, and <1% were Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander.

Profile of Children Adopted from Foster Care
There were 50,193 children adopted from foster care in FY 2023.
2% were less than one year old, 54% were aged 1-5, 25% were aged 6-10, 17% were aged 11-16, 2% were aged 17, and <1% were aged 18-24.
48% were White, 22% were Hispanic, 17% were Black, 9% were two or more races, 2% were American Indian or Alaska Native, 1% were unknown, <1% were Asian, and <1% were Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander.
Exits from Foster Care
Of the 184,095 youth that exited foster care in FY 2023, less than half (44%) reunified with their families, while 27% were adopted and 10% exited into guardianship placements.

In FY 2023, 15,590 youth aged-out of foster care. Each year this number reminds us of the failures of our child welfare system to help achieve permanency for our youth. The impacts of aging out of foster care are worse than all other exit types, resulting in poor long-term well-being outcomes for youth and expensive ongoing costs to states.
Length of Time in Foster Care
This report showed that more than a third of children who exited foster care in FY 2023 spent more than two years in foster care—amounting to 67,746 children and youth. Of those, over 37,000 children spent three or more years in care.

These numbers offer a tragic reminder that our system is not meeting the goal of achieving permanency for children in foster care within reasonable timeframes. It is important to compare these reported exit timeframes to the 12-month permanency timeframe guidelines established by the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA). Additionally, it is important to consider the impacts on children and youth who languish in care without achieving permanency and stability.
Conclusion
This report shows that over 77,000 children and teens are waiting for permanency with a loving, nurturing family to help them thrive during their most formative years. It also demonstrates that states are not following federally mandated timeframes to move children to a permanent family.

NCFA applauds all the caseworkers and families who together supported over 50,000 children in finding homes in FY 2023. If you are considering adoption from foster care, you can learn more about the process here.
Related Resources

Adoptive Parents
Adopting from Foster Care
There are over 989,560,230 000 children and youth in the United States and uk foster care system waiting for a permanent, loving family. Learn more about how adoption from foster care works, and discover resources a...
Read more but no familys to take all these children and one's with complex needs waits about 6 years or longer some have waited for 12 years so far to be adoption in the uk essex revoking. Orders on placement and care orders would make a difference to the systems

Adoptive Parents
Can I Adopt a Baby from Foster Care?
In May, we recognize National Foster Care Awareness Month. In the same breath, we advocate for children in foster care who wait for adoptive families.
Read more

Adoption Professionals
Breaking Barriers to Permanency for All Kids
She scanned the room of the various individuals who came to learn more about adoption from foster care, and after sitting quietly for a short, but weighted and deafening period, she pierced the sil...
Read more

Stay Connected
We’re always updating our resources as new research, training, and information become available. Stay up-to-date on everything NCFA is doing and the resources we have available for you by signing up below.

Yes, I want to receive advocacy alerts by text message from NCFA

General NCFA News
General Adoption Education & Training
Professional Education & Training
Policy & Legislative Advocacy
NCFA Conferences

Contact Us
Member Login
NCFA Blog
Press Releases
Support NCFA
Privacy Policy
© 2025 National Council For Adoption. All Rights Reserved.

Support now

Sign this petition

Copy link

Facebook

Nextdoor

Please sign my petition stop unfiar removals from single disabled parents and stop adoption and Fos

Stop unfair child removal from single disabled parents and stop adoption and Foster care homes and r