​The Crisis Facing America’s Foster Children

Across the United States, hundreds of thousands of children are caught in a system meant to protect them but too often unable to meet their most basic needs. Today, the American foster care system is in crisis—marked by instability, shortages of safe placements, and an epidemic of untreated trauma.

At the end of Fiscal Year 2023, more than 343,000 children were in foster care, while over 560,000 experienced care at some point during the year. Every year, about 606,000 children enter or re-enter foster care—more than the population of a major city. On any given day, around 368,000 children are waiting for safety, stability, and the hope of a permanent family.

Despite the enormous need, America faces a chronic shortage of licensed foster families. In recent years, this shortage has forced states to rely on motel rooms, social services offices, and unregulated rental houses. Audits in Kentucky and West Virginia revealed children routinely sleeping in offices without proper beds, hygiene, or supervision. In other states, children have been trafficked or harmed while in unlicensed placements. From Texas to New York, California to Florida, children are too often left waiting for a safe place to sleep.

The reasons why children enter care are complex and heartbreaking. Neglect accounts for about 62% of removals. Parental substance abuse affects roughly 33% of all cases. Other contributing factors include severe poverty, housing insecurity, untreated mental illness, and physical or sexual abuse. Behind each statistic is a child who has already endured unimaginable adversity before ever entering the system.

Children enter foster care to find safety—but too often, they remain there far too long. Over 67,000 children have been in care for more than two years, and nearly 37,000 have waited over three years. The median stay is 15.9 months—long enough for children to lose connection with friends, extended family, and community. For the 108,000 children legally free for adoption, the average wait is nearly three years.

This instability is often compounded by frequent moves. Almost half of all children in care experience multiple placement changes. About 20% of school-aged children are forced to change schools in the middle of the year. Less than 62% of foster youth graduate from high school, compared to over 90% of their peers.

The trauma of instability is profound. Research shows that children in foster care experience significantly higher rates of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and developmental delays. More than 80% of transitional-age foster youth have a diagnosed behavioral or mental health condition, yet only about 20% receive specialized mental health treatment. For too many children, trauma compounds trauma—and the hope for healing slips further away.

Even when children do exit foster care, the challenges don’t end. Every year, about 30,000 young people turn 18 and age out of the system without a permanent family. Within a few short years, 23% become homeless, 26% are incarcerated, only 66% will earn a high school diploma, less than 8% will graduate college, and nearly half will remain unemployed at age 24.

This cycle of instability, trauma, and poverty is not inevitable—it is the result of a system stretched far beyond its limits.

While federal reforms like the Family First Prevention Services Act and Medicaid expansion have provided critical support, they are not enough on their own. Children need:

Safe, licensed foster families willing to open their homes.

Trauma-informed mental health care.

Educational stability and supportive communities.

Policies that prioritize permanency and healing over bureaucracy.

This is more than a policy problem—it is a moral one. Every child deserves a home where they are safe, valued, and given the chance to heal—not a motel room or an office floor.

If you have ever considered becoming a foster parent, volunteering, mentoring, or supporting organizations that serve these children, now is the time. Your involvement can change a life. It can offer the stability and hope that so many children in foster care are waiting for.

The Crisis Facing Texas Foster Children

Texas has one of the largest foster care systems in the United States—and one of the most overburdened. Every day, children who have already endured unthinkable trauma are placed in environments ill-equipped to meet their needs.

At any given time, more than 38,000 children are in the custody of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS). These children have been removed from their families because of confirmed abuse, neglect, or abandonment. But even after removal, safety and healing remain out of reach for far too many.

Despite decades of reform attempts, Texas faces a chronic shortage of licensed foster homes. This shortage forces DFPS to house children in motels, rented houses, office buildings, or other makeshift placements with minimal oversight. In 2023, court-appointed monitors described these environments as dirty, disorganized, and dangerous. Children as young as 10 were left to sleep in motels with little supervision. Teen girls were documented trading sex for money or basic necessities. Over just 12 weeks in Bell County alone, more than half of the children in these settings ran away or were at risk of being trafficked.

The crisis is not confined to one region. Throughout Texas, children are frequently moved between placements, disrupting any sense of stability. Almost half of all foster youth will experience multiple placement changes while in care. About 20% of school-aged foster children are forced to change schools during the year, which contributes to severe educational setbacks. Only 62% of youth in Texas foster care graduate from high school, compared to more than 90% of their peers.

The children entering foster care in Texas often have complex and urgent needs. Nearly 50% have at least one chronic health condition. 10% are medically complex. Many more require treatment for depression, PTSD, anxiety, or substance use. Yet the system lacks enough specialized foster families, therapists, and trauma-informed programs to provide adequate care. For too many children, trauma compounds trauma, and the hope for healing slips further away.

Recognizing this crisis, Texas has launched Texas Child-Centered Care (T3C)—an ambitious transformation of the entire system. T3C aims to align funding with each child’s unique needs, create 24 clearly defined “service packages” to improve placement matching, expand oversight, and reduce reliance on unlicensed emergency settings. While promising, T3C is still in early phases of implementation. For thousands of children in care today, the shortage of safe, loving homes remains just as urgent.

This is more than a policy problem. It is a moral one. Every child deserves a home where they are safe, nurtured, and valued—not a motel room or a revolving door of strangers.

If you have ever considered becoming a foster parent, volunteering, or supporting organizations that serve these children, now is the time. Your involvement can change a life. It can help a child reclaim hope.

The Crisis Facing Foster Children in Bell County, Texas

Bell County is in the midst of a child welfare emergency. Every day, children who have already endured abuse and neglect are being further traumatized by a system too overwhelmed to protect them.

Over 600 children in Bell County alone are currently in foster care. Many were removed from their homes because of confirmed reports of severe neglect, physical abuse, or sexual exploitation. Yet the very system meant to protect them is running out of options. In recent months, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) has been forced to house children in motels, rented homes, and even offices because there are not enough licensed foster homes available to meet their needs.

A 2023 court-appointed monitor’s report revealed the harsh reality these children face:

Children as young as 10, removed after years of trauma, were left in motel rooms with minimal supervision and no sense of safety.

Teen girls in Bell County placements were documented engaging in prostitution or trading sex for basic necessities.

Over a 12-week period, more than half the children in these makeshift placements ran away or were at risk of being trafficked.

According to the Texas Tribune, investigators described the conditions as “dirty, disorganized, and damaged,” with children frequently fleeing these placements and experiencing further victimization.

But this is not only about a lack of beds. It is about a lack of hope. Bell County has among the highest rates of confirmed child abuse and neglect per capita in the entire state of Texas. DFPS’s own data show that:

Nearly half of all foster children experience multiple placement disruptions, compounding their trauma and destroying any chance of stability.

About 65% of children in care require mental or behavioral health treatment, but too often end up in settings unequipped to help them heal.

Every year, hundreds of youth across Central Texas “age out” of the system alone—without permanent families, stable housing, or a path forward.

This crisis isn’t theoretical. It is playing out right now, in our neighborhoods, our schools, and our community. It is claiming childhoods and futures.

We believe Bell County can do better.

Children who have survived unthinkable harm deserve more than a cot in a motel room. They deserve safe, loving homes where they can begin to heal and find hope again.