Foster Care Statistics for Colorado
There are over 420,000 children in the foster care system in the US, caring about those in the welfare system in a human rights issue. These Colorado foster care statistics give us an overview of how the foster system in Colorado affects children and families. Understanding how the foster care affects families can help us better take care of and protect kids in the foster system.
There are over 4800 children in foster care in Colorado on any given day
An average of 10 children and youth enter foster care each day in Colorado
The rate of foster care entry has decreased by 30% since 2016
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There were 11,615 victims of child maltreatment in 2020
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7,920 children​ and youth lived in an out-of-home placement like a foster family, group home or residential treatment center for their safety
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Black children in Colorado were overrepresented in all levels of the child welfare system in 2020. They were the subject of reports to the child abuse and neglect hotline at a rate 1.27 times their population, and were more than three times as likely as other children to emancipate from foster care to live on their own
The number of certified foster and kinship parents in Colorado has held steady at 2,450 and organizations are continuing to certify new foster parents.
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799 children and youth in foster care were adopted. There are 462 kids in the foster care system waiting to be adopted today.
What is the Goal of Foster Care?
The end goal of foster care is for the children to be taken care of, and ultimately for unification with the parents or guardians. If this isn't an option, the goal is adoption.​
Colorado Foster Care Statistics Overview
Why do Kids Enter Foster Care?
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About 12 percent of children are removed from their homes due to physical abuse and 61 percent for neglect. Thirty-four percent come to the foster care system because of parents’ drug abuse. Often, the reasons overlap or are multi-faceted
