Statistics

In Montgomery County:
59 children in foster care (after being removed from a parent)

14 foster families (single or married)

Average time in foster care: 21 months

In the New River Valley:
198 children in foster care
40 approved foster families (single or married)

73% of all children in foster care return home (compared to the US in 2006 – only 28% of children returned home; we are doing great!!!)

Of the children adopted, 83% of our local children are adopted by their foster parents (which means they don’t have to lose another family and can stay where they have been)

Foster homes for sibling groups of three children are needed!

53% of all 198 children are over the age of 13 (yet only 5 families will take teens)

Virginia:
6,030 children in foster care

#50 (worst) in the country for the number of teens who leave foster care at age 18 WITHOUT a permanent connection to a family
 Virginia has 20% leave w/o a permanent family connection.

In 2008, there were 50,598 reported cases of child abuse/neglect.

In 2008, 38 children died as a result of abuse/neglect.

In 2008, annual expenditures per child = $52,690 (7,201 children in VA foster care that year)
    Let’s do the math: in 2008, VA spent $379,420,690 for foster children!

Nation:
Today in America, 129,000 children wait in foster care for a safe, loving and permanent home. Unfortunately, more children enter the foster care system than are adopted by families, and those who are adopted can wait five years or more. Five years is a lifetime to a child.

1/5 children leaving foster care end up homeless

Almost five children die everyday as a result of child abuse. More than three out of four are under the age of 4.

A report of child abuse is made every ten seconds.

Children often move three or more times in foster care and often are separated from siblings. More than half of these children are nearly nine years of age or older.

In the World: 

143,000,000 orphans in world

Asia: 87.6 million orphans

Sub-Saharan Africa: 43.4 Million orphans

Latin America & Carribean: 12.4 million orphans

United States: 129,000 children available for adoption

United States: 600,000 children in foster care