Report Shows Reversal of Foster Care Trend

In a report issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), researchers reported a slight increase in the number of children in foster care across the United States. The study indicated just over 400,000 kids in foster care, down from the peak of 524,000 in 2005, but up about 5,000 over 2012. Until this year, though, there had been a steady decline year after year in the number of children in foster care.

According to researchers, the principal reason for the drop—a shift in the policies of state and county welfare agencies. Many agencies have aggressively shortened foster care stays over the last 10 years, and have also promoted expedited adoptions of children in foster care. Others expanded their programs for families in trouble, eliminating the need to remove children and place them in foster care.

HHS officials are not troubled by the increase in fostered children, seeing it as mostly insignificant in light of the long-term drop in numbers. They attribute the increase mostly to a reduction in the number of adoptions from foster care. In 2012, more than 52,000 children were adopted out of foster care. In 2013, that number dropped by nearly 1,500. A recent law enacted by Congress, the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act, carries provisions that should reverse the trend in adoptions out of foster care. The bill offers incentives to states to facilitate these types of adoptions.

Adoption Attorneys in New Jersey

At the law office of Cofsky & Zeidman, LLC, our lawyers bring more than 25 years of experience to every matter we handle. Attorney Donald C. Cofsky has personally handled more than 1,500 adoption proceedings since joining the bar in 1974. Attorney Bruce D. Zeidman has protected the interests of clients in state and federal courts in New Jersey and Pennsylvania since 1984. We understand the challenges you face, and can help you identify all your options so that you can make good decisions that are in your best long-term interests.

Contact our office online or call us at (856) 429-5005 in Haddonfield, NJ, at (856) 429-5005 in Woodbury, NJ, or in Philadelphia, PA, at (856) 429-5005. We also provide a free initial consultation in personal injury and workers’ compensation matters.