States and Foster Care Populations

Reforms help states cut foster-care populations, By David Crary (AP), June 5, 2010, Washington Post: “No single youngster can be the poster child for America’s foster care system, with its mix of happy endings and heartache. Yet Tatiana Fowler’s smile, as she embraces the woman who adopted her, gives a hint at the groundswell of change that is altering that mix for the better. Tatiana, 16, and her 15-year-old sister Brittany were adopted earlier this year by a cousin of their mother after four years in foster care. They became part of a dramatic trend in New York City, which has reduced its foster care population from nearly 28,000 in 2002 to under 16,000 this spring. Thanks to sizable reductions in several other states, it’s a coast-to-coast phenomenon – the latest federal data, from 2008, recorded 463,000 children in foster care nationally, down more than 11 percent from 523,000 in 2002…”