There are more than 391,000 children and youth in foster care in the United States.

Foster Care: Reimagining Safety, Belonging, and Liberation

There are more than 391,000 children and youth in foster care in the United States. Foster care is meant to offer safety — but too often, it separates young people from everything familiar while failing to heal the conditions that brought them into the system.

For many, foster care is not protection. It is another system to survive.

At The Lost & Found Institute, we center the wisdom, leadership, and brilliance of people who have lived through foster care. We believe every young person deserves stability, dignity, and a future shaped by love and liberation, not paperwork and placements.

Understanding Foster Care

Foster care was created as a response to family harm and instability. But the current system often produces new trauma:

  • Repeated moves and unstable placements

  • Disconnection from siblings, culture, and community

  • Over-surveillance and punishment

  • A lack of meaningful mental health support

  • Systemic racism, bias, and disproportionality

  • Youth aging out without family, housing, or support

These experiences shape the lives of system-impacted youth long after they exit care — influencing education, relationships, housing stability, mental health, and overall well-being.

Surviving foster care requires resilience.
Transforming it requires listening to those who lived it.

What Foster Care Feels Like from the Inside

Behind every statistic is a young person navigating:

  • Being moved multiple times with no warning

  • Losing siblings, friends, and cultural identity

  • Living with strangers who may not understand trauma

  • Navigating courts, caseworkers, and judges

  • Carrying a file that speaks louder than their voice

Many youth describe foster care not as a safety net, but as a maze — one where decisions about their lives are made without them, and where stability feels out of reach.

“I wasn’t saved. I was moved around until I aged out.”
— Former foster youth

“I needed consistency, not a new placement.”
— Survivor, age 16

Infographic titled 'Foster Care by the Numbers' showing three statistics: 88% of youth in foster care went missing in 2022 or were involved in child welfare system, 20,000 youth age out of the system yearly, and 90% of youth with five or more placements end up in juvenile or adult justice system. Logo of The Lost & Found Institute at the bottom right.

When Systems Collide

Foster care does not exist alone. It intersects with multiple systems, creating overlapping pathways to harm:

  • Foster Care ➜ Homelessness
    Many youth age out into unstable housing or literal homelessness.

  • Foster Care ➜ Juvenile Justice
    Instability, trauma, and punitive responses push youth into court involvement.

  • Foster Care ➜ Human Trafficking
    Youth in care are disproportionately targeted by traffickers due to isolation, unmet needs, and lack of safe connections.

  • Foster Care ➜ Behavioral Health
    Many youth cycle through residential treatment, group homes, or mental health institutions instead of receiving community-based support.

Understanding these intersections helps communities respond with compassion, not blame.

Resources

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