A 5-Year Projection in the Number of Children Turning Age 18 while in Foster Care
In this report, the authors describe their effort to project the number of children who will turn 18 while in foster care (i.e., will age out of foster care) 5 years into the future. the number of children aging out of foster care will most likely decline and then level off over the next 5 years. The number of children aging out is influenced by the following three factors: changes in the number of children entering care, changes in the age distribution of children entering care, and changes in how long children stay in care. All of these factors now point to a decline in the number of children aging out, suggesting that the number of children aging out of foster care will most likely decline and then level off over the next 5 years. The authors include an explanation of their approach, the underlying population dynamics, and the results.