About PlainFoster

Our Mission

We believe that child welfare data should be accessible to the people who need it most. Every year, hundreds of thousands of children enter and exit the foster care system across the United States. The federal government collects detailed data on these children — their placements, outcomes, lengths of stay, and the systems that serve them — but that data lives in dense federal reports that are difficult to navigate and even harder to compare across states.

We built PlainFoster to bridge that gap. Our mission is to make federal foster care and child welfare data accessible and understandable for anyone who needs it — researchers studying system performance, policymakers evaluating state programs, foster families seeking context about the system they are part of, advocates pushing for reform, journalists covering child welfare, and curious citizens who want to understand how their state cares for its most vulnerable children.

Our philosophy is that data transparency strengthens accountability. When the public can see how foster care systems perform, states are better positioned to learn from each other and improve outcomes for children.

Our Data Sources

All data comes directly from U.S. federal agencies and is in the public domain:

  • ACF AFCARS (FY2022) — The Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System is the federally mandated system through which all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico report foster care entries, exits, placements, and permanency outcomes to the Administration for Children and Families within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
  • HHS NCANDS (2022) — The National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System is a voluntary state reporting system that collects data on child maltreatment reports, investigations, and substantiated victims. Published annually by HHS, it provides context on the pipeline of children entering the child welfare system.
  • U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey — Child population estimates (under 18) used to calculate per-capita foster care rates, enabling fair comparisons between states of vastly different sizes.

How We Process the Data

Our methodology transforms raw federal datasets into state-level profiles through the following steps:

  1. Data ingestion — We download AFCARS annual reports and NCANDS data files from the Administration for Children and Families, along with Census child population estimates.
  2. Metric extraction — From each state's filing, we extract 8 key performance metrics: total children in care, entries, exits, reunification rate, adoption rate, aging-out rate, median length of stay, and placement distribution (foster family, relative, group home).
  3. Per-capita rate computation — We divide foster care counts by Census under-18 population estimates to produce rates per 1,000 children, allowing meaningful comparisons between large and small states.
  4. State grading — States receive an A-F grade based on their reunification rate — the percentage of children who exit foster care by returning to their birth families — which is the primary federal permanency goal. See our grading methodology guide for the full scale and rationale.
  5. Maltreatment overlay — NCANDS data on child maltreatment reports and victims is linked to state profiles, providing upstream context on referral volumes and substantiation rates.
  6. Trend analysis — Multi-year AFCARS data enables tracking of state-level trends in entries, exits, and key outcome metrics over time.
  7. National summary — Aggregate national statistics are computed for benchmarking individual state performance.

No data is estimated, extrapolated, or adjusted beyond the per-capita normalization and grading described above. We present federal data as reported by the states.

Data Currency

ACF publishes AFCARS reports annually, typically 18-24 months after the end of the fiscal year. Our current dataset reflects FY2022 (October 1, 2021 through September 30, 2022). NCANDS data follows a similar annual release schedule.

We update our database when new federal data becomes available. Due to the inherent lag in federal data collection and publication, the figures shown may not reflect recent policy changes, court orders, or system reforms that states have implemented since the reporting period ended.

Data Neutrality

We present government data factually without editorializing about communities or states. Foster care outcomes are shaped by complex structural factors — funding levels, caseload sizes, rural service gaps, state policy decisions, judicial practices, and federal waiver usage — not by the effort of individual child welfare workers. Our grades are educational tools for understanding system-level performance, not judgments on any community.

We follow official agency terminology and do not rank or compare demographic groups.

Editorial Independence

Content on PlainFoster is compiled by our editorial team. Raw data from CMS, HHS, CDC, FDA, and HRSA is transformed into readable profiles by our continuous editorial pipeline, validated against the source before publication. The PlainFoster editorial team, operating under Kiznis Studio, is responsible for editorial standards, methodology, and corrections.

We do not accept payment, sponsorship, or promoted placement from providers, hospitals, manufacturers, or any healthcare entity. Our only revenue source is contextual display advertising served by Google AdSense — advertisers do not influence which entities we cover or how we present data, and they do not receive preferential placement.

Limitations and Disclaimers

Users should be aware of the following limitations when using PlainFoster:

  • State-reported data — All data originates from state self-reports to federal agencies. Reporting quality, definitions, and data collection methods vary between states, which can affect comparability.
  • Reporting lag — Federal foster care data is published 18-24 months after the reporting period. The figures shown may not reflect recent changes in state child welfare systems.
  • Grades are simplified — Our A-F grading is based on a single metric (reunification rate) and does not capture the full complexity of child welfare system performance. States with lower reunification rates may excel in other areas such as adoption timeliness or placement stability.
  • Not legal or professional advice — This data is for informational and educational purposes only. It should not be used as the basis for legal proceedings, policy decisions, or professional assessments without consulting the original federal sources and qualified professionals.
  • Not affiliated with government — PlainFoster is not affiliated with the Administration for Children and Families, HHS, or any government agency. We are an independent data portal that makes public information more accessible.

Contact

For questions or feedback, use our contact form or email hello@plainfoster.com.