Children in Foster Care in Arkansas
The Annie E. Casey Foundation in 2022 published the following statistics about children ages 0-20 in foster care in Arkansas in 2020, the most recent year for which numbers are available.
- Scope: 4,280 children between the ages of 0-20 were in foster care in Arkansas in 2020.
- Gender: Slightly more than half were girls. Over a 10-year period, the gender balance tended to be roughly equal from year to year, with only slight, back-and-forth variations.
- Age: Children age 5 and younger accounted for almost half of all minors in foster care at 45%. Children between the ages of 6 and 15 accounted for another 45%. Teenagers ranging from 16 to 20 years old represented the smallest group at 10%.
- Race: Most Arkansas children in foster care were non-Hispanic Whites at 60%, followed by non-Hispanic Blacks at 21% and Hispanic/Latino children at 7%. Children with multi-racial backgrounds or whose race was not known made up the remaining 12%.
- Placement: 1 in 2 foster children (50%) was placed in a non-relative foster family home. More than one-fourth (28%) were fostered by relatives, and another 12% were placed in a group home or institution. A small group (4%) lived in a pre-adoptive home, and another small group ( 5%) had returned home on a trial basis.
Source: The Annie E. Casey Foundation Kids Count Data Center