Building Blocks
Because you know...Raising a child takes more than love.

Foster Care Facts

Nebraska has one of the highest rates in the nation for children placed in out-of-home care, at 19 per 1,000.

On 12/31/2008 there were 4,620 children in foster care in Nebraska.

The following statistics are from the Department of Health and Human Services' Nebraska Family Online Client User System (N-FOCUS). This information reflects the number of youth in state custody throughout Calendar Year 2009. Some of the data is a point-in-time "snapshot" of information as of December 31, 2009.

During 2009, there were 2,566 children age five and younger in the custody of the state.

Youth in State Custody in CY 2009: 10,383. Of these, 85.5% were in out-of-home care.

* 24.7% were age 0 to 5 years
* 16.4% were 6 to 10 years
* 21.9% were 11 to 15 years
* 36.9% were 16 to 19 years

* 57% white
* 16.8% black
* 14.4% Hispanic
* 4.7% Native American
* 7.1% mixed/other

* 56.4% male
* 43.6 female

Youth in state custody on December 31, 2009: 6,245

* 2,030 (32.5%) in non-relative foster homes
* 932 (14.9%) in relative foster homes
* 1,906 (30.5%) with parents
* 604 (9.7%) in group homes
* 596 (9.5%) in institutions
* 177 (2.9%) Other

Discharges during 2009: 4,210--of whom 2,883 were reunified with parents.

There were 491 children adopted in 2009, 368 made free to adopt, and 117 placed in adoptive homes.

If this information has touched your heart, please contact us at 1-800-689-0945 to learn more about being a foster parent. 

For more information about foster care:

The Counseling and Enrichment Center

Nebraska Foster and Adoptive Parent Association

Foster Youth Initiative

Foster Care Month

Ansel Casey Assessments

Child Welfare League of America

Foster A Dream

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