Foster Care and Homelessness

An estimated 20% of young adults who are in care become homeless the moment they are emancipated at the age of 18.
Nationwide, 50% of the homeless population spent time in foster care.

An average of 1 out of every 4 youth in foster care will become homeless within 4 years of aging out of foster care
550,000 youths experience homelessness

61% of former foster youth experiencing homelessness are likely to be incarcerated compared to 46% of homeless youth who had never been in the child welfare system
28% of homeless foster youth identify as LGBTQ+ compared to 22% of non-foster youth.

Among current and former foster youth who are themselves parents, 15% are homeless or couch surfing.
Black youth are over 3x more likely than non-Black youth to be currently experiencing homelessness, and they are 75% more likely than non-Black youth to have experienced homelessness in the past 12 months