| Children in care, last day of Fiscal Year (rounded to nearest thousand) | Children exiting care | Children entering care | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 458000 | 284000 | 268000 | 
| 2009 | 424000 | 273000 | 250000 | 
| 2010 | 409000 | 252000 | 250000 | 
| 2011 | 407000 | 240000 | 247000 | 
Sources:
acf.hhs.gov, cwoutcomes.acf.hhs.gov

This report shows a decrease in the total number of children in foster care. This trend is long-term: data from the Department of Health and Human Services shows that there was 523,000 children in foster care in 2002.