County-specific title

NC PATH data We are in the process of integrating the new NCPATH foster care data into prior datasets. Until this is complete, current foster care data frequencies reported here will be lower than the true frequencies. This note will be removed when the integration is complete.

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Aging out occurs when a child in custody reaches the age of 18+ and whose exit reason is emancipation. Note that the length of time in foster care is baed on the total time a child spend in foster care across all PAs. Fro example, if a child had two PAs, the days in care in each PA are counted. Additionally, days in care after age 18 are also counted.

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Child welfare data
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Commonly used acronyms
Measures on the experiences report
CFSR measures
Abuse & neglect
Children in foster care

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Demographics: Count of children aged <19 years in previous 5 years

Youth aging out of foster care

Demographics

From To Number of youth who aged out Male Female White African American American Indian/Alaskan Other races Hispanic Non-Hispanic
2026 July 2026 Sept. 491 227 264 269 164 10 48 55 436
2026 April 2026 Sept. 751 342 409 389 275 11 76 87 664
2026 Jan. 2026 Sept. 867 398 469 443 317 12 95 100 767
2025 Oct. 2026 Sept. 984 449 535 513 352 14 105 114 870
2025 July 2026 June 635 289 346 329 232 6 68 76 559
2025 April 2026 March 476 224 252 257 166 7 46 53 423
2025 Jan. 2025 Dec. 476 224 252 258 162 12 44 57 419
2024 Oct. 2025 Sept. 490 235 255 267 169 13 41 58 432
2024 July 2025 June 505 238 267 262 179 13 51 53 452
2024 April 2025 March 526 239 287 274 181 15 56 61 465
2024 Jan. 2024 Dec. 534 240 294 289 188 10 47 56 478
2023 Oct. 2024 Sept. 537 246 291 281 193 9 54 56 481
2023 July 2024 June 510 243 267 273 189 9 39 55 455
2023 April 2024 March 504 243 261 274 183 7 40 49 455
2023 Jan. 2023 Dec. 500 240 260 276 172 9 43 53 447
2022 Oct. 2023 Sept. 473 224 249 257 166 11 39 52 421
2022 July 2023 June 467 216 251 243 169 12 43 55 412
2022 April 2023 March 446 210 236 233 162 12 39 50 396
2022 Jan. 2022 Dec. 463 221 242 229 180 12 42 52 411
2021 Oct. 2022 Sept. 484 228 256 254 184 8 38 51 433
2021 July 2022 June 502 227 275 272 180 7 43 49 453
2021 April 2022 March 484 219 265 280 160 6 38 56 428
2021 Jan. 2021 Dec. 467 209 258 269 155 7 36 49 418
2020 Oct. 2021 Sept. 463 205 258 268 150 7 38 57 406
2020 July 2021 June 437 191 246 251 142 8 36 57 380
2020 April 2021 March 491 214 277 263 176 9 43 66 425
2020 Jan. 2020 Dec. 479 204 275 264 168 6 41 68 411
2019 Oct. 2020 Sept. 467 204 263 250 171 9 37 58 409
2019 July 2020 June 471 221 250 250 180 9 32 53 418
2019 April 2020 March 452 218 234 242 171 8 31 38 414
2019 Jan. 2019 Dec. 442 224 218 247 162 8 25 34 408
2018 Oct. 2019 Sept. 421 218 203 239 150 8 24 31 390
2018 July 2019 June 413 207 206 240 137 7 29 33 380
2018 April 2019 March 414 193 221 232 147 7 28 34 380
2018 Jan. 2018 Dec. 417 199 218 230 150 9 28 33 384
2017 Oct. 2018 Sept. 419 188 231 222 154 7 36 35 384
2017 July 2018 June 406 189 217 217 152 6 31 34 372
2017 April 2018 March 411 209 202 220 155 7 29 33 378
2017 Jan. 2017 Dec. 425 198 227 214 170 5 36 38 387
2016 Oct. 2017 Sept. 456 226 230 232 182 6 36 44 412
2016 July 2017 June 511 244 267 254 211 7 39 49 462
2016 April 2017 March 554 242 312 291 216 7 40 50 504
2016 Jan. 2016 Dec. 579 271 308 303 230 8 38 49 530
2015 Oct. 2016 Sept. 580 267 313 292 248 7 33 38 542
2015 July 2016 June 574 275 299 294 244 7 29 36 538
2015 April 2016 March 531 266 265 265 226 5 35 39 492
2015 Jan. 2015 Dec. 511 246 265 239 229 5 38 39 472
2014 Oct. 2015 Sept. 507 239 268 245 221 4 37 40 467
2014 July 2015 June 498 223 275 236 221 4 37 40 458
2014 April 2015 March 526 239 287 252 237 4 33 43 483
2014 Jan. 2014 Dec. 512 242 270 268 216 2 26 38 474
2013 Oct. 2014 Sept. 495 246 249 262 206 4 23 40 455
2013 July 2014 June 485 237 248 261 195 3 26 36 449
2013 April 2014 March 469 235 234 249 188 6 26 34 435
2013 Jan. 2013 Dec. 501 242 259 265 202 8 26 35 466
2012 Oct. 2013 Sept. 504 235 269 254 212 7 31 31 473
2012 July 2013 June 523 256 267 250 237 6 30 35 488
2012 April 2013 March 560 266 294 264 261 6 29 36 524
2012 Jan. 2012 Dec. 554 264 290 253 262 8 31 38 516
2011 Oct. 2012 Sept. 571 277 294 270 262 8 31 40 531
2011 July 2012 June 587 283 304 287 261 9 30 46 541
2011 April 2012 March 541 263 278 262 245 6 28 40 501
2011 Jan. 2011 Dec. 555 269 286 286 241 2 26 36 519
2010 Oct. 2011 Sept. 559 257 302 292 241 1 25 40 519
2010 July 2011 June 535 251 284 264 245 4 22 34 501
2010 April 2011 March 565 259 306 288 255 5 17 33 532
2010 Jan. 2010 Dec. 567 264 303 269 276 6 16 35 532
2009 Oct. 2010 Sept. 586 287 299 276 288 8 14 36 550
2009 July 2010 June 596 281 315 290 288 4 14 30 566
2009 April 2010 March 584 286 298 271 289 7 17 40 544
2009 Jan. 2009 Dec. 568 268 300 265 278 7 18 43 525
2008 Oct. 2009 Sept. 544 254 290 249 273 8 14 38 506
2008 July 2009 June 537 248 289 235 275 11 16 38 499
2008 April 2009 March 557 263 294 252 277 8 20 26 531
2008 Jan. 2008 Dec. 562 271 291 257 275 10 20 18 544
2007 Oct. 2008 Sept. 548 255 293 257 262 9 20 17 531
2007 July 2008 June 546 264 282 266 258 7 15 17 529
2007 April 2008 March 516 235 281 246 251 7 12 18 498
2007 Jan. 2007 Dec. 511 230 281 236 256 8 11 16 495
2006 Oct. 2007 Sept. 532 252 280 234 275 7 16 13 519
2006 July 2007 June 557 257 300 256 275 8 18 15 542
2006 April 2007 March 558 258 300 254 281 9 14 14 544
2006 Jan. 2006 Dec. 528 240 288 250 258 8 12 19 509
2005 Oct. 2006 Sept. 506 214 292 240 250 7 9 21 485
2005 July 2006 June 481 203 278 219 249 5 8 18 463
2005 April 2006 March 455 191 264 212 231 3 9 19 436
2005 Jan. 2005 Dec. 451 195 256 206 230 2 13 19 432
2004 Oct. 2005 Sept. 445 200 245 217 212 3 13 21 424
2004 July 2005 June 427 193 234 212 197 5 13 25 402
2004 April 2005 March 429 203 226 208 204 5 12 24 405
2004 Jan. 2004 Dec. 420 202 218 205 201 6 8 22 398
2003 Oct. 2004 Sept. 405 195 210 192 200 6 7 17 388
2003 July 2004 June 389 192 197 173 203 7 6 12 377
2003 April 2004 March 385 181 204 177 194 9 5 13 372
2003 Jan. 2003 Dec. 403 185 218 181 208 8 6 14 389
2002 Oct. 2003 Sept. 408 181 227 185 211 7 5 16 392
2002 July 2003 June 405 181 224 195 202 5 3 14 391
2002 April 2003 March 378 164 214 186 184 5 3 12 366
2002 Jan. 2002 Dec. 352 151 201 162 183 6 1 8 344
2001 Oct. 2002 Sept. 340 151 189 154 174 7 5 11 329
2001 July 2002 June 324 139 185 142 168 6 8 17 307
2001 April 2002 March 327 157 170 141 174 4 8 16 311
2001 Jan. 2001 Dec. 333 160 173 156 167 2 8 19 314
2000 Oct. 2001 Sept. 334 167 167 155 173 2 4 17 317
2000 July 2001 June 328 161 167 150 171 3 4 11 317
2000 April 2001 March 347 163 184 153 183 5 6 11 336
2000 Jan. 2000 Dec. 341 152 189 156 174 6 5 14 327
1999 Oct. 2000 Sept. 260 109 151 119 131 5 5 10 250
1999 July 2000 June 178 73 105 86 86 4 2 9 169
1999 April 2000 March 81 27 54 41 38 2 0 7 74


Citations- The suggested way to cite this website is as follows: Duncan, D. F., Stewart, C. J., Seminara, G., Malley, K. M. D., Reives, W., Francis, A., & Guest, S. (2026). Creating Indicators for Child Welfare. Retrieved [month day, year], from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Social Work. https://cip.ssw.unc.edu/ or https://creatingindicators.ssw.unc.edu