Youth in Foster Care:
This brief describes some recent policy changes impacting teens and presents an analysis of initial placement patterns in one urban jurisdiction, New York City (NYC), that can inform potential responses to these changes. The brief then uses data from the federal AFCARS data system to compare NYC to other large urban jurisdictions on indicators such as how many teens live in foster care, the proportion of the foster care census composed of teens, and more. The analysis of data from NYC shows that some youth enter care and leave quickly, some stay longer, and still others are re-entering care after previous spells. Almost half of NYC teens are initially placed in residential care, but many of these teens either leave foster care or move to family foster care quickly. The characteristics of the New York foster teen population are similar in many respects to other large urban jurisdictions on the rate of teens in foster care, living in kinship placements, and living in residential care. These analyses have implications for the types of services, placements, and permanency plans for youth.