The data have been de-duplicated so that children who experienced more than one foster care episode during FY 1998 only appear once in the database, their last episode. Child's disability information has been excluded from this report due to unreliability of the data. Using U.S. Bureau of the Census standards, children of Hispanic origin may be of any race. Using U.S. Bureau of the Census standards, children of Hispanic origin may be of any race. Using U.S. Bureau of the Census standards, children of Hispanic origin may be of any race.
Deaths are attributable to a variety of causes including medical conditions, accidents and homicide.
Children 16 years old and older with a goal of emancipation have been excluded from the estimate. Using U.S. Bureau of the Census standards, children of Hispanic origin may be of any race. The number of jurisdictions reporting useable data was 49 including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. An estimate of finalized adoptions for those states which did not report useable data was developed from their contribution to the total number of adoptions in FY 1997. The total figure differs from figures reported for the Adoption Incentive Program because reported adoptions for that program had to meet more restrictive criteria.