Information is to be reported on all children in foster care.
Foster care means 24-hour substitute care for all children placed away from their parents or guardians and for whom the State agency has placement and care responsibility. The reporting system includes all children who were in foster care at least 24 hours during the reporting period. While there is no regulatory requirement for States to include private adoptions, States are encouraged to report data on all adoptions. Data are gathered for semi-annual report periods. The data for this report period are due no later then May 15th.