Heartbreaking Confessions From People Who Grew Up In Foster Care

#1 On any given day, there are approximately 415,000 children in foster care in the United States.

#2 Despite the common perception that the majority of children in foster care are very young, the average age of kids in care is nearly 9.

#3 In 2014, more than 22,000 young people aged out of foster care without permanent families.

#4 Those who leave without finding families have a higher likelihood to experience homelessness, unemployment, and incarceration as adults.

#5 On any given day children available for adoption have spent an average of nearly two years waiting to be adopted.

#6 Children have on average three different foster care placements.

#7 It is not uncommon to hear of children who have been in 20 or 30 different homes.

#8 To develop into a psychologically healthy human being...

... a child must have a relationship with an adult who is nurturing, protective, and fosters trust and security. Which most foster homes lack the ability to provide.

#9 Attachment to a primary caregiver is essential to the development of emotional security and social conscience.

#10 One in four children who aged out of foster care have PTSD.

#11 Older children in foster care bear a big burden,

Older children who have been repeatedly traumatized often suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder and automatically freeze when they feel anxious, and therefore are considered oppositional or defiant by those who interact with them.

#12 Many develop attachment disabilities.

If young children feel repeatedly abandoned, isolated, powerless, or uncared forfor whatever reasonthey will learn that they can't depend on others and the world is a dangerous and frightening place.

#13 There are higher rates....

of depression, bad social skills, lower adaptive functioning, and more behavioral problems, such as aggression and impulsivity.

#14 It's sad what happens to these children.

#15 They're often looked down upon.

#16 At least 71% of teenage girls in foster care end up pregnant.

#17 It's not shocking how the system fuels itself.