While the nexus between the child welfare and juvenile justice systems is not a new phenomenon, there is limited cross-system collaboration to provide youth and families with the services they need. Youth with histories of childhood maltreatment and Child Protective Services intervention are at a heightened risk of serious or violent delinquency. Recent studies suggest that at least 50% of youth who are in the juvenile justice system have touched the child welfare system at some point in their lives.
LGBTQIA+ youth experience higher rates of foster care placement than their non-LGBTQIA+ peers in the general population, often due to family rejection or maltreatment.
Housing instability (e.g., eviction, living doubled up, shelter stays) is a common catalyst for the foster care placements of youth from low-income families.
Black and American Indian/Alaska Native children are overrepresented in state foster care systems nationwide, relative to their respective representations in the general child population.