Out of home care includes foster care, kinship care, therapeutic foster care, and residential and group care. A judge may order a child be taken into the custody of the Department for Children and Families (DCF) if the child has been abused or neglected; is beyond or without parental control; or has been adjudicated delinquent. 

Reporting Period:  Point-in-time as of the last day of the federal fiscal year (FFY).

Data source: Prior to the 2023 reporting period, Adoptions and Foster Care Reporting System (AFCARS). Beginning with reporting period 2023, FSD Quarterly Management Report. N= the total number of youth under the age of 18 in custody as of the last day of the FFY. Current reporting period uses VDH 2024 population estimates (latest available).  

Last updated: September 2025  

Updated by: Department for Children and Families 

We aim to reduce the rate of children and youth in out-of-home care as part of our efforts to ensure that all Vermonters are healthy and safe.

The Vermont Family Services Division has continued to reduce the rate per 1,000 Vermont children in custody on the last day of the federal fiscal year through a focus on prevention services that support children remaining safely in their home, the increased use of Structured Decision Making® tools to reduce entries into care, and increased timely achievement of permanency to ensure children and youth do not remain in care longer than necessary. 

There is more work to be done to assure child safety and support vulnerable families throughout Vermont, and data indicates we are moving in the right direction. Findings from the 2024 Report on Child Protection in Vermont as well as the trends observed since 2017 indicate that the rate of children and youth in out of home care will continue to decrease. As of September 1, 2025, Vermont had 817 children and youth in custody; on September 1, 2017, there were 1,209.