There are fewer kids in foster care in Ohio than there have been in almost a decade. And while that’s good news for those children and their families, it doesn’t mean the state is getting a break, because costs to care for foster kids have exploded.
There are 14,223 kids in foster care in Ohio this month, according to the Ohio Department of Children and Youth. The state hit its lowest level of kids in foster care since 2016 in July. A record high of 16,867 children in foster care in Ohio was set in May 2020.
Since then, the number of children in custody and paid placements has dropped 9%. But in that same time period, costs have soared 68%.
“Those placement costs are outpacing inflation," said Scott Britton with the Public Children Services Association of Ohio. "While those costs are increasing across all settings—foster homes, group homes, children's residential centers—they are particularly high in those congregate care settings of group homes and children's residential centers.”
Advocates credit early intervention programs for the lower numbers.
"We were very mindful about this," said Gov. Mike DeWine in an interview. "What we've been trying to do is to intervene earlier and give support to families before they break up, before the child has to go into foster care for a long time." He said Ohio START (Sobriety, Treatment, and Reducing Trauma), a program launched in 2017 when DeWine was attorney general, tries to surge resources for children and for parents who are struggling with addiction.
DeWine said separation "brings about trauma for that child. And so if you can not have as many of those separations or had the separations for a shorter period of time, it benefits everyone."
Cost is only one reason the state would like to see more kids in foster families than in group homes.
"One study we did showed about 24% of the children in custody came into care primarily for those other reasons and not for abuse or neglect, and it's very difficult to place those children with our traditional foster families. They tend to be a little shy of managing some of those challenging behaviors and so by default they end up more often in congregate care, which is really unfortunate," Britton said. "It costs more. It's not necessarily the environment that we want them in. We want them growing up in families and not in institutions. Those congregate care settings are intended to be short term."
Along with the drop in the number of kids in foster care, the number of families taking care of those children has fallen too. A presentation to a House committee in October showed there's been a 4% drop in foster parents from 2019 to 2025, which Ohio Department of Children & Youth deputy director for external affairs Joel Potts called "really troubling".
While advocates are pleased about the lower numbers, they are concerned about things on the horizon that could drive foster care numbers, along with costs, higher again.
"There is a danger that the number of children in foster care could start going up," Britton said. "We're seeing threats on the federal front with reductions in the safety net. We're seeing threats at the state level with threats to property taxes that our county children's services agencies rely on so heavily. What we know is that when those concrete and economic supports that programs like SNAP and Childcare and Medicaid provide to families decrease or end, they are more likely to come in contact with the children services system."
