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Thursday, Jul 16, 2026

Are there about 6,000 children in the Oklahoma foster care system? 

Matthew Yim, Oklahoma Watch
yes

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, there were 6,051 children living in Oklahoma foster care as of 2024. 

The rate of children living in foster care in Oklahoma is 6.3 per 1,000 children, almost 1.5 times the national rate of 4.3, according to data from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Data Reporting system. 

Nationally, the number of children in foster care has decreased since 2019; Oklahoma saw a 25% decrease since 2020. 

The AFCRA reported additional decreases in children entering and exiting foster care, awaiting adoption and being adopted from 2020 to 2025, but emphasized the importance of other goals, including reducing maltreatment rates. 

The national median of foster care child maltreatment was 0.31 percent in 2021; Oklahoma was one of seven states with occurrences greater than 1%, which increased to 1.13% in 2024.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

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