Tampa, Florida — Fewer than 8,000 children entered Florida foster care in 2025, down from about 11,000 in 2022, and the state’s foster population is at its lowest point in two decades, according to a Tampa Bay Times analysis of state data published Oct. 9. The Department of Children and Families has not explained the drop, and experts warn some of it may reflect children moved out of their homes off the books.
What the numbers show
The Times analyzed published data and records obtained through a public records request tracking hundreds of thousands of children’s movements through the system. Florida’s foster population peaked around 24,500 in 2017. It is now roughly 40% lower than it was five years ago, the Times found.
Removals tied to parental drug use, still the most common reason children enter care in Florida, fell from nearly 5,000 in 2022 to about 3,200 in 2024, according to a state dashboard cited by the Times. Removals of babies and toddlers fell the most.
The cases they buried, read out loud.
NewAssembly Line Justice: Family Courts Are Factories, and Your Judge’s Wiring Decides Your Fate
Dependency hearings that decide whether children come home are scheduled in 15 to 30 minute blocks, and one mother was scolded for saying a single word. Adam exposes the family court assembly line: unread…
The drop has not been even. Black children make up 24% of Florida’s children but 37% of those in foster care, and the number of Black teenagers in care is the same as it was five years ago, the Times reported. Hillsborough County saw the largest decline in the state, more than 1,000 fewer children in care in just under five years.
The agency won’t say why
DCF did not grant an interview or answer detailed questions from the Times. In a December news release, the department called the decline a measurable improvement reflecting “strong family stabilization efforts and proactive supports.”
State Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Pensacola, told the Times that no single number signals success, but that it is troubling state officials have not explained the change.
Why can’t the Department of Children and Families answer the question: Why are these numbers what they are?
Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Pensacola, to the Tampa Bay Times
Concerns about hidden foster care
Experts told the Times that part of the decline may come from “hidden foster care,” in which children are placed with relatives outside the court system and are not counted as foster placements. An earlier Times investigation found that Hillsborough’s lead child welfare agency used “temporary custody transfers” more than 300 times in four years to move children out of their parents’ care and into the homes of relatives. In some cases, the Times found, a county team advised parents to sign away custody without going to court and without their own lawyer, arrangements experts called “coercive” and “highly disturbing.”
Robert Latham, associate director of the University of Miami’s Children and Youth Law Clinic, said the decline is historically significant but that he saw no obvious policy change behind it, and worried families may be undercounted.
I’m worried that these numbers are an illusion. That they’re not actually going down.
Robert Latham, University of Miami Children and Youth Law Clinic, to the Tampa Bay Times
Heather Tager, managing attorney at the L. David Shear Children’s Law Center, told the Times that without transparency and measurable outcomes it is hard to know whether the state is strengthening families “or simply moving problems out of public view.” Leaders of the lead agencies in Hillsborough and Pinellas-Pasco credited diversion programs and an adoption backlog cleanup for the decline.
Fewer removals are good. Unrecorded ones are not.
Keeping children safely with their families is the right goal, and fewer removals for parental drug use is welcome news. But a child sent to live with a relative because a caseworker told a parent to sign a form has still been removed. That parent has no judge, no lawyer, no case plan and no clear way to get the child back. If those arrangements are filling the gap behind Florida’s falling numbers, the state has not reduced family separation so much as hidden it from the courts. Parents asked to sign a custody or safety agreement should understand their rights first; FAN’s guide to parents’ rights in CPS cases is a starting point.
Key facts
- About 11,000 children entered Florida foster care in 2022; fewer than 8,000 did in 2025, per a Tampa Bay Times analysis.
- Florida’s foster population peaked around 24,500 in 2017 and is about 40% lower than five years ago.
- Drug-related removals fell from nearly 5,000 in 2022 to about 3,200 in 2024.
- Black children are 24% of Florida’s children and 37% of its foster population.
- Hillsborough’s lead agency used temporary custody transfers more than 300 times in four years, outside formal foster care.
- DCF did not answer the Times’ questions about the decline.
Sources
- Tampa Bay Times — Florida is taking fewer kids into foster care. What changed? (2026-10-09)
- Tampa Bay Times — Florida senators want change for ‘failing’ child welfare agency (2026-09-04)
Don't just read it. Act on it.
Lawmakers fund and oversee this system. Tell Florida lawmakers what happened here.
Get an email when this case has a new development: charges, court dates, verdicts, settlements. Only about this case; unsubscribe anytime.
Lived through something like this? Your case could be the next one we document.
DISABLED DADUp nextMiami-Dade Family Court Accused of Enforcing Inflated Child Support Against Disabled FatherA disabled Miami-Dade father alleges judges enforced inflated child support orders despite acknowledged financial errors.
May 8, 2026
NO SHOWERSDelaware Auditor Finds Foster Youth Sleeping in State Offices With No ShowersOct 23, 2026
30 DEATHSRhode Island Child Advocate Reviews 30 Deaths, Finds DCYF Screened Out Warning CallsOct 22, 2026
CHILD DEATHTennessee DCS Reports 188 Child Deaths in 2026; More Than Half Had Prior DCS ContactOct 20, 2026
