I found it hard to believe when I read that 70% of California’s prisoners were formerly part of the foster care system.  This was one of the findings by a Select Committee of the California State Legislature (Source: 2007-2008 Los Angeles County Civil Grand Jury Final Report).

I decided to do some research to better understand the intersections between the child “welfare” system and the prison industrial complex.

I found the following report that speaks to this:

A 1991 federal study of former foster care wards found that one-fourth had been homeless, 40 percent were on public assistance and half were unemployed. Connecticut officials estimate 75 percent of youths in the state’s criminal justice system were once in foster care.[13]

According to a survey by the National Association of Social Workers, 20 percent of children living in runaway shelters come directly from foster care. Children placed in out-of-home care, regardless of the reason, are at higher risk of developing alcohol and drug problems. The survey also found that 80 percent of prisoners in Illinois spent time in foster care as children.[14]

These numbers were not unexpected but jarring nonetheless.