the United States is comprised of former foster children--yet there is little evidence on whether this relationship is … that foster care placement substantially reduced the chances of adult arrests, convictions, and incarceration for children … at the margin. Exploring mechanisms, we find that foster care also improved a range of children's safety, academic, and …

Ten percent of Black children in the U.S. spend time in foster care--twice the rate of white children. We estimate …, we find that Black children are 1.7 percentage points (50%) more likely to be placed into foster care following an … investigation than white children conditional on subsequent maltreatment potential. This disparity is entirely driven by white …