How Many Children Are in Foster Care in North Dakota? Statistics, Trends, and the Ongoing Crisis

North Dakota consistently makes lists of states with the highest rates of children in foster care relative to population. For a state of roughly 780,000 people, the numbers are striking — and they tell a story about structural challenges that a licensing guide alone cannot solve, but that every prospective foster parent deserves to understand before they start the process.

The Numbers: Children in Care

In recent reporting years, approximately 2,300 to 2,400 children are served through the North Dakota foster care system in any given year. The number in care on any given day is lower — typically hovering around 1,200 to 1,300 children in active placements.

North Dakota's rate of children in foster care per thousand children in the general population has historically been higher than the national average. The combination of poverty, substance use, and the particular challenges facing rural and tribal communities contributes to an entry rate that outpaces the capacity of available licensed homes.

The state has a persistent shortage of licensed foster families, particularly families willing to take placements of adolescents, sibling groups of three or more, and children with complex behavioral needs. The closure of Lutheran Social Services of North Dakota (LSSND) in 2021 — after 102 years as a major recruitment and placement partner — removed a significant infrastructure layer from the system. Rebuilding that capacity through the state's centralized model has taken years and is still incomplete.

The Native American Disproportionality

The most striking feature of North Dakota's foster care data is the racial composition of the system. Native American children make up roughly 9% of North Dakota's general population but approximately 40 to 44% of children in foster care — a disproportionality ratio more than four times the statewide average.

This overrepresentation reflects historical and systemic factors: the concentration of poverty on and near reservations, historical federal policies that disrupted tribal family structures, and the challenges facing the five tribal nations in providing adequate preventive and supportive services. The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) was designed specifically to counteract this pattern by mandating active efforts at family preservation and establishing placement preferences that keep Native children connected to their communities.

North Dakota's 2023 codification of ICWA into state law through HB 1536 reflects an acknowledgment that federal protections alone have not closed the gap. Tribal-state Title IV-E agreements with tribes like the MHA Nation allow tribal governments to manage their own foster care licensing and case management, giving tribal communities more direct control over outcomes for their children.

The Foster Home Shortage

North Dakota has more children entering foster care than it has licensed homes to receive them. The gap is not catastrophic in the sense of children sleeping in offices — but it does mean that children are placed farther from their communities, that sibling groups are split, and that caseworkers are stretching their available placement options further than good practice recommends.

The shortage is concentrated in specific areas:

Western North Dakota: The Bakken oil boom created housing instability and economic pressure that made licensing difficult. Families in the Williston, Dickinson, and Watford City areas face the dual challenge of higher-than-average housing costs (making the "minimum physical standards" harder to meet in transient housing) and training logistics that are more difficult to navigate.

Adolescent placements: Statewide, there are fewer licensed families willing and prepared to take teenagers, particularly those with behavioral history. This age group spends longer in care and has the worst outcomes when they age out without a permanent placement.

Sibling groups: The state's bedroom separation rules (children over age 6 cannot share a bedroom with a child of the opposite gender; each child must have an individual bed) mean that a three-sibling group requires a home with significant bedroom capacity. Many licensed homes cannot physically accommodate larger sibling groups.

What the State Is Doing

The 2022 centralization of licensing under the CFS Licensing Unit was intended to standardize the application experience and reduce the inconsistency that led to different outcomes in different counties. The 2024 case management redesign reduced background check processing times and cut average assessment times by 23 days.

The state's 2025-2029 Child and Family Services Plan identifies targeted recruitment campaigns for western North Dakota, online orientation formats to reduce geographic barriers, and expanded virtual PRIDE training as key strategies for increasing the licensed home count. The UND CFSTC plays a central role in executing these strategies.

A 2025 legislative update (HB 1120) made it somewhat easier for long-tenured foster parents to adopt: a foster parent licensed for more than one year is now "presumed suitable" for adoption, reducing the additional home study burden when a child in their care becomes legally free.

What This Means If You Are Considering Fostering

The shortage of licensed homes in North Dakota means that if you complete the licensing process, you will almost certainly receive a placement call. In some regions and for some age groups, the wait between licensing and first placement is measured in weeks, not months.

It also means that the children placed with you will often have significant histories. The state's shortage means it is using its licensed homes for the children with the most complex needs — the ones who cannot be maintained in less structured settings. Preparation matters.

The North Dakota Foster Care Licensing Guide is built around this reality — not glossing over the challenges, but providing the specific procedural knowledge that helps families navigate the system successfully and remain licensed through the hard placements.

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