Foster care in Louisiana, from Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) official data, down to every parish.
Louisiana explorer
Source: Foster Home to Child Ratio in Louisiana (As of September 28, 2026) - weekly report linked from "A Home for Every Child" page, Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). Retrieved 2026-10-04. Children in DCFS foster care by parish on September 28, 2026 (weekly report).
See the need close to home, then see what you can do about it.
| # | Parish | DCFS region | In care |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Region 2 · Baton Rouge | 367 | |
| 2 | Region 9 · Monroe | 349 | |
| 3 | Region 5 · Lafayette | 347 | |
| 4 | Region 7 · Alexandria | 315 | |
| 5 | Region 8 · Shreveport | 305 | |
| 6 | Region 6 · Lake Charles | 244 | |
| 7 | Region 4 · Thibodaux | 204 | |
| 8 | Region 1 · Orleans | 191 | |
| 9 | Region 3 · Covington | 169 | |
| 10 | Region 1 · Orleans | 130 | |
| 11 | Region 3 · Covington | 128 | |
| 12 | Region 3 · Covington | 125 | |
| 13 | Region 7 · Alexandria | 96 | |
| 14 | Region 3 · Covington | 93 | |
| 15 | Region 7 · Alexandria | 80 |
Trends
Louisiana's management reports use the state fiscal year, July 1 to June 30. When a later report revised a year, we show the latest published value.
SFY 2024 reunifications were first published as 1,553 and revised to 1,913 in the 2025 report. DCFS doesn’t explain the revision. We use the latest value.
Regions
| Region | In care (monthly avg) | Reports | Reunified | Adopted | New homes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lafayette | 663 | 7,175 | 285 | 128 | 140 |
| Alexandria | 654 | 4,085 | 275 | 69 | 126 |
| Covington | 618 | 7,415 | 269 | 119 | 152 |
| Shreveport | 591 | 6,312 | 342 | 50 | 129 |
| Monroe | 523 | 4,067 | 196 | 53 | 103 |
| Baton Rouge | 463 | 6,525 | 214 | 42 | 85 |
| Thibodaux | 402 | 4,573 | 210 | 74 | 104 |
| Orleans | 344 | 11,094 | 252 | 51 | 109 |
| Lake Charles | 280 | 3,642 | 67 | 48 | 70 |
Source: DCFS Fact Sheet, March 2026. Regional values do not sum exactly to statewide page for some measures (e.g., reports sum 54,888 vs 54,803 statewide; FC total served 7,410 vs 7,449). Investigations and adoptions sum exactly. FFY2022-2024 regional pages sum exactly to statewide figures.
Good news, officially
311
siblings adopted together by 191 families, celebrated Nov 2025.
DCFS News, Nov 10, 20252×
new foster homes certified per year: 550 in SFY 2021, 1,122 in SFY 2025.
DCFS HCR 74 reports~40%
of youth in foster care placed with relatives, kin or parents.
Louisiana 2026 APSR, p. 86The federal AFCARS dashboard counted 4,619 Louisiana children in foster care on September 30, 2025. DCFS counted 4,329 in custody on June 30, 2025. Different days and definitions; both official. Why the numbers differ →
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