Parental drug or alcohol abuse in Washington foster care removals

What this dataset measures

The federal foster care data (AFCARS) is the only source that records removal reasons the same way in every state. The state's own dashboard and research office add age groups, King County and treatment.

Geography

Washington, United States, United States

Unit of observation

Varies by table: state, year, circumstance, age group or figure

Update cadence

Yearly, when NCSACW posts the next state table (about May) and DCYF updates its dashboard

Curator

FactHub Research Team

Curated data tables

These related tables form this versioned dataset release. Each table has its own downloadable file and field definitions.

Parental alcohol or drug abuse at removal, by state, FY2025

Children in out-of-home care at any point in federal fiscal year 2025 whose removal records list parental alcohol or drug abuse.

Unit of observation: One state, DC or Puerto Rico

View this table

states-fy2025.csv text/csv · 1.7 KB (1,690 bytes)

7 field definitions

Field	Type	Meaning	Units	Value type
state	string	State name	—	observed
usps	string	Postal code	—	observed
fips	string	Two-digit FIPS code	—	derived
pct	number	Percent of children in out-of-home care during the year with parental alcohol or drug abuse recorded as a circumstance at removal	percent	observed
children	integer	Number of those children	children	observed
estimated_from_entries	string	yes where NCSACW estimated the percent from entries because of missing data (IA, IN, KS, NC)	—	observed
rank	integer	Rank among the 50 states and DC, highest first; ties share consecutive ranks in table order; empty for Puerto Rico	—	derived

U.S. share by year, FY2000-FY2025

National percent of children in out-of-home care with parental alcohol or drug abuse recorded at removal, as NCSACW's current series gives it.

Unit of observation: One federal fiscal year

View this table

national-trend.csv text/csv · 276 bytes

2 field definitions

Field	Type	Meaning	Units	Value type
fiscal_year	integer	Federal fiscal year (October to September)	—	observed
pct	number	National percent	percent	observed

Washington and U.S. in three editions of the state table

The Washington and national figures printed in NCSACW's 2019, 2021 and 2025 state tables. Earlier editions were revised later, so they are kept as printed.

Unit of observation: One place in one edition

View this table

washington-editions.csv text/csv · 537 bytes

6 field definitions

Field	Type	Meaning	Units	Value type
fiscal_year	integer	Year the table covers	—	observed
place	string	Washington or United States	—	observed
pct	number	Percent as printed	percent	observed
children_with_aod	integer	Number with parental alcohol or drug abuse, where printed	children	observed
children_in_care	integer	Total children, where printed	children	observed
edition	string	Which edition	—	observed

Removal circumstances for children entering care in Washington, FY2021-FY2022

Every circumstance the federal reports list for children who entered foster care during the year. A child can have several.

Unit of observation: One circumstance in one fiscal year

View this table

washington-entries-fy2021-2022.csv text/csv · 1.1 KB (1,098 bytes)

5 field definitions

Field	Type	Meaning	Units	Value type
fiscal_year	integer	Federal fiscal year	—	observed
circumstance	string	Circumstance associated with the child's removal	—	observed
children	integer	Children entering care with this circumstance	children	observed
entries	integer	All children entering care that year	children	observed
pct	number	children / entries, to one decimal (the report prints whole percents)	percent	derived

DCYF contributing factors for children entering care, by age group

Percent of children entering out-of-home care with parental drug abuse, parental alcohol abuse or neglect as a contributing factor, as DCYF's prevention dashboard shows it for each age group.

Unit of observation: One age group in one year and place

View this table

dcyf-entries-by-age.csv text/csv · 1.5 KB (1,536 bytes)

6 field definitions

Field	Type	Meaning	Units	Value type
year	integer	Calendar year of removal	—	observed
geography	string	Washington or King County (county of removal)	—	observed
age_group	string	The dashboard's age filter: Newborns, Infants, or 2-17 year-olds (the default view)	—	observed
parent_drug_pct	number	Percent with Parent Drug Abuse as a contributing factor	percent	observed
parent_alcohol_pct	number	Percent with Parent Alcohol Abuse; empty where the dashboard shows no bar	percent	observed
neglect_pct	number	Percent with Neglect	percent	observed

Addiction and treatment among Washington child welfare caregivers, SFY2015-2018

Key figures from DSHS report 7.121.

Unit of observation: One figure

View this table

treatment-rda-7-121.csv text/csv · 901 bytes

4 field definitions

Field	Type	Meaning	Units	Value type
measure	string	What is counted	—	observed
value	number	The figure	—	observed
unit	string	percent or caregivers	—	observed
group	string	Which caregivers	—	observed

Supporting files

Source snapshots, manifests, quality reports, documentation, and other materials used to produce or review this release.

• dataset-metadata.json Documentation · application/json · 44.3 KB (45,399 bytes)

  The dataset's sources, table definitions and saved analyses (with every result row), as JSON.

Saved analyses

Sources

1. National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare (NCSACW), Parental Alcohol or Drug Abuse as a Circumstance Reported at Removal by State, 2025 Share and number of children in foster care with parental alcohol or drug abuse recorded at removal, by state, federal fiscal year 2025

   Retrieved November 12, 2026. Public domain (U.S. government work). Public domain; figures restated, document linked

   Reliability: Government. A center funded by the federal Children's Bureau and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Figures are the Center for Children and Family Futures' analysis of the federal foster care data (AFCARS) that every state reports, as archived by the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect.

2. NCSACW, Prevalence of Parental Alcohol or Drug Abuse as a Circumstance Reported at Removal in the United States, 2000 to 2025 National share by year, 2000 to 2025

   Retrieved November 12, 2026. Public domain (U.S. government work). Public domain; figures restated, document linked

   Reliability: Government. Same center and method as the 2025 state table.

3. NCSACW, Parental Alcohol or Drug Abuse as an Identified Condition of Removal by State, 2021 (archived copy) Washington and national shares in the 2021 edition of the state table

   Retrieved November 12, 2026. Public domain (U.S. government work). Public domain; figures restated, document linked

   Reliability: Government. An earlier edition of the same center's state table, no longer posted on its site; read from the Internet Archive copy. Its footnote cites 'AFCARS Data, 2020 v1' while its title says 2021.

4. NCSACW, Parental Alcohol or Other Drug Abuse as an Identified Condition or Removal by State, 2019 (archived copy) Washington and national shares in the 2019 edition of the state table

   Retrieved November 12, 2026. Public domain (U.S. government work). Public domain; figures restated, document linked

   Reliability: Government. An earlier edition of the same center's state table, read from the Internet Archive copy.

5. U.S. Children's Bureau, AFCARS state data reports for Washington, fiscal years 2021 and 2022 Circumstances recorded for children entering foster care in Washington (FY2021 report: https://acf.gov/sites/default/files/documents/cb/afcars-tar-wa-2021.pdf)

   Retrieved November 12, 2026. Public domain (U.S. government work). Public domain; figures restated, document linked

   Reliability: Government. The federal agency's own summary of the foster care data Washington reports to it. Preliminary estimates as of June 28, 2022 (FY2021) and May 9, 2023 (FY2022). Reports for other years were not posted at the same address.

6. Washington Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF), Prevention Dashboard V1.16, Factors tab Contributing factors for children entering out-of-home care, statewide and King County, by age group, 2017 to 2024

   Retrieved November 12, 2026. Public record (Washington state government). Public record; figures restated, dashboard linked

   Reliability: Government. The state agency that removes children reports on its own cases from its case management system (FamLink), using the federal AFCARS definitions. Read from the dashboard's hover values on November 12, 2026 (dashboard updated September 2025).

7. Washington DSHS Research and Data Analysis Division, Report 7.121: Substance Use Disorder Treatment Penetration among Child Welfare-Involved Caregivers (December 2020) Share of caregivers with a substance use disorder and share treated, state fiscal years 2015 to 2018

   Retrieved November 12, 2026. Public record (Washington state government). Public record; figures restated, document linked

   Reliability: Government. The state's own research office, writing for DCYF. It links child welfare records to Medicaid diagnoses, prescriptions and treatment and to drug-related arrests; treatment counts cover Medicaid-paid care only.

8. National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect, AFCARS Foster Care File Codebook Definitions of the removal-reason fields (elements #37 and #38)

   Retrieved November 12, 2026. Public domain (U.S. government work). Public domain; figures restated, document linked

   Reliability: Government. The federal data archive's codebook for the AFCARS file; definitions come from federal regulation 45 CFR 1355, Appendix A.

License: FactHub's selection, cleaning and combined tables are licensed under CC BY 4.0. Source data keeps the terms listed above (terms).

Limitations and reproducibility

Reproducible from public sources: Every figure is printed in the cited PDF, except the DCYF figures, which are the dashboard's hover values (Factors tab, Bar Chart age filter, Statewide or County - King).

• Removal reasons are yes/no fields, so a child can have several; parental drug abuse usually appears with neglect.
• States record these fields differently and some send only the primary reason, so comparisons between states partly reflect recording practice (NCSACW's caveat).
• The NCSACW figures count every child in care during the year, including those removed in earlier years; the share among new removals is lower (42% for parental drug abuse alone in FY2022).
• The treatment figures are from 2015-2018 and count only Medicaid-paid care.
• We could not read the July 2025 DCYF slide deck that reportedly gave a 27% figure; it has been taken down.