Tens of Thousands of Foster Children Vanish Annually—And Nobody Is Held Accountable

Federal audit reveals states fail to report nearly 70% of missing foster children, as trafficking pipeline claims vulnerable kids

The numbers are staggering and the accountability nonexistent: approximately 110,446 children disappeared from foster care between July 2018 and December 2020, yet nearly 70% of these cases were never reported to the National Center for Missing Exploited Children as required by federal law. A comprehensive investigation into the foster care system reveals a catastrophic accountability gap where children vanish under state protection, and the agencies responsible face virtually no consequences.

Why This Matters

Every year, children placed in state custody for their "protection" disappear into trafficking networks, unlicensed homes, and situations far worse than what they were rescued from. The system designed to safeguard America's most vulnerable children is instead losing track of them at alarming rates—and then covering it up through falsified records, delayed reporting, and legal maneuvers to abandon responsibility. As of December 31, 2020, 6,619 children were still missing from foster care nationwide.

The Scale of the Crisis

Federal data paints a disturbing picture of systemic failure. On September 30, 2020, 4,831 children were officially classified as missing or on runaway status—roughly 1% of the entire foster care population. But snapshot data conceals the true crisis. During the 30-month audit period from July 2018 through December 2020, approximately 110,446 missing child episodes occurred nationwide.

The 2023 HHS Office of Inspector General audit revealed catastrophic non-compliance with federal reporting requirements. Of 74,353 missing child episodes reviewed, only 33% were properly reported. Approximately 16,246 cases were reported late, violating the mandatory 24-hour reporting window. But the most damning finding: roughly 34,869 cases—47% of the total—were never reported to NCMEC at all.

State-level data shows which jurisdictions are failing hardest. California leads with 316 active missing cases in Project Milk Carton's database and the nation's largest foster care population at 38,490 children. Texas reported 1,164 children missing during fiscal year 2023 alone—3.7% of the state's 31,475 children in care. Georgia logged 1,790 children missing from state custody between 2018 and 2022, with over 20% likely trafficked. Florida maintains 128 active missing cases, while Missouri has 125, Ohio has 83, and Tennessee has 73.

The Trafficking Connection

Missing from foster care doesn't mean runaways looking for freedom—it often means trafficking victims. NCMEC data shows 19% of missing foster children are likely experiencing sex trafficking. A 2016 NCMEC study found that 86% of child sex trafficking victims had been in foster care or social services. Research shows 60% of runaway trafficking victims had been in foster care, and 70% experienced their first trafficking incident during a runaway episode.

Texas data from fiscal year 2023 shows the direct pipeline: 386 children were trafficked while in DFPS conservatorship, with 95.8% being sex trafficking victims. Of these, 132 youth reported sexual victimization while missing. The pattern is clear—40% of missing foster children disappear multiple times, averaging four separate instances. Each disappearance increases trafficking risk exponentially. Florida data from 2011-2017 found that 37% of trafficked youth had run away 10 or more times before being trafficked.

The Accountability Black Hole

When a foster child disappears, responsibility diffuses across a chain of actors—and none face consistent consequences. The caseworker holds direct responsibility for monthly face-to-face visits but is rarely fired and even more rarely charged. The supervisor oversees caseworker compliance but typically "retires" instead of facing termination. Private agencies recruit and manage foster homes but are sued, not prosecuted. State agencies create policy and provide training but hide behind sovereign immunity. Federal HHS/ACF grants the funding and supposedly provides oversight but, as one HHS Deputy Regional Inspector General admitted, "ACF is really good at making sure that states have policies and procedures in place, but they're not so great at making sure that those policies and procedures are being followed."

Case outcomes demonstrate this accountability vacuum. In Florida, caseworker Deborah Muskelly falsified monthly visit reports for 4-year-old Rilya Wilson, who vanished for 15 months before anyone noticed. Muskelly received five years probation for official misconduct—no charges related to Rilya, who has never been found. Her supervisor Willie Harris retired in lieu of demotion. DCF Director Kathleen Kearney resigned. In Illinois, caseworker Carlos Acosta received six months in jail for neglect—a rare exception in a system where criminal prosecution is virtually nonexistent.

When accountability comes, it arrives through expensive civil litigation, not criminal justice. New Mexico faced a $485 million jury verdict. New Jersey paid $25 million in a March 2024 jury verdict. Washington State settled for $15 million. California paid $25 million to three siblings in December 2023. Iowa settled for $10 million. Massachusetts paid $7 million. These lawsuits represent the only meaningful financial consequence states face—and taxpayers foot the bill.

Texas: The State That Abandons Missing Children

Texas has developed a particularly cruel practice called "nonsuits"—literally going to court to end legal responsibility for missing foster children. When children run away, Texas DFPS files motions to close their cases, abandoning them while they're still missing. Over the past five years, 170 children had their cases closed while still missing, including 40 cases closed in 2021 alone.

Former CPS workers cite "liability" concerns as the driver. If something happens to a child while missing and the state still has legal conservatorship, the state can be sued. The solution: drop the children from care entirely. The practice also saves money—no caseworker time, no placement costs, no ongoing responsibility. Texas Representative Gina Hinojosa introduced legislation to stop this practice, but it remains pending.

The Rilya Wilson Case: A Symbol of System Failure

Four-year-old Rilya Wilson disappeared from an unlicensed caregiver's home in Miami on January 18, 2001. Florida's Department of Children and Families discovered she was missing 15 months later in April 2002. Caseworker Deborah Muskelly had falsified monthly reports, claiming visits that never occurred. Supervisor Willie Harris failed to verify visit logs. DCF caseloads exceeded 50 children per worker, making meaningful oversight impossible.

Subsequent audits revealed DCF had failed to contact 1,200 children in a single month. Muskelly received five years probation. Harris retired. DCF Director Kearney resigned. Caregiver Geralyn Graham received 55 years in prison for kidnapping and abuse. Rilya was never found. The case led to Florida's Rilya Wilson Act in 2002, mandating early education monitoring, but the fundamental accountability problems persist.

Federal Law Means Nothing Without Enforcement

Three major federal laws require states to report missing foster children, coordinate with law enforcement, and screen for trafficking. The Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act of 2014 mandates reporting missing children to NCMEC within 24 hours. The Bringing Missing Children Home Act of 2015 requires law enforcement coordination and entry into the FBI NCIC database. The Trafficking Victims Prevention Act of 2022 demands states maintain regular communication with NCMEC and conduct enhanced trafficking screening.

States routinely violate these requirements with zero federal enforcement. The HHS audit documented massive non-compliance—yet no state has lost federal funding. No agency has been sanctioned. The only consequence is another policy memo reminding states of requirements they already ignore. As one Deputy Regional Inspector General explained, federal oversight focuses on whether policies exist, not whether they're followed.

What Must Change

The accountability gap requires structural reform, not more policies. Federal enforcement must include real consequences—withholding Title IV-E funding from states that fail to report missing children to NCMEC. Criminal accountability standards must be established for caseworkers and supervisors who falsify records or fail to report missing children. Independent third-party audits must verify visit logs and missing child reports, replacing the current self-reporting system.

Real-time tracking technology should require GPS check-in for caseworker visits, ending the falsified paperwork epidemic. States must be prohibited from "nonsuiting" missing children, abandoning legal responsibility while children remain missing. A national, public database of missing foster children would create transparency and enable cross-state coordination. And survivor voices must be mandatory on all oversight boards—former foster youth understand system failures better than any bureaucrat.

The current system creates perverse incentives where states save money when children disappear and face consequences only through expensive lawsuits years later. Until accountability is structural, enforceable, and immediate, foster children will continue vanishing into the gap between policy and practice—and the adults responsible will continue walking away unscathed.

Sources

This investigation analyzed data from the HHS Office of Inspector General's 2023 audit of missing children reporting, ACF AFCARS foster care statistics, Project Milk Carton's database of 1,905 missing children records, state-level reporting from Texas DFPS, Florida DCF, and Georgia DFCS, congressional investigations led by Senator Ossoff, reporting from 19th News, Texas Public Radio, KXAN, and Imprint News, NCMEC missing from care data and trafficking statistics, and legal records from FindLaw and Lawsuit Legal News. Full source documentation and specific citations are available in the original OPUS investigation report.