Aging Out Foster Youth Cost Hamilton County, Ohio $18 Million Annually

Youth who aged out of the Hamilton County, Ohio foster care system cost the county an average of $17.7 million per year for the period 2008 to 2015. The cost figures were calculated by estimating the costs of unpaid social services ($9.7 million per year) and losses in economic productivity of those youth ($7.9 million per year).

The social service costs include the following components:

$2.1 million per year for criminal justice system costs of arrests ($369,000), court costs ($1.2 million), and incarceration ($498,000).
$6.7 million for physical health services not covered . . .