There are multiple grounds for children to be removed from their family homes and placed in foster care. Each case is unique and includes many factors for the court or social services representatives assigned to each family to consider. Decisions are made based on what is in the best interest of the child or children involved.

Some of the most common reasons for a child to enter the foster care system include one or more of the following:

Abandonment

Children may also enter foster care due to abandonment, which occurs when their parents have dropped them off somewhere, such as at school or with a babysitter, and don't return, or children are left home without supervision for extended periods of time.

Death

While family members usually step forward to care for a child after the death of their parent, there have been cases when children need to enter foster care after the death of a parent because a suitable family member is not available.

Incarceration

A child may be placed into foster care when there are no family or friends available to care for the child during a parent's incarceration in prison or jail.

Juvenile offenses

A child that has been adjudicated a juvenile offender by the court system may be placed into foster care, particularly if the home environment is deemed to be a part of an ongoing problem with breaking the law. This is especially likely if the parents are unable to properly manage the child's behavior.

Medical neglect

Sometimes a birth parent's decision to not seek medical attention for a child can put a child's health in danger. These cases may be considered medical neglect and grounds to place a child in foster care. Parents with religious objections to certain medical care may be given exemptions to these rules.

Neglect

Neglect encompasses several areas, including not fulfilling a child's needs for food, a clean living environment, or emotional well-being. It is extremely difficult to prove emotional abuse, but it often plays a part in physical and sexual abuse.

Physical abuse

Physical abuse can include a wide range of physical harm. Child abuse is typically discovered and/or documented due to bruising or other visible signs of injury on a child. Numerous attempts are usually made to help a family learn alternative means of discipline before a child is removed. Each state or country determines how physical abuse is defined and what standard is used for when to remove a child from their home. Physical abuse can also include restraining a child or placing them in a locked closet or other space.

Runaways

Some children engage in dangerous runaway behavior that parents find difficult to control. Running away may also be in response to unsafe circumstances in the home. In these cases, children may be placed in foster care.

Sexual abuse

Sexual abuse can mean many things. Sexual abuse is often viewed as a continuum of acts with the viewing of pornographic material or sex acts on one end of the continuum to fondling, penetration, or other sexual acts on the other.

Truancy

Truancy (absence from school without a good reason) is another cause for removing a child from their home. Parents are responsible for making sure their children attend school regularly. Some children also regularly skip school or refuse to attend school.

Voluntary placement

In rare circumstances, usually due to a child or parent's mental health issues and/or health conditions, some parents have requested to have their children placed into foster care.