Indiana Records More Child Welfare Adoptions Than Some Much Larger States, Why?

The Public Relations Photo with regards to Adoption in Indiana show older children but the reality is that boys under five years old carry the highest price tags.

By Hoosier Enquirer Team

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana recorded more child welfare adoptions in federal fiscal year 2024 than Ohio, Michigan or New York, despite having substantially fewer residents. Adjusted for population, Indiana’s rate also exceeded those of Texas, California, Florida and Illinois.

The comparison raises a question deserving closer examination: Why does Indiana finalize more adoptions per resident than many other states? The numbers establish a difference, but cannot alone explain whether it reflects more children entering care, more becoming eligible for adoption, faster placements or other differences in policy and practice.

Federal adoption data compiled by Child Trends and published through the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s KIDS COUNT Data Center show 1,557 Indiana child welfare adoptions in 2024. With approximately 6.92 million residents, that amounts to 22.5 adoptions per 100,000 people.

State Population, millions FY2024 adoptions Per 100,000 residents

Indiana 6.92 1,557 22.5

Arizona 7.61 1,710 22.0

Missouri 6.25 1,356 21.7

Tennessee 7.23 1,165 16.1

Massachusetts 7.14 869 12.2

Wisconsin 5.96 610 10.2

Michigan 10.14 1,426 14.1

Ohio 11.88 1,527 12.8

Illinois 12.71 2,179 17.1

New York 19.87 1,434 7.2

Florida 23.37 4,037 17.3

Texas 31.29 6,474 20.7

California 39.43 5,923 15.0

Sources: KIDS COUNT/Child Trends analysis of AFCARS and Census population estimates through STATS Indiana. Rates calculated using unrounded populations. This selected comparison is not a national ranking.

Indiana’s Foster Care Crisis: Is the System Becoming a Kids-for-Cash Pipeline?

Indiana’s foster care crisis has largely disappeared from the headlines, but the troubling numbers have not disappeared. A 30% increase in children entering foster care between 2023 and 2024, while admissions declined nationally, demands far more than bureaucratic explanations. Every child entering state custody becomes part of a government-controlled system involving caseworkers, courts, foster care providers, attorneys, contractors and, potentially, adoption proceedings. Each stage involves public expenditures, creating legitimate questions about financial incentives, accountability and whether the system consistently serves the best interests of children.

For the Hoosier Enquirer, these figures raise a larger question about Indiana's judicial oversight under Chief Justice Loretta Rush. Although the Department of Child Services operates within the executive branch and individual juvenile judges make placement and adoption decisions, Indiana's judiciary plays a critical role in protecting parental rights and ensuring due process. Rush previously served as a juvenile court judge, making her experience particularly relevant to questions about judicial safeguards.

When thousands of children enter government custody, who independently verifies that every removal, continued placement and eventual adoption is legally justified?

The phrase "Kids for Cash" recalls the notorious Pennsylvania judicial corruption scandal, in which judges accepted payments connected to juvenile detention placements. No comparable cash-for-adoption scheme involving Rush or Indiana's judiciary has been established by the foster care statistics. Nevertheless, the Pennsylvania scandal demonstrates why financial relationships, judicial independence and meaningful oversight matter whenever children are placed under government authority. Indiana should disclose the public money flowing through foster care and adoption services, identify potential conflicts of interest and examine whether families receive fair hearings before permanent separation.

The Hoosier Enquirer believes Indiana's child welfare system warrants an independent, transparent examination extending from the initial removal of a child through the final adoption decree. That investigation should scrutinize financial incentives, contractor payments, judicial procedures, family reunification efforts and safeguards against wrongful removals. The public deserves to know whether Indiana's rising foster care population reflects better protection of endangered children, worsening family conditions or institutional failures. Children are not commodities, adoption is not a revenue strategy, and no public official or institution should be beyond scrutiny.

Separate removals from adoptionsSoften the headline's implied accusation

Among similarly sized states, Arizona and Missouri had rates close to Indiana’s. Indiana’s rate was approximately 40% higher than Tennessee’s and more than twice Wisconsin’s, while exceeding Ohio’s by approximately 75%.

Indiana’s own Department of Child Services publishes a longer adoption history. Its figures show a peak of 2,406 in state fiscal year 2019, followed by a decline to 1,673 in 2026, approximately 30.5% below that peak.

State fiscal year DCS adoptions

2009 1,577

2010 1,429

2011 1,484

2012 1,663

2013 1,244

2014 1,038

2015 1,245

2016 1,509

2017 1,812

2018 2,017

2019 2,406

2020 2,344

2021 1,861

2022 1,914

2023 1,903

2024 1,630

2025 1,676

2026 1,673

Source: Indiana DCS. The state and federal tables use different reporting periods and datasets; their totals should not be interchanged.

These figures concern adoptions involving the public child welfare system, rather than every private, stepparent or international adoption. Neither table provides children’s ages or establishes how many children currently in state care are legally available for adoption.

See https://www.hoosierenquirer.com/post/exposé-indiana-supreme-court-chief-justice-loretta-rush-s-alleged-kids-for-cash-empire-in-tippeca

These stats should for Indiana should be broken down by County and by Judge to show which are possibly selling Kids for Cash as one former employee in Tippicanoe County previously reported that Loretta Rush did before becoming a justice of the Supreme Court.

For HE, the next reporting question is what happens before and after adoption. A meaningful assessment should examine children’s ages, foster care entries, reunifications, parental rights terminations, time awaiting adoption and the stability of adoptive placements. Comparing completed adoptions with the number of children eligible for adoption would provide a more direct measure of placement outcomes than total population.

The most disturbing questions about Indiana's foster care and adoption system concern its youngest and most vulnerable children. Are infants and children under five, particularly boys, being targeted for illegal adoption arrangements because of their perceived financial value? The Hoosier Enquirer has not established that such a pricing hierarchy exists, but Indiana's own appellate courts acknowledged the historical problem of black-market baby trafficking more than half a century ago.

With thousands of children entering state custody each year, Indiana should provide transparent, independently audited records of adoption payments, placement decisions, termination-of-parental-rights proceedings and safeguards against financial exploitation.

Indiana’s very high rate warrants explanation and public scrutiny.

Families and taxpayers deserve enough information to understand both how children enter the system and whether its decisions produce safe, lasting homes.

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