There are now 450,000 children in the nation's foster-care system, which is run by the states with Federal aid and supervision.

V. went into the foster-care system after his mother's death.

We could have a decent foster-care system for children in distress.

In recent months, she has lost all three of her children to the foster-care system.

Programs such as ours can provide the foster-care system with professional assessments.

And when children are taken from their homes for protection, they add, the foster-care system often has little better to offer.

The foster-care system is intended to rescue children such as Bill.

She is finishing a novel about the foster-care system, based on her own experiences.

The decision threw into question the future of the city's already troubled foster-care system.

In 1977, there were 23,657 children passing through the city's foster-care system.