On Dec. 30, 2016, 12-year-old foster child Katelyn Nicole Davis broadcast her own hanging on a live stream social media site. Before it was taken down, the video was seen by thousands of people. In 2009, seven-year-old Gabriel Myers hanged himself in the shower of his foster home. In 2014, six-year-old Kendra Johnson died by suicide after hanging herself with a jump rope from her bunk bed. A lawsuit, filed by her grandmother, alleged that Kendra was removed from her mother's care and placed in a Minnesota foster care home where her suicidal ideations had been ignored by the child welfare system. These anecdotes demonstrate the tragic outcomes experienced by some youth in out-of-home care.

The rate of suicide among youth, ages 10 to 24, between 2000 and 2007 was approximately 6.8 deaths per 100,000 people. By 2017, the rate had increased 56%, reaching 10.6 deaths per 100,000. While suicides of children 12-years-old and younger are rare, the numbers seem to be growing. Recent figures indicate that youth in foster care die by suicide at a rate much higher than usual when compared to the general population.

When children die in child welfare settings, civil lawsuits for wrongful death, negligent supervision, or similar claims are often filed resulting in legal difficulties for the involved agencies. Legal analyses of wrongful death cases regarding suicide often involve assertions of there being a "special relationship" between the victim and the caretaker, thus imposing a duty on the caretaker an enhanced oversight responsibility. In addition, foreseeability of harm is a leading factor in determining whether a caretaker has a duty to warn others regarding potential dangers for the person in their care. These wrongful death lawsuits usually settle before proceeding to trial. Consequently, a legal ruling on liability is avoided which decreases the probability of uncovering what may have led to suicidal behavior.