Throughout America there are hundreds of thousands of children in foster care. These children in foster care have disproportionately high rates of physical, developmental, and mental health problems (Issues). Most of these troubles are caused by the lack of attachment to the foster parents. With the shortage of time at a new house, these children do not bond with the foster parents. Some foster parents are willing to keep the children as long as necessary, but others are selfish and are in the program just for the money. This here is an example of why many children’s health is often neglected while in foster care (Issues). Children who enter foster care due to child abuse and neglect are entering an environment that is not the right type of support. According to the Department of Family and Protective Services: “When children have to be placed outside their homes, and there is not an appropriate non-custodial parent or relative willing and able to care for them and there are not any close family friends that the court can give temporary legal possession, the court will ask Child Protective Services (CPS) to place the child in a temporary foster care setting.” In order to become a foster parent you must: be trained and verified by the CPS, you must receive a license from the Residential Child-Care Licensing (RCCL), and you must be verified by the RCCL. Most children in foster care have never had the nurturing stable environment, without this a child’s brain does not have the sensibility to participate in society (Issues). If one child does not know how to participate in society and grows up in an unstable household, then they have a very slim chance of being able to support them. Instead they will guide themselves down the p... ... middle of paper ... ...y Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Committee on Early Childhood, 2000. 15 May 2011. Web. DFPS. “DFPS-Foster Care.” DFPS- Texas Department of family and Protective Services. 2011. 20 May 2011. Web. Guillaro, Lori. “Child Abuse Facts and Statistics.” Cardinal McCloskey Services. McCloskey, 2011. 7 May 2011. Web. Kamentez, Kevin. “Facts about Child Abuse.” Baltimore, MD. Kevin Kamentez, 19 Jan. 2011. 6 May 2011. Web. Magnuson, Ed. “Child Abuse: The Ultimate Betrayal.” TIME for Kids. 05 Sep. 1983:7. 6 May 2011. Web. Saison, Joanna. “Child Abuse and Neglect.” Help Guide of Child Abuse. Robert Segal 12 Nov. 2011. 6 May 2011. Web.’ Sgroi, Suzanne. Sexual Abuse Intervention. New York, NY: Free, 1982. Print. Weidner, Steve. “Making Children a Priority.” Child Abuse. Tennyson Center for Children at Colorado Christian Home, 2010. 6 May 2011. Web.
This paper will contain research done about foster care, including a brief history and progressing along to the system today. This research interested me because it is a professional career option after graduation. I found both positives and negatives about the foster care system that children and foster parents go through on a daily basis. As the paper progresses I will be explaining these positives and negatives in more detail. Throughout the paper I will be referencing different scholarly sources that explain foster care in different ways. Overall, this paper will show different aspects that the general public may never know about foster care.
There is nearly 400,000 children in out-of-home care in the United States right now (Children’s Right). Just about every day children are being shipped in and out of foster homes and group homes. Most people want the best for children in foster care and decide to take care of them until their parents can possibly recover. The foster care system can have both a negative or positive effect on children, foster parents, and biological parents because of the gaps in the system. Foster cannot not be avoided but the some aspects of the foster care system can be avoided if the missing gaps were filled.
In todays’ society many Americans never think about our foster care system. Foster care is when a child is temporarily placed with another family. This child may have been abused, neglected, or may be a child who is dependent and can survive on their own but needs a place to stay. Normally the child parents are sick, alcohol or drug abusers, or may even be homeless themselves. We have forgotten about the thousands of children who are without families and living in foster homes. Many do not even know how foster care came about. A few of the earliest documentation of foster care can be found in the Old Testament. The Christian church put children into homes with widowers and then paid them using collection from the church congregation. The system that the church had in place was actually successful, and was continued to be used until English Poor Law eventually regulated family foster care in the U.S.
Imagine waking up everyday in a home where there is nobody you can call mom or dad. Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home, or private home of a state-certified caregiver referred to as a "foster parent". The placement of the child is usually arranged through the government or a social-service agency. The institution, group home or foster parent is compensated for expenses. The state will inform through the family court and child protection agency stand in loco parentis to the minor, making all legal decisions while the foster parent is responsible for the day-to-day care of the minor throughout the time the child is in the system.
(Chipungu & Goodley, 2004) Chipungu and Goodley also stated that these issues shown by children in foster care come from their experiences prior to being placed in foster care, as well as from their actual foster care experience. Children are forced to deal with the separation from their parents and siblings, and must now adjust to a new life. In a 3 month time period of being in the foster care system, children have been shown to have symptoms of depression, aggression and withdrawal, as well as sleeping problems, and failure to thrive. (Chipungu & Goodley, 2004) Due to children’s experiences prior to entering the foster care system, many of them have development issues, including mental development. According to Bass, Shields, and Behrman “children in foster care have more physical and mental health problems than children growing up in other settings.” (2004) Dubois-Comtois et al. stated that the number of foster care placements, as well as the type of placement, a child has had also contributed to the child’s behavior and emotional problems.
Child welfare services should create a better environment in foster care homes. Children face mental and physical trauma every day in foster care homes like emotional distress, unstable mental health and surroundings, developmental delays etc. High trauma rates in children who currently reside in foster care or did, amounting to “one-half to two-thirds,” raises everyday (Dorsey, Burns, Southerland, Cox, Wagner, and Farmer 871). A nationwide social services policy on how to become a foster care parent or child should focus on the mental, emotional and physical state of the individual to decrease foster care abuse.
Government statistics, newspaper articles, and thorough research projects have been completed to answer the question, “is there a problem in the foster care system?” The results have revealed that a serious problem exist within foster care in the United States. At any given time there are approximately 542,000 children in the foster care system (Dept of Health). This number continues to rise each year. In 2001, 290,000 children entered into foster care, while only 263,000 children left the system (Dept of Health). Of the 263,000 children that left foster care in the year 2001, 31% were in care for over two years (Dept of Health). Nineteen percent of those children were in foster care for one to two years (Dept of Health). Two years is an unacceptable amount of time when taken into consideration that between the ages of 8 and ten are critical developmental years in a child’s life. The average age of the a child leaving the foster care system in 2001 was 10.2 years old (Dept of Health). The amount of children per foster home at any given time is another problem. The average number of children per home in the foster care system is 3.7, which is up from 1.4 in 1983. Although 3.7 children is an average per home, there are claims that tens of thousands of homes have 5 – 8 children at once (C...
To many outsiders, the foster care system may appear to be a safe haven for those children that are abused or abandoned by their birth family. This is correct, but the system with which it is based, has many flaws. A background check is mandatory for all foster parents, but a test to see if a child 's temperament matches that caregiver 's parenting style, is not. Now, this is seen as a minor issue, but there is not enough evidence to support this. Plus, there are many other, much worse reasons, why the system is not perfect. Altogether, the foster care system and a multitude of its rules are flawed and may actually be negatively affecting foster children.
“About two-thirds of children admitted to public care have experienced abuse and neglect, and many have potentially been exposed to domestic violence, parental mental illness and substance abuse” (Dregan and Gulliford). These children are being placed into foster care so that they can get away from home abuse, not so they can move closer towards it. The foster children’s varied outcomes of what their adult lives are is because of the different experiences they grew up with in their foster homes. The one-third of those other foster children usually has a better outcome in adult life than the other two-thirds, which is a big problem considering the high percentage of children being abused in their foster homes. Although, the foster care system has most definitely allowed children to experience the positive home atmosphere that they need there is still an existed kind of abusive system in the foster care program that is unofficial but seems to be very popular. Foster care focuses on helping children in need of a temporary stable environment; however, foster care can have negative impacts to the children and the people around them concerning the foster child going through the transition, the parents of the foster child, a new sibling relationship, and problems that arrive later influencing the foster child long-term.
For years there have been an excessive number of children in and out of the foster system. Quite a few children have succeeded; however, other children have not. A few children have looked to drugs, alcohol and violence to cope with what they have gone through and/or what they are currently going through. A number of those children ended up in a juvenile detention center or prison for breaking the law. Foster parents are desperately needed to help these children succeed in life and make it through this terrible time.
Placement in the foster care system has a wide range of effects on children of all ages, however what those effects are or how those effects specifically come about are often researched. Harden (2004) conducted a study, which focused on the importance of safety and stability to child development, reviewed the research on the risks associated with maltreatment and the foster care system, and discussed factors in family and child welfare systems that influence foster children’s development. Retrospective research examining secondary data and previous studies were used to conclude that developmentally sensitive child welfare policies and practices designed to promote the well being of the whole child are needed to facilitate the healthy development
Throughout the years more and more youth are being separated from their families and are being sent to foster homes. As more children and youth enter foster homes they are also staying longer periods of time, meaning that something is not working as efficiently as it should be in the foster care system. These children and youth are being sent to foster homes because the types of relationships that they encounter at home with their families are no longer healthy relationships. There are multiple types conditions that may have some risk factor for child maltreatment. When child maltreatment begins to emerge within the homes it is no longer a safe environment for the child to grow up in. Although child maltreatment is one of the primary causes
According to the International Foster Care Organization “Foster care is a way of providing a family life for children who cannot live with their own parents.”(2004) Foster care is supposed to provide temporary care while parents get help dealing with problems, or to help children or young people through a difficult period in their lives. Children will return home once their parents are able to provide a safe enviorment for them. However if parent are unable to resolve the issues that cause their child in foster care their children may stay in long-term foster care, some may be adopted, and others will move on to live independently. (IFCO, 2004) Foster care has been a problem for many years and although there have been many attempts to improve it; it there still seems to be negatively impacting
The foster care program has become such a huge thing worldwide. It can help to provide children homes and families which they would not be able to find otherwise. Foster care programs also offer temporary food, domestic care for children from birth to age eighteen. While programs laws and rules are different from state to state, typically foster care is used by children 's welfare services when a child is identified as having been orphaned, abandoned, abused, or neglected. At the same time though it has a negative impact. The foster care system hurts the structure of the family unit which has existed for centuries. Foster Care has become better and better as time goes on. Before, there would be people who scam the system and it was hard to
O'Meara, Sara, and Yvonne Fedderson. "What Is Child Abuse." Childhelp. Childhelp, 1959. Web. 12 Sept. 2017. .