The Truth About Foster Care

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After the television became a family household item, Americans celebrated the traditional family. Everywhere a person looked, they would find the typical husband and wife with 2.5 children. Even presidential candidates oozed the essence of a perfect family (Coontz, 2011). Even though the traditional family is changing, one opponent stands to challenge the picture-perfect family: foster care. The concept of placing a child who has suffered from abuse or neglect is not new. In 1853, Loring Brace took notice of the increased number of children living on the streets and thus began the first non-profit foster home (Chittom & Wagner, n.d.). Research shows that 399,436 children were in foster care during 2012. Over one-fourth of those children were placed with non-relative foster families (Children’s Bureau, 2013). Although foster care is a positive program, it highlights the destruction of the ideal American family in the United States. Despite the foster care system’s existence since the nineteenth century, it was not employed much because the ideal American family was intact. Social policy tends to ignore what they don't publicize. Children of immigrants were often out on the street looking for work. They were sent on "orphan trains" and sent out west. Back in the 1800s, no one talked about any sexual abuse children might have suffered on their journey out west. Some of the slight problems in the early system were addressed, but the cause of the system still existed. Families could not take children in and provide for them due to low income. Soon, the government started to offer money (George & Walker, n.d.). As a result, people realized that the perfect American family does not exist if money needs to be offered to keep children o... ... middle of paper ... ...eference Center database. (Accession No. 12376228) Miller, L. (2013, August 11). “To the end of june”; Stories from foster care. Retrieved December 17, 2013, from http://www.salon.com/2013/08/11/to_the_end_of_june_stories_from_foster_care/ Nakyanzi, L. (n.d.). Foster care system faces problems. ABC News. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=132011 Our story. (n.d.). Retrieved December 10, 2013, from http://www.togetherwerise.org/about/ourstory.php Pelzer, D. (n.d.). The lost boy. Retrieved from Dave Pelzer website: http://www.davepelzer.com/books/lostboy.html Pelzer, D. (1997). The lost boy. Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications. Stout, M., & Encarnacao, J. (2013, December 4). Foster care abuse ‘very, very troubling’. Boston Herald. Retrieved from http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2013/12/foster_care_abuse_very_very_troubling

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