Foster Care

As of 2014, there were over 415,000 children in the foster care system. Foster care is the raising and supervision of children in a private home, group home, or institution, by individuals engaged and paid by a social service agency (Legal Dictionary, 2016). Care givers can be of kin relationship to the child, or may not know the child at all. Group homes are run by a social worker and can house multiple children at a time. These homes are usually regulated by the state and/or government. Children of all ages go through many emotions when their lives revolve in foster care. This paper will discuss the emotions children deal with regarding separation from birth family, the effects of abuse, and the possibility of having to transition out of

Per the National Center on Family Homelessness, “homeless children are at particularly high risk for being placed in foster care. 12% of homeless children are placed in foster care compared to just over 1% of other children” (Kane, 2013). If a parent is unable to take care of their child, the government steps in and places the child into foster care. The government then takes responsibility of these children. Many families that lose custody of their children, repossess the custody down the line, but for those who are not able to, those children are left in the system. Children often will experience separation anxiety from their birth families, especially with toddlers and older children. “Children in foster care are a vulnerable population in poor health, partially because of their early life circumstances” (Turney, Wildeman, 2016). Not only will the child have anxiety from being separated from their parents, but they could be placed in a different home than their siblings. It was often seen that siblings would lose track of each other. The system tries to keep siblings together, but it is not always the case. If a family is fostering a child, they may only have room and stability to take one child, so the sibling would have to be placed

Twenty-five percent of all participating adolescents experienced physical abuse, which is a nearly three-fold increase in risk compared to the general population. Prevalence rates in residential care, especially in secure care, were significantly higher than in foster care” (Euser, Alink, Tharner, Van IJzendoorn, Bakersman-Kranenburg, 2013). Children who are abused often act out in other forums. These are the children that become the bullies, or begin stealing from stores. They also have a decrease in grades. It is sometimes difficult for children who are abused before entering foster care, to find a home placement due to their background. Many foster families do not want to take a chance with an abused child who may begin to act out, especially with older children. Abused children many times, turn to drugs and alcohol. They become addicted to these things and when they become legal age to live on their own, they become homeless. They do not have the skills and knowledge that they need to