A human rights activist, Malcolm X, once said, “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” The foster care system is a necessary program that cares for thousands of America’s youth. At eighteen, teenagers are pushed out of the system, a majority of them will become lost in society. More than 26,000 foster care teens aged out of the system in every year (Littlefield). These teenagers face problems while they are in foster care, as well as when they leave the system. If foster care teens are educated on overall wellness, financial responsibility, and the benefits of support programs, issues can be dissolved, and they can mature into successful young adults. One of the main issues that teenagers face while they are in foster care is dealing with post-traumatic stress. This issue is due to the fact that child abuse has been linked to post-traumatic stress, child abuse is defined as a “non- accidental trauma” (Babbel). The older the youth is during the abuse, the more likely the youth is able to understand the traumatic effects of the ordeal, which causes the child to have a higher degree of PTSD (Babbel). Ages eleven to fifteen is a common age group that enters foster care for the first time (McKellar). A majority of youth that enter foster care, endured some type of severe abuse or neglect (American Academy of child and adolescent psychiatry). Alarming behaviors can arise due to post-traumatic stress. Some of the behaviors that arise from PTSD, according to the American academy of child and adolescent psychiatry, include violence, a high level of paranoia, abnormal emotional reactions, and a loss of interest in activities (Babbel). Teenagers in foster care have issues with deali... ... middle of paper ... ...zes wasteful spending, the teen is completely aware of the amount of money they have. Budgeting allows the teen to put their priorities in line, they will understand the difference between needs and wants. Healthy habits are produced from regularly budgeting, once the teen gets in the habit of being savvy with their money, they retain the skill. Stress is reduced from budgeting, no longer will the teen need to guess their financial standing, and they will be comfortable with their knowledge of their finances. Over time margins can be created, these margins can be put into savings to accomplish other financial goals. It is important to teach foster care teenagers financial responsibilities because they will have budgeting skills that are advantages to them. Another benefit of teaching foster care teens financial responsibility, is they will have fewer fin
Chronic abuse and neglect is a huge part of the foster care system. According to the Children's Rights website, “Nearly 700,000 abused and neglected children will spend time in foster care in the United States this year.” Many children find themselves being looked after by a social worker, and eventually into the arms of a new family. The authors of Foster Care Placement, Poor Parenting, and Negative Outcomes Among Homeless Young Adults state that “More than half a million American youth currently [are] in foster homes due to child abuse and neglect,” (Tyler, Kimberly A., and Lisa A. Melander). This is a very terrifying statistic. It’s hard to think that there are that many children in foster care, let alone that over half a million are in the system because of child abuse and neglect. Some have even dealt with abuse before, during, and after foster care (787). This leads me to my first point; if foster care is so great, why are children still having to deal with abuse once they’ve been placed in foster care? Why are children like Krystal Scurry being raped and killed by those who are supposed to be offering better living conditions (Ambrose, Jeanne). Why are little children like Joshua Lindsey being beaten to death by their foster parents (1)? Who is re...
Unfortunately, “foster children who have moved multiple times often develop detachment disorder: they become unable to attach to others as a defense mechanism” (Babbel). Due to this, children are taught to keep to themselves. They fear that if they open up to people, then they will become more distraught when the time comes for them leave. Consequently, their outside persona becomes a shell, while their true emotions become trapped inside. As a result, they have trouble forming strong relationships later on in life. This can especially prove to be troublesome in marriages, where these ex-foster children act upon their training to build walls against others. Thus, this psychological damage can haunt foster care children for the rest of their
...t with a child in the foster care system. This paper gave me the opportunity to learn the positives and the negatives as well as more details about the little parts of the foster care system that I didn’t know existed. Even though my focus is to help the child and think about their best interest, this paper showed me that the parents, both biological and foster, are another important factor that helps the children. It made me realize that I will need to meet the parents and work with them to make a plan that fits their life. I will need to figure out what issues they feel are important to fix and how to get to those solutions. Foster care is a complex system that will challenge me daily if I enter the into this specific field but even if I work with children in a different environment I need to be aware that children come from all different types of backgrounds.
Okpych, : Nathanael. "Policy Framework Supporting Youth Aging-out of Foster Care through College."Children Youth Service Review (2012): n. pag. Science Direct. Web.
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.
Addressing the needs of children in foster care has been an issue that has tried to be addressed in many ways. In 2001, approximately 300,000 children entered the foster care system, with the average time spent in placement equaling 33 months (Bass Shields, & Behrman, n.d.). Statistically, the longer a child is in the foster care system, the greater number of placements they will have, and instability increases each year (Bass Shields, & Behrman, n.d). I recently read a novel by a girl who was placed into the system at age two, and by age 12 she had already experienced 14 different placements (Rhodes-Courter, 2007). Stories such as this one are not uncommon in the foster care system, especially if the child is a member of a sibling group or
One challenge young adult’s face after aging out of foster care is being provided the health care that they need. According to Paula K Jaudes and the American Academy of Pediatrics, children in foster care suffer from various health issues such as “developmental delays, mental retardation, emotional adjustment problems, chronic medical problems, birth defects, substance abuse, and pregnancy” (1170). It is unknown why children in care are at a higher risk for these problems, but numerous medical professionals believe it is caused by the circumstances that led them being put into foster care, and the experiences they had while in care (Jaudes 1170). Despite being inclined to face more medical problems than teenagers who grew up in nuclear families, there is a lack of support to help take care of these teens. One study conducted by...
The foster system intends to place children in homes where they will remain until they can find permanent residence with an adoptive family. Sadly, this is often not the case with children placed privatized homes and they end up bouncing from home to home until they eventually age out of the system forced to enter into adulthood with no permanent family ties. Over the past decade the number of teenagers aging out of the system without a permanent family has risen from 19,000 to 23,000 per year. These teenages enter into the world without emotional, relational, or financial support and therefore possess a greater risk of poverty as well as low academic achievement. This causes many of these teenagers to rely on government benefits during their adult lives which places a heavier burden on taxpayers. The National Council for Adoption reported that the 29,000 teenagers that aged out of the system in 2007 will cost over one billion dollars per year in public assistance and support. These teenagers who age out are also found to be at greater risk of concerning behaviors, such as: creating disciplinary problems in school, dropping out of school, becoming unemployed and homeless, becoming teenage parents, abusing alcohol and drugs, and committing crimes. The privatized system does not have the best interest of the children in mind and
The combine result of all these barriers resulted in foster youth being an at-risk vulnerable population. A multitude of negative factors contribute to understanding why foster youth underperform when
Williamson, Lisa A. "Providing Support And Stability To Students In Foster Care." Education Digest 79.3 (2013): 62. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 23 Dec. 2013.
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
“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.
Foster homes should be given more money to help improve them and pay for the basic necessities for children. For instance, many children are struggling because they do not have basic necessities. According to the article, “Foster teens ready to tell city council how to fix system,” few children have the resources to take care of themselves. It says, “Between 150 to 200 kids age out of foster care in the District every year. According to a 2008 study. By Child and Family Services, only 14 percent have the resources to support themselves,”(Dvorak, 2010). This demonstrates that not all children have enough money to support themselves with basic needs. They are struggling because they do not have basic things like bedding, good food, running water. Not many people have these things. To take responsibility of a child is an expense. Children have many needs, however with the amount of money
For me, social work is a calling to bring advantages to the disadvantaged and my worldview is informed by my desire to do this kind of advocacy work. Being a foster youth, myself, I can speak to both micro and macro aspects of social inequality in this country. Moreover, my life experience has been both educational and motivating in my desire to pursue a graduate degree in Social Service because I have not only lived within the broken system, but I have also analyzed it through a variety of theoretical frameworks to better understand the problems and their solutions. My most purposeful consideration, the connection between educational services for foster youth and foster youth performance in higher education, has helped me to contextualize my own circumstances and provided me with a unique perspective through which I have been able to develop relevant and applicable solutions.
When we are young we never think about what we are going to be like when we are 80 or 90. We just think of the present. Aging is something almost everyone experience’s in their lifetime. Everyone ages at their own rate and time, thus no one has the same experience. Some theorists believe that as we age we become disengage from society, others believe it’s the choices we make that cause disengagement from society. It’s something psychologists have argued for a long time. There is not a lot of research done on how adults age because of participant drop outs for a numerous amount of reasons; for example health issues, death or forgetting about the study all together. Older adults do not choose to become disengaged from society; the choices they make are the ones that fit their personal lifestyle the best.