A child’s background and home life can have an influence on their cognitive and emotional well being. Children learn from teachings, but also from example and watching others. Therefore, what they see in their parents, concerning actions and words, could be what they eventually do and say in their own lives. Children with stable homes and long – lasting relationships are more likely to have better cognitive and social – emotional development, than those who are moving from home to home or live in an unstable home environment. Most of the time children in the foster care system are taken out of unstable homes, but they may not stay in one foster home all their childhood. Young children in foster care are most likely going to fall behind in their cognitive development and social – emotional functioning compared to children in stable home environments.
The article Cognitive Development and Social – Emotional Functioning in Young Foster Children: A Follow up Study from 2 to 3 Years of Age is about a study done to find if young children in foster care have slower cognitive development and social – emotional functioning than their peers of the same age living in their biological parents home. The hypothesis of the researchers was if children are taken out of their biological homes and placed into foster care even as a young child, than they will fall behind their peers in respect to cognitive development and social – emotional functioning. The willing participants consisted of 36 foster care boys and 24 foster care girls within the ages of 22 and 25 months, 21 boys and 21 girls of comparison children within the ages of 22 – 24 months. Four foster care families (3 girls and one boy) and two comparison families (two boys) dropped out of ...
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...lmas, A. N., Degnan, K. A., Nelson, C. A., & Zeanah, C. H. (2011). The effects of severe psychosocial deprivation and foster care intervention on cognitive development at 8 years of age: findings from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project. Journal Of Child Psychology & Psychiatry, 52(9), 919-928. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2010.02355.x
Jacobsen, H., Moe, V., Ivarsson, T., Wentzel-Larsen, T., & Smith, L. (2013). Cognitive development and social-emotional functioning in young foster children: a follow-up study from 2 to 3 years of age. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 44(5), 666- 677. doi:10.1007/s10578-013-0360-3
Windsor, J., Benigno, J. P., Wing, C. A., Carroll, P. J., Koga, S. F., Nelson, C. A., & ... Zeanah C. H. (2011). Effect of foster care on young children's language learning. Child Development, 82(4), 1040-1046. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01604.x
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
“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.
Jeune, G.P, McCall, S., and Hamilton, L. (2007) Understanding Looked after Children: An Introduction to Psychology for Foster Care. London: Jessica Kingsley Pub.
Another obstacle Olivia and Sabreen encounter is the lack of adult support in the foster care system. Family support is a crucial variable mediating the influence of neighborhood on a child’s development (Burton & Jarrett, 2000); nonetheless, Olivia and Sabreen receive little support and guidance and must quickly survive on their own.
Problems in the society such as poverty, homelessness, unemployment, substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, unequal education, family and community violence, and racism all can affect families and impact child welfare and the system itself (Chipungu and Goodley, pp. 76, 2004) There is often a incongruity between the services being offered to children and families in foster care and what they actually need. One example that Chipungu and Goodley (2004) made was birth parents being offered training and counseling when services such as housing assistance and childcare are more critically needed but not available (pp. 79).
The concept of aging out of foster care is referred to those children who are within the state foster care system and who are still in the system upon reaching the age of eighteen, twenty-one or have graduated from high school (Craft, 2014). The causes of children aging out of the foster care system is usually due to the children not finding a permanent home with an adoptive family, or the state for some reason has not reunited the child with his or her birth family before turning of age. Each state has a different regulation on what the age should be when a child ages out of the system. Many children are not ready to make the transition of being out on their own, therefore, some states have moved the age up to 21 years instead of 18 years (Craft, 2014). If the foster parents or parent chooses to keep caring for the child after he or she ages out, then the child is able to stay in their foster home until he or she is ready to make that step and move out. According to Cunningham and Diversi, many of the difficulties that foster youth face during their transition are known and read about in academic literature, but those who go through the process of aging out of foster care are largely missing from the academic literature (Cunningham & Diversi, 2013). Many children who are in the foste...
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
Low educational achievement for foster youth was a pressing concern. A study completed by Ehrle and Geen (2002) using a phone survey of 44,000 foster care providers across the United States found that 55% of voluntary kinship care providers did not have a high school degree, this indicated that may care providers lack the knowledge and understanding to help foster youth be prepared academically. After studying over 1000 foster youth Pecora et al (2006) found, about one third of all foster youth repeated a grade in school. In addition, Vacca (2007) identified reasons that foster youth struggled in the school setting. “Foster youth will typically not have any consistent parent advocacy or representative in the creation and implementation of the educational plan for graduation” (p. 67). With primary and secondary education a struggle for foster youth, it was no surprise that higher education was not something foster youth had been prepared for. In a combination survey and interview study titled “Pathways to College for Former Foster Youth: Understanding Factors That Contribute to Educational Success” Merdinger, Hines, Osterling, and Wyatt (2005) studied more than 200 former foster youth and found that “overall 63.8 percent [of former foster youth] reported that the foster care system did not prepare them very well for college” (p.
Everyone knows about foster care but do not realize the impact it has on humans ' lives. “More than 400,000 children are placed in foster care annually, with more than 200,000 moving in and out of foster homes in giving year” (Brozak, 1). Foster care changes and benefits people live, from the child to the parent. By foster care you save more lives than just the foster child. Although, foster parenting come with barrage of challenges. It provides many advantages for the people in need. Having foster children in your home is a blessing to the child, foster parents, and birth parents.
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...
As family structure changes children pay the biggest price. They may lose the luxury of a stable home or school to call their own, when parent are no longer in the picture either. This is an issue that is largely ignored by society and most importantly the government. Without the foster system, children would be left abandoned and forgotten by all. The foster system provides thousands of homes for foster children each year, with parents that can give them what they need. But, foster care in America is inadequate for all American foster children and needs to be improved. Improvements are critical in bettering American foster systems, these improvements include, creating programs, finding more stable homes, and starting mentoring programs for all foster children.
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
In order for a possible successful future to take place, an appropriate selection of the caregiver must take place (Blythe et. al 88). Whenever an inappropriate foster parent is given responsibility over a child, all sorts of issues for the parent and child are created that could have been easily avoided. Foster care agencies must select foster parents that are completely capable to care for the health and safety of their new kids (Blythe et. al 88). This means that the foster parents must be able to supply all of the child’s essential needs so that they may be a valuable citizen in society one day. Research has discovered that foster parents will experience more anxiety and stress when compared to adults in their surrounding communities (Blythe et al. 88). This is directly because the foster parent was incapable of being a sufficient parent for the foster child. Since every child is special and unique in their own way it makes sense that the foster p...
Fox, N. H. (2011). The effects of severe psychosocial deprivation and foster care intervention on cognitive development at 8 years of age: findings from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project. Journal Of Child Psychology & Psychiatry, 52(9), 919-928.