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Causes and effects of foster care
Foster care research essay
Foster care research essay
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Foster care is an agency that takes in more than 250,000 children EVERY year. With this many children entering the system every year; the amount of problems on finding the right caregiver for the child increases tremendously. When these problems are created there are many effects that can happen to the child that can last short-term and unfortunately long-term. Fortunately, there are multiple solutions for these problems that everyone can do so that everyone's position is improved. Foster care agencies can create negative situations due to the selection of the caregiver and the plethora, deluge, profusion, surplus, vast, prodigious, immense of problems that are created; however, there are several pathways that either party can take to improve the unpleasant situation and its effects. 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... ... middle of paper ... ... Children: Challenges Of Mothering In The Australian Foster Care System." Contemporary Nurse: A Journal For The Australian Nursing Profession 44.1 (2013): 87-98. Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 Dec. 2013. "An Interview with Gabrielle Eulenfeld." Personal interview. 8 Jan. 2014. Salazar, Amy M. "The Value Of A College Degree For Foster Care Alumni: Comparisons With General Population Samples." Social Work 58.2 (2013): 139-150. Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 Dec. 2013. Williamson, Lisa A. "Providing Support And Stability To Students In Foster Care." Education Digest 79.3 (2013): 62. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 23 Dec. 2013. Zlotnick, Cheryl, Tammy W. Tarn, and Laurie A. Soman. "Life Course Outcomes On Mental And Physical Health: The Impact Of Foster Care On Adulthood." American Journal Of Public Health 102.3 (2012): 534-540. Business Source Premier. Web. 23 Dec. 2013.
The foster care system, then as now was desperate for qualified homes. Kathy and her husband had become certified foster parents, she was a certified teacher, and they had empty beds in their home. Their phone soon bega...
Koh, Eun, et al. "What explains instability in foster care? Comparison of a matched sample of children with stable and unstable placements." Children and Youth Services Review 37 (2014): 36-45. Web. 15 July 2014.
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.
Despite attempts in the foster care system agencies under the guidelines of the “Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997” (ASFA) to locate suitable homes and families for foster children, many remain in foster care. “Too often, Child Welfare policy and the agencies responsible for it – offices that respond to child abuse and neglect, oversee foster care placements, and seek to reunite children with their parents to find adoptive families- are out of sight and out of mind except for fleeting moments of tragedy, such as a child’s death”.
In the observation there were 14 other foster parents in attendance, 10 foster parents were non-kinship and 4 were kinship foster parents including myself. In observing we discussed the transition of children coming into foster care for the first time vs. long term instability of placement. A lot of the children are confused they are unaware of the wrong their parents have done to be removed. They become scared or fearful because the home they are placed in can be a stranger. Not all children go to kinship homes. Some children come into foster care with insecure detachment or the inability to eat, sleep or be normal functioning children. In learning that bonding and attachment of a mother/ caregiver and child during the first five years of the child’s life is important. That a child who is abused or neglected by parent or caregiver will form Insecure disorganized disoriented which is confusion about approaching or avoiding mother/caregiver, upon reunion acts confused and dazed (Site This). The foster parents in the training did not say much but when spoken about daily stressor of a child towards acceptance we had the same idea of trying to make the foster home as comfortable as possible. That is when we all was inform no matter how welcoming the home is or the pleasant smile at the door a child will still need time to adjust to the situation he/she is placed in.
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 of the biggest misconceptions that we have in our country is that foster care is a great thing; well, it’s not. There are so many flaws in our foster care system to even consider it a good idea. With constant reports of abuse, depression, lack of stability, to even the terrible after effects of the foster care system, like homelessness and incarceration; the foster care system hurts more than it helps. Our foster care system is bad for America, but most of all, our children.
Zlotnick, Cheryl, Tammy W. Tarn, and Laurie A. Soman. "Life Course Outcomes On Mental And Physical Health: The Impact Of Foster Care On Adulthood." American Journal Of Public Health 102.3 (2012): 534-540. Business Source Premier. Web. 13 Dec. 2013.
“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.
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.
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
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.
Though foster care was originally established to help children who were orphaned, abandoned, neglected or abused, it has also caused problems for children. Agencies often have difficulty providing adequate, accessible, and appropriate services for the families in their care. (Chipungu and Goodley, pp. 76, 2004) This paper will examine the negative impact of foster care on children as a social problem and how it is viewed and understood. Also this paper would point out the key figures and groups that are affected by problem. This paper would analyze past attempts to better the foster care system and current policies that exist to face this problem. Throughout this paper the goals and objectives of the current polices would be addressed.
Taking on the role of a foster parent is no easy task, children in foster care have often experienced trauma in their lives creating additional needs compared to the average child. These needs have the potential to take an emotional toll on foster parents leading them to compassion fatigue or burnout. However, the need for foster parents is great. Foster care was created with the intention of reunification in mind so that children could safely return to their biological families when Child Protective Services deemed the household a safe place for the children. Until that time children are placed in foster homes where, within recent years, the average length of stay in foster care has been increasing for the children (Brown, 2008). Although the length of the placement itself isn’t an issue the additional toll the extended time period takes on foster parents is. Evidence has proven that it is challenging to retain foster parents especially after their first year (Fees et al., 1998, p. 348). Unfortunately social workers within Child Protective Services frequently have high turnover rates because of this the case managers that remain are often overwhelmed by the caseloads, due to underfunding of the programs (Meyers, 2002). This limits the case manager’s ability to effectively support foster parents as they care for a child. This review of the