Their family staying together is what kept them going “But we always fought back, usually as a team” (165) and no matter what problems they faced, at the end of the day, they had each other “‘we may not have insulation,’ Mom said as we all gathered around the stove, ‘but we have each other’”(176). It should come to no surprise that researchers found that “Children usually do better psychologically and that the placement is commonly more stable when they are put into the same foster care home with each other, especially when the children are familiar with each other and have a pre-established positive relationship” (Smith). This type of transition would disrupt what normal family life the children had before foster
Laura Finley states, “Indeed, restoration of the family is achieved in over half the cases of foster care, according to federal statistics. Where this is not possible, permanent adoption is the goal with about twenty percent of foster children. Other children are simply waiting until emancipation…” (Jacobs and Finley). The issue with this view on the foster care system is that its completely sugar coated.
Life skills should be taught to the children in preparation for the future. Foster care is meant to normalize the child’s life as much as possible and give help where it is needed. Although the intent of the foster care system is protecting neglected children, it may be causing
In addition to the maltreatment of children in foster care, another issue that arises is that children are moved from one foster care home to another on an average of every six weeks (NCANDS, 2012). With the changes in the caregivers of children in foster care experience, the more likely they are to exhibit oppositional behavior, crying, and clinging. With that being said, in 2012, 23,396 youth aged out of the U.S. foster care system without the emotional and financial support necessary to succeed. Nearly 40% had been homeless or couch surfed, nearly 60% of young men had been convicted of a crime, and only 48% were employed. Seventy-five percent of women and 33% of men receive government benefits to meet basic needs.
The foster care system shatters like broken glass and there is no repair for broken glass. Permanent damage can only be fixed with drastic solutions, redesigning the system is the method to follow. Foster parents go through hardships and trials while trying to adopt children. Children need stability and the parents willing to give them that they cannot be with forever. A reason for a shattered system is the result of a shattered admissions process.
The Effects of a Broken System Foster care is a system in which a child under the age of eighteen, is placed in a temporary home away from one’s parents due to physical or mental neglect. Children from as young as a few days old to teenage years are placed in foster care every day. The amount of children in the system affect how needs are met and how high these youths are placed on a need of special care for problems that were developed before and while in the system. Most of which occur because they are abused and that is why they were taken away. Foster care is an escape for those being mistreated.
Common misconceptions associated with being in foster care portray youth in the system as orphans. Youth in foster care are supposedly delinquents, and will perform poorly in academics compared to their peers who are not placed in these institutions. In society, these stereotypes are often pretended, but very little people understand the circumstances and factors the youth in the foster care system are facing. Youth in care are often juxtaposed to their community counterparts, to signify the impact of being a ward of the state, rather than being with a family member.
Tie to the audience: Some of the children that are in foster care might be related to you or the child could be someone that you know like a friend’s child. C. Thesis and Preview: Consequently, we need to do something to make adoption easier and better not only in the United States, but all over the world. Today I will give you a few solutions to fix the foster care system. I’ll begin by telling you about the need to improve foster care. II.
In 2020 there were approximately 407,493 children in the United States foster care system, all under the age of 20 (“The AFCARS Report”). Foster care plays a big role in providing homes for children that experience abusive homelives, loss of parents or guardians, or severe financial hardship at home. However, being in foster care takes a toll on many children, due to both previous trauma, and trauma experienced in the foster care system. In order to understand the foster care system, one must research how the system works, how it affects childrens’ physical health, how it affects their mental health, and how being in foster care affects childrens’ chances of being successful.
Foster care is something that America has put a lot of time and effort into to get right. Foster care will be defined as any place where a child is taken from their family of residence or who has no able guardian at birth. These are included but not limited to foster parents, group homes, residentials, and emergency shelters (5). Though we have put time, effort, and money into getting things right, foster care is still a dangerous and traumatizing place for children. Foster care has long been considered a “National Disgrace” due to the influx of missing children, complaints of maltreatment, and even deaths (5).
If anti abortion laws in the United States follow through, there will be flooding in foster homes, and it will eventually lead to an increase of allegations from foster homes. The lack of staffing for foster homes also has a factor in the housing and the well-being of youth under the age of eighteen. The toll that these allegations take on the children in question is unacceptable and should never be taken lightly. The government is not taking these problems seriously.
Have you ever thought about how it feels to be ripped out of the only place that you know as home? To get no explanation of why your parents just did not want you anymore? Not a lot of people think about this. Usually, the only people that do think about this is children that are experiencing or have experienced this problem. The children’s rights website stated that, “On any given day, there are nearly 428,000 children in foster care in the United States.”
Children in foster care often have a high risk of having developmental problems. Seeing that most children in foster care were, taken away from unfit parents a lot of these children have faced some, type of maltreatment. "Proponents of foster care note that 70– 80% of children in out of home placements have been maltreated in the home of origin..."(Lawrence 58). Because, maltreatment is common before placement, poor development outcomes are a risk. Consequently, foster children are at risk of falling behind in development, and up to 80% of foster children have a developmental problem.(Hodges 2156).
This book raised awareness to authorities on the kind of treatment happening and proposed a change for foster institutions and homes to be monitored. The story began by Ms. Rita, Jennings’s mom, walking Jennings to an orphanage called Home of the Angels. My initial reactions after reading the first chapter was how a mother could just leave her kid with anybody. The book immediately gained my
According to a Child Protective Investigation, there are approximately half a million children in the U.S. foster care system, otherwise known as congregate care (group homes and institutions). Children are placed in congregate care when they are found to be in an unsafe environment. Usually children of abuse or maltreatment are placed first (Font, 2015). Out-of-home-care causes increased problems of attachment, behavioral, and psychological disorders in the developing child. Child safety is the primary goal of out-of-home-care; however, maltreatment investigations are still reported in those institutions.