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Foster Care Essay

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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. HOW FOSTER CARE WORKS The foster care system has been around for …show more content…

When children are moved around so much, they are unable to keep much-needed emotional attachments. When their attachments are broken so often, children begin to gain trust issues and they will refuse to connect with others. Attachment disorders can easily form, and the more caregivers that a child has, the more likely the child will gain trust issues or attachment disorders (Harden 34). Along with trust issues, children can form behavioral problems due to constant placements as well (Doran and Berliner …show more content…

While transitioning to new placements, children will also be transitioning to a new school, and when placements happen frequently, children begin to miss a large amount of school. The loss of so many school days is “increasing the vulnerability” of children and teenagers in the foster care system (Stott 66). Almost half of the children in the foster care system do not end up graduating from high school, and of the few that graduate high school even fewer are able to go on to higher education (Chun

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