Foster System Analysis

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.

One in four foster children report physical or psychological abuse by a foster parent every year. Children with disabilities or a past of abuse are at higher risk for maltreatment in their out-of-home-care (Font, 2015). The young child is at the greatest risk for disturbances in the developing brain if their environment lacks stimulating activities that are needed for physical, emotional, and behavioral growth.

Foster care on tv is portraited as horrible people only wanting money, human punching bag or worst but no one shows the good that comes out of being a foster child

Is what the foster care system is doing really helping these children or are they just setting them up for failure? Although many people feel that the foster care system is the best solution, many nationwide organizations feel that family preservation efforts are more necessary for today’s society. The foster system began in England during the 17th century and was created to help the rich adopt the poor orphans within their community and give them the help they needed. Within months, the laws set in place with the creation of the system had been bent and broken.

a. Foster parents can have an impact on the lives of a foster child by giving them a safe place to stay where they can feel loved and cared for. Foster parents can also provide the love and support that these children need especially if they came from an abused or neglected home. According to (Hasenecz, 2009) there have been several shocking stories about children being abused and neglected while in foster care or even worse reports of social workers who knew of the abuse and neglect and failed to report it or do anything about

In the grand scheme, “Foster care can refer to many placement settings, including kinship, care, an emergency shelter, a residential treatment center, a group home, or even an independent living situation (with older adolescents), but most frequently foster care involves placing a child with a licensed foster family (two-parent or single-parent family)” (Martin, p. 109). Consequently, there are negative ramification of placing a child in foster care. There is a high level of children that are placed in foster care each year. It is sad to say that all of the children that are placed there never receive permanent placement.

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

Joseph A. Doyle Jr. (2007) discusses, “Children investigated for abuse or neglect are not tracked over time in a systematic way.” (p.1584). If the foster system does not efficiently track the wellbeing of these children, it makes it difficult to provide all the necessary support for them. Providing a program that will help track, transition, and counsel these children will greatly impact the overall improvement of the foster system. Foster care was not meant to be a permanent solution for these children.

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.

Sadly, they usually are more unfortunate than lucky. Treating foster kids poorly and placing them in bad homes just to get your job done is not okay. The foster care system is failing kids badly, because they are more emotional, scared, and most have developmental issues because of what they have been through. According to many authors the statement about foster care systems failing is true.  

() All of those children have to be reminded daily that the foster care system has a lot of problems in it. Most of these children are put in some of the most unbearable situations. The foster system has numerous problems that I think can and should be solved. This includes: children not having an education, foster parents and children not having a connection, children facing both sexual and physical abuse, financial problems, and children aging out of the system. There are many more problems with the foster care system but I think that these are the main problems that should be addressed and solved.

Foster Care System Downfalls: The foster care system is setup to provide needs and protect children who have been neglected or abused. The main goal of the system is to take the children out of dangerous homes, and relocate them to a safe home, and to hopefully reunite the children with their biological families. While they are in foster care, their life should be greatly improved. Help should be given to those who are struggling with mental and emotional disabilities.

She presents the child to awaiting foster parents whom were willing to take care of her. Weeks turned into years and final adoption at four years old. The child was very difficult to say the least. Her aggressive behaviors had her kicked out of multiple daycares, the first at less than age 2 as well as preschool. This later

Some reasons one might get placed in foster care could be because of drugs, abuse, neglect or even the child’s rebellion. Shandra simply stated, “I was put in foster care because of my parents being on drugs.” Foster care is full of restrictions such as: no phones, no company until you’ve been granted permission, always having to ask “can I go here, can i go there.” Some people will throw it in your face that you’re in foster care just to make you feel bad about yourself. “Some rules and regulations you have to follow are you have to tell them 100% of everything, like being completely open about everything.

Advocates of foster care programs are declaring that the need for foster parents is greatly needed. In New Orleans alone there was a ten percent decrease in foster families. In addition, children needing to find a temporary home has increased. Some obstacles affect the outcome of this system, but not many people would guess that environment changes the situation drastically.