Foster care is one of the oldest social systems, its official implementation dating back to 1909, when the federal government officially suggested that foster homes were the best way to care for children, as opposed to the former system of orphanages and orphan trains. Foster care began as a voluntary way for parents to ensure their children could live a better life, but has since become a largely involuntary way to remove a child from a potentially dangerous situation (Rosenfield et al., 1997). Social workers predate this system, first appearing within the first Charity Organization as “friendly visitors” in 1877 (Segal, 2020). Social workers and foster care have long been intertwined, but social policy dictates much of what the foster care …show more content…
As of the late 90s, over 50% of children in the system are placed in the home of a relative, which has proved to have beneficial results compared to an unknown foster home (Rosenfield et al., 1997). According to Altshuler and Gleeson (1999), the child welfare system has two main goals: permanency and safety. Encompassed in these goals are the jobs and life's work of hundreds of social workers. Permanency implies a longstanding place of residence for children, whether this be through reunification or adoption by a foster family. Safety being a priority reveals the unfortunate truth that sometimes, the child’s biological family will not be the right option for the child. As it stands, the foster system seeks to achieve these goals, but it falls short in many ways. Alumni of the foster care system are more likely to develop mental and physical health issues (Kessler et al., 2008). A factor in this fact is the lack of support that alumni receive once they have aged out of the system. The age adults are able to leave the foster care system is 18 in some states and 21 in others. However, these former foster children are typically not given adequate support once they have aged out, and are mostly not prepared with resources and information for life on their own, outside of the child welfare system. Even with the implementation of the Chafee Act in 1999, doubling …show more content…
Social workers are in a unique position within the child welfare system. While some tenured social workers do work within the political realm, most social workers are consistently face-to-face with clients and their families. This is true also for caseworkers in the foster care system. When policy is enacted by a federal or state government, it is put into action by “street-level bureaucrats,” or practitioners that have direct interactions with clients (Segal, 2020). In this regard, social workers have the most influence over if and how a policy is enacted on the “street
Foster Youth books often expand on the complexity of psychosocial transformations and trials and tribulations children face in the process of being placed in foster care system, but authors do not incorporate testimonials from the youth. An example of such book is called To the End of June, in which the Cris Bream sheds light on the foster care policies and the meaning of family without expanding on the life history of foster children. In order to be able to understand one of the most vulnerable members within society, foster youth, it is important to have contextual evidence, such as personal testimonies from the youth. Yes, it is significant to understand the statistics and policies that play a role in the foster youth community, but it is vital for stories to be shared in order to humanize the group.
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.
The low expectations placed on foster kids leads to lower graduation rates for those aging out of custody because most foster children do not have a supportive adult to keep them in line when they get tired of school. The lack of stability already puts foster kids at a disadvantage and leaves gaps in learning and development that are omnipresent in their lives. The instability that marked Pelzer’s teenage years made it difficult for him to continuously readjust, and he felt that every time he adjusted to a new environment, “something happened” (Pelzer
However, these important needs in a child’s development are at stake when parents or caretakers are unable or unwilling to take care of their child or when parents fall into an abusive behavior towards their children. When a child is found in this situation, he should be placed in a new home. Foster care is the system that states, including Texas and its counties, rely on to place children that are experiencing difficult or dangerous conditions. However, even though foster care is the most common solution to provide physical protection to children living in an abusive atmosphere, the instability because of
The American foster care system and adoption process was built off of the Native American genocide. The first foster homes and foster children in the United States were made once the Native American genocide started. European colonizers would separate Native American children from their parents and place them in boarding schools. These boarding schools were the first implements of American foster care. Even though these boarding schools took place decades ago, they are a reflection of what the foster care system is like now.
Despite the dark light put on the foster care system, it is clear that the Foster Care Bill of Rights is necessary in order to ensure the childrens? safety and inform them of the rights that they have. It is guaranteed that the children within the system have already had a difficult life thus far, so they must be cared for as much as possible. Even though it is unavoidable that the child will struggle with their own mental difficulties, this act does the best work possible to help the children through this tough journey. Foster care has a bad reputation due to the abuse
The foster care systems has and will always be a part of society. The idea of a foster care system has always been around, even if it was not properly attained in the past. There has also been other methods to try to find placement for children with no or bad homes, for example the orphanage train, living with widows or living house to house in a community. Now in today’s time, we have an organized system of foster care with two different types of homes for children. For example we have group homes, which is a care facility that houses six or more children at a time.
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.”
The foster care system has decreased entry of children and increased the permanent placement of the child in a long term foster home. Research by Davis and O’Brien, (2012, p1918) supports that strategies used in the permanency planning lead to a high success rate of legal permanency for the child in care. That child who is placed in a legal permanency has a better chance in becoming an active member of society. From 2011-2012, which a year later showed entry of children being placed in foster care showed a slight increase, in foster care, but the outcome of legal permanency was still at a higher rate. Another factor that Davis and O’Brien (2013, p 2130) found was that age was a key factor in legal permanency placement.
In other situations, children can return home after a short period, but many of those cases result in reverting to foster care. The constant living changes cause instability in a foster child’s life, and the “constant ‘starting over’ process that children endure in the system can cause problems with attachment and detachment, which impacts the child’s ability to form and maintain healthy relationships”(Sheppard). Without proper treatment or
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.
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
Unfortunately, too often we as a nation also let them down. When they feel there is no where to turn, they shut down and isolate themselves. Not only does the distrust impact treatment, youths in foster care will continue to face substantial adversities upon aging out that may reinforce the idea that there is not safety and security in the world. Social Worker’s Role The primary role and responsibility of the clinical social worker in the group is the development and maintenance of a healthy functioning group.
I am a first-generation college student who aged out of the foster care system. My formative experiences in foster care led me the profession of social work. I earned a BSW (San José State University) and MSW (University of Michigan) with a specialization in social policy and evaluation in the practice area of children and youth in families. During my second year of my MSW studies, I was invited to speak at the White House bill-signing ceremony of the Foster Care Independence Act (FCIA), based on my advocacy work to reform the foster care system. This invitation led to an MSW field practicum at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where I worked on the implementation of the FCIA.
Many social workers deal with heartbreaking cases daily such as having to remove children from their home and even witnessing them live in a dangerous environment. They also work with children with behavioral issues and special needs as well. Social workers place abused children in loving homes, find employment and housing for homeless families, counsel families to find better solutions to their problems,and help pregnant women , adoptive parents, and adopted children navigate the adoption system. It is important that child welfare social workers protect the children they work with as much as they can , according to careers in psychology “children who grow up in happy homes where all of their needs are met, typically grow up to become happy, stable, and well adjusted adults. On the other hand, those that grow up surrounded by unpleasant and dangerous situations often grow up suffering from mental and emotional unrest.