Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Development of the foster care system
Development of the foster care system
The development of the foster care system
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Development of the foster care system
Let U.S. Families Living Abroad Adopt through the U.S. Foster Care System
Advocacy Plan
Since 2004, there has been an 80% decline of intercountry adoptions in the United States (National Council for Adoption, 2018). The quantity of families desiring to adopt has not gone done, however the cost to complete a domestic or intercountry adoption continues to rise and can range on average from $25,000-$50,000. In just the first quarter of 2018, our organization American Adoption Professionals Abroad, Inc. were contacted by over 70 U.S. families wanting to adopt while living abroad. A majority of them would use the U.S. foster care system if it were an option.
Unfortunately, it is very difficult to find a foster care agency willing to work with
…show more content…
This extensive list also reflects U.S. citizens in general who are living abroad, not just military. It is time that we link the ever increasing number of children in the U.S. foster care system with loving U.S. families who are living …show more content…
Their success stories will be crucial.
#2. Create a detailed streamline process that U.S. families living abroad must follow in order to adopt from the U.S. Foster Care System, which would include the following:
Pre-Adoption:
Parent(s) complete 12 hrs of adoption courses specialized in foster care and receive certificate of completion
Must be represented by a licensed adoption service provider (ASP) who will mediate between foster care agency and client
Child abuse clearance documentation less than 1 year old from every location and for each family member living in the home that is 18 years and older.
Home Study-home visit by a licensed social worker requirements would include:
Complete a standardized questionnaire prior to the visit: it will address parents family history, medical, financial, future plans, disciplining style, etc.
Personal interview with each family member
Assess the suitability of the applicant based on background (physical, mental, emotional and behavioral)
Family and medical history
Criminal history and history of abuse and/or violence-include include Social work addresses duty to disclose from each adult
Financial
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.
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 2002, 51,000 children were adopted through the foster care system. The federal government tracks the number of adoptions from the United States foster care system, and all of its international adoptions. It’s estimated that around 120,000 children are adopted by U.S citizens each year. Half of these children are adopted by individuals not related to t...
Many aspiring foster parent anticipated the increase in their expenses once they added a member in their family but one thing that surprised many is that there is a upfront cost that they will need to pay before they received their adoptee. “You may be shocked to learn that there are few costs to adopting a child. Or you may be surprised to discover that not every adoption costs thousands of dollars.” (financing). Theres is no recruitment agency that will cover that cost not even the government. And I think some people who planned to adopt and once they realized the cost that they need to pay first, they back out and the will keep the children in the foster care and that’s why we have a lot of kids there. The organization that I chose helps the potential foster parents to understand their options to how they can afford to
In the United States there are approximately 397,000 children in out-of home care, within the last year there was about 640,000 children which spent at least some time in out-of-home care. More than 58,000 children living in foster care have had their biological parental rights permanently terminated (Children’s Rights, 2014). Due to the rising number of children in foster care and the growing concerns of the safety, permanency, and well-being of children and families, the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 was signed into law. On November 19, 1997, President Bill Clinton signed the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, to improve the safety of children, to promote adoption and other permanent homes for children who need them, and to support families (Child Welfare League of America). The Adoption and Safe Families Act also promotes adoption by offering incentive payments for States. During the FY of 1999-2003 the payment to states which had exceeded the average number of adoptions received $20 million (Child Welfare League of America). The ASFA improved the existing federal child welfare law to require that the child’s health and safety be a “paramount” concern in any efforts made by the state to preserve or reunify the child’s family, and to provide new assurances that children in foster care are safe (Shuman, 2004).
Children's Bureau . “Planing for Adoption: Knowing the Resources and Costs .” Childwelfare.gov , U.S Health and Department of Services, Nov. 2016, www.bing.com/cr?IG=8AFC8E13033549689029495B28C52C50&CID=0FF17B92B33C6A52050470A7B23A6BAD&rd=1&h=mavOkb37CeNqnedHJzzoLpEpCg0naQO_evdoAMFhO94&v=1&r=https%3a%2f%2fwww.childwelfare.gov%2fpubpdfs%2fs_costs.pdf&p=DevEx,5202.1.
Foster care needs to be reformed, especially when it comes to private agencies. Many people seem to overlook the issues embedded within the foster care system; all it does is take care of children, right? Wrong. Private agencies pervert the system with the nightmares they create. Foster children already feel unwanted and neglected because of the abandonment from their birth parents; private agencies provide them with conditions that further solidify their disbelief of care and love. Money comes first in the eyes of these agencies, followed by the need of control. This “control” can easily become abuse. It would only be sensible for a higher authority to intervene and put an end to these profound
The majority of children who would otherwise need foster care are in kinship care, which
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.
Many reasons exist as to why the foster system is failing and a major one is the number of children in the program. Although the number of children in the foster care system has decreased about 11% since 2002, “…experts worry that the trend might now go into reverse” (Protecting 47). “In 2008 there were 463,000 children in the foster care system” (47), due to the actions of parents such as abuse, neglect and the use of drugs and/or alcohol can cause a child to be placed in foster care. These actions cause the number of children in the system to increase. In order for this number to decrease dramatically programs must be put in place to help find enough, stable homes for foster children. As a result of the economy, many states have “considered cutting down on child-welfare services, such as benefits for foster parents and the number of social workers they employ” (47). If there is a lack of social workers, it is less likely that a child will be placed in a home quickly. Wi...
Adoption is the complete and permanent transfer of parental rights and obligations, usually from one set of legal parents to adoptive parents(Ademec 27). Not until the late 19th century did the U.S. legislative body grant legal status to adoptive parents. This is when children and parents started to gain rights and support from the government. Through the years new laws have been passed and amended to keep the system fair to all adoptive parents. In 1994, Congress passed the Multiethnic Placement Act, making it illegal to delay the placement a child to find a racially matching family. In 1996 the Multiethnic Placement Act was amended to say, “One can not use race as a routine consideration in child placement”(Lewin sec.A). Before 1994, it was difficult to place a black child with white adopters. Last year 5,000 children were adopted from Europe, and 6,000 from Asia, while 183 came from Africa.(Lewin sec. A). The number of out-of-country adoptions are so high because of the requirements and regulations one must follow in the U.S. The requirements include being 21, and include being committed and loving. The home income must be adequate enough to support the family. Passing all of the medical exams and filling out the personal information is mandatory. But the main reason people adopt from overseas is because it is much quicker. A person can adopt a child from another country in a matter of months. In the U.S. the wait can exceed 5 years, which is why some people choose international adoption.
For a mother or father to learn that their adopted child, who they believed was an orphan, actually has a caring and loving family is heartbreaking. Adoptive parents feel guilty. The children yearn for their true home. The biological family feels deceived and desire for their child to return. This situation is far too familiar within intercountry adoption cases. Many children are pulled away from home, put into orphanages, and painted as helpless orphans. The actions perpetrated by adoption agencies reflects an underlying network of corruption and exploitation. This is not for the purpose of discouraging international adoption, but to shed light on the horrific practices taking place behind the scenes. Intercountry adoptions are often tangled
Many people grow up in loving families and cannot imagine not having their parents and siblings around, but each year, 18,000 or more American born babies are put up for adoption (Newlin Carney). That means at least 18,000 children face the harsh truth of maybe not having a family to grow up in. Childhood is a very important part of one’s life and helps shape who one is. These children that are eligible to be adopted just need loving parents, good homes, and stability. And who is to say the high price of adopting is not ho...
If you have ever considered adopting a newborn, or a child under the age of three, then you have undoubtedly recognized that the price affiliated with this type of adoption is outrageously expensive. Some adoptions costing in the upper $40,000 range. When there are so many children in foster care already, why are the costs of adoption so extreme? How is the adoption process broken down into these fees? What do adoptive candidates have to go through in order to adopt a baby? Is the foster care system failing the children it currently serves? Why are more birth mothers choosing the unsightly demise of abortion rather than adoption? Do these women who choose abortion know all their options when it comes to their unborn child? Is there enough
Public adoption agencies are run by the state, and are therefore much cheaper or possibly even free. Generally the public adoption agencies focus primarily on special-needs adoptions, as opposed to an infant or international adoptions. They accept applications for older children, children with special needs, or children with siblings. Children in the public adoption system have predominantly been abused, neglected, or abandoned by their birth parents, which indicates the children could have emotional and physical scars requiring extra attention and care from an unfamiliar family. A private adoption agency is licensed by the state, but not paid for by the state, and can become quite pricey for families looking to adopt. According to parents.com, an adoption from a private agency can cost anywhere from $5,000 to $30,000. Private agencies execute adoptions domestically as well as internationally. They can provide a wider span of options since they are not funded by the state, and adoptive parents are already expecting to pay a greater amount. Adopting independently implies that you are in direct contact with the birth mother, and you have an adoption attorney assisting you in the process of adoption. Finding a birth mother in an independent adoption may require sending out your information to pregnancy crisis centers, posting it on the internet, or