The foster-care system is for children who were a part of an unfit or unable family. The first step is the child gets moved into a temporary home with a foster parent. Next, they either move back to the biological family or get adopted by a permanent family. Sometimes a bond gets created with a foster family, and they adopt the child. In some situations, a child does not find a permanent home, and then the child is forced to move through foster homes until aging out. This system got created to get children out of bad home situations. The system has a whole is a good thing, but there are many problems throughout the system. There are numerous problems for the kids aging out of foster care, problems with the foster parents themselves, and problems …show more content…
with the actual foster care system. Without these problems, the foster-care system is a great thing, and it truly does cause a change in children’s lives. Aging Out of Foster Care For most kids turning 18 and becoming an adult is an exciting thing, although for a child in the foster-care system, it is something to dread. Most kids depend upon their parents to support and still provide for them as they start becoming an adult, a foster child does not have that kind of support. A foster child faces many issues as they age out of the system. Aging out of foster care is when a child has either graduated high school or met the majority age in the system, and he or she must start his or her own independent lives. The range of children who age out is 15 to 24 years old. They get very little help from the government to start their new lives, so the child is responsible for finding their own resources. Without very much help, issues start to arise and two main issues are homelessness and kids not going to college. You can just imagine being thrown into the street with very little money and not much knowledge on how to provide for yourself. These things basically set a foster child up to be homeless. One in five children who age out of foster care became homeless. (Dupere, 2016) Courtney, Piliavin, Grogan-Kaylor, and Nesmith (2001) interviewed 113 young people who had aged out of Wisconsin's foster care system 12 to 18 months ago. Of the people they interviewed, 12% said that they had been homeless at least once since aging out. There are many more studies that show the same or worse percentages of people who aged out of the foster-care system that ended up homeless. These children need more guidance and help while in the foster-care system to have a better chance at being successful when aging out of the system. Another major issue for children who aged out of foster care is the low percentages of college degrees.
A child is expected to get a college degree along with finding a job and a place to live when children age out of foster care. When children age out they have very little money to live off of, so the only way they can really have a chance to go to college is with financial aid. According to Jamaal Abdul-Ali (2016), the steps to getting financial aid for foster kids is very confusing and restrictive that most of the time the kids do not try to go to college. Abdul-Ail (2016) also said that in most cases, the financial-aid provider or the worker to help children get financial aid, do not even understand the program themselves. With all these factors that make it difficult for foster kids to go to college, a study done in 2010 at the university of Chicago concluded only 6 percent of former foster youths had earned a two- or four-year degree by age 24. (Winerip 2013) If these kids had extra support from the foster-care system, these percentages could go …show more content…
up. Foster Parents When a person becomes a foster parent, he or she is becoming a guardian to a child. What they do not know is how that child acts, what that child has been through, or how that child is going to treat them. All these things are tedious when becoming a foster parent. The foster parent needed preparation for any situation. The foster parent has to go through classes and training before becoming responsible for a child. These classes go over scenarios and ways to help the child through this process, but nothing can prepare you for that moment the child walks through your door and becomes yours. Foster parents need more support than classes and training programs. As Katie Dupere (2016) says, “An entire community needs to have a positive attitude toward people who do this difficult, challenging but ultimately rewarding work of becoming foster parents.” Especially for first-time foster parents, this process can be a strange and confusing time.
Depending the situation, a child can be very resistant in letting his or her foster parent into his or her lives. The child sometimes can see this has him or her being abandoned and neglected by the biological family. The foster parents try to support them through this time, but the foster parent also needs support though this process. There is usually a case worker working within the child and family to make the transition easier, but community support for the foster parents is very crucial to a happy foster
home. Just like any other parent, foster parents want the best for the child. A child who just came from a terrible home situation to a foster home can be angry and confused causing him or her to take it out on his or her foster parents. This may cause the foster parent to ignore what the child is telling the foster parent, but really this is when the foster parent needs to give the child the most attention. Listening to the case worker in some situations is the best, but when trying to build a relationship with the foster child, the foster parents need to put the child’s voice first.
...t with a child in the foster care system. This paper gave me the opportunity to learn the positives and the negatives as well as more details about the little parts of the foster care system that I didn’t know existed. Even though my focus is to help the child and think about their best interest, this paper showed me that the parents, both biological and foster, are another important factor that helps the children. It made me realize that I will need to meet the parents and work with them to make a plan that fits their life. I will need to figure out what issues they feel are important to fix and how to get to those solutions. Foster care is a complex system that will challenge me daily if I enter the into this specific field but even if I work with children in a different environment I need to be aware that children come from all different types of backgrounds.
There is nearly 400,000 children in out-of-home care in the United States right now (Children’s Right). Just about every day children are being shipped in and out of foster homes and group homes. Most people want the best for children in foster care and decide to take care of them until their parents can possibly recover. The foster care system can have both a negative or positive effect on children, foster parents, and biological parents because of the gaps in the system. Foster cannot not be avoided but the some aspects of the foster care system can be avoided if the missing gaps were filled.
Many potential adopted parents have experienced heartbreak, anguish and other problems that can be associated with adoption. There is an imbalance in the Nations foster care system and the system needs to be strengthening and the quality of services improved.
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.
“About two-thirds of children admitted to public care have experienced abuse and neglect, and many have potentially been exposed to domestic violence, parental mental illness and substance abuse” (Dregan and Gulliford). These children are being placed into foster care so that they can get away from home abuse, not so they can move closer towards it. The foster children’s varied outcomes of what their adult lives are is because of the different experiences they grew up with in their foster homes. The one-third of those other foster children usually has a better outcome in adult life than the other two-thirds, which is a big problem considering the high percentage of children being abused in their foster homes. Although, the foster care system has most definitely allowed children to experience the positive home atmosphere that they need there is still an existed kind of abusive system in the foster care program that is unofficial but seems to be very popular. Foster care focuses on helping children in need of a temporary stable environment; however, foster care can have negative impacts to the children and the people around them concerning the foster child going through the transition, the parents of the foster child, a new sibling relationship, and problems that arrive later influencing the foster child long-term.
In todays’ society many Americans never think about our foster care system. Foster care is when a child is temporarily placed with another family. This child may have been abused, neglected, or may be a child who is dependent and can survive on their own but needs a place to stay. Normally the child parents are sick, alcohol or drug abusers, or may even be homeless themselves. We have forgotten about the thousands of children who are without families and living in foster homes. Many do not even know how foster care came about. A few of the earliest documentation of foster care can be found in the Old Testament. The Christian church put children into homes with widowers and then paid them using collection from the church congregation. The system that the church had in place was actually successful, and was continued to be used until English Poor Law eventually regulated family foster care in the U.S.
Low educational achievement for foster youth was a pressing concern. A study completed by Ehrle and Geen (2002) using a phone survey of 44,000 foster care providers across the United States found that 55% of voluntary kinship care providers did not have a high school degree, this indicated that may care providers lack the knowledge and understanding to help foster youth be prepared academically. After studying over 1000 foster youth Pecora et al (2006) found, about one third of all foster youth repeated a grade in school. In addition, Vacca (2007) identified reasons that foster youth struggled in the school setting. “Foster youth will typically not have any consistent parent advocacy or representative in the creation and implementation of the educational plan for graduation” (p. 67). With primary and secondary education a struggle for foster youth, it was no surprise that higher education was not something foster youth had been prepared for. In a combination survey and interview study titled “Pathways to College for Former Foster Youth: Understanding Factors That Contribute to Educational Success” Merdinger, Hines, Osterling, and Wyatt (2005) studied more than 200 former foster youth and found that “overall 63.8 percent [of former foster youth] reported that the foster care system did not prepare them very well for college” (p.
Imagine waking up everyday in a home where there is nobody you can call mom or dad. Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home, or private home of a state-certified caregiver referred to as a "foster parent". The placement of the child is usually arranged through the government or a social-service agency. The institution, group home or foster parent is compensated for expenses. The state will inform through the family court and child protection agency stand in loco parentis to the minor, making all legal decisions while the foster parent is responsible for the day-to-day care of the minor throughout the time the child is in the system.
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
What is foster care? Why do some people choose to adopt? What are benefits of adoption? How does the foster system work? These are questions often asked when people want to know what adoption can be like. Adoption is not something everyone is open to, but doing foster care and taking care of children from broken homes can change not just their life but the person caring for them. Adoption and foster care can be an option that should be well thought about before acted upon. Adopting can be a new beginning not just for the child, but for the person adopting. Before making the choice to adopt, becoming a foster-parent is a wonderful first step to take. Foster care and adoption can be a great life changing experience for the parents and children
Salazar, Amy M. "The Value Of A College Degree For Foster Care Alumni: Comparisons With General Population Samples." Social Work 58.2 (2013): 139-150. Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 Dec. 2013.
(Chipungu & Goodley, 2004) Chipungu and Goodley also stated that these issues shown by children in foster care come from their experiences prior to being placed in foster care, as well as from their actual foster care experience. Children are forced to deal with the separation from their parents and siblings, and must now adjust to a new life. In a 3 month time period of being in the foster care system, children have been shown to have symptoms of depression, aggression and withdrawal, as well as sleeping problems, and failure to thrive. (Chipungu & Goodley, 2004) Due to children’s experiences prior to entering the foster care system, many of them have development issues, including mental development. According to Bass, Shields, and Behrman “children in foster care have more physical and mental health problems than children growing up in other settings.” (2004) Dubois-Comtois et al. stated that the number of foster care placements, as well as the type of placement, a child has had also contributed to the child’s behavior and emotional problems.
One article about the harms of aging out states, "Each year, about 30,000 foster care youth age out of the system. Many of them exit without finding a stable, affordable, permanent living arrangement" (Richards 2). After aging out, former foster children also face problems going off to post-secondary school and finding jobs. This is because to apply for a job, one must provide proof of a home address. If someone is homeless, that makes getting a job so much harder. Nevertheless, the system does try its hardest to prevent issues like this from arising. There are programs like Section 8 Housing, Family Unification Programs (FUP), and Continuum of Care services, which help foster care children and teenagers after they have aged out. This being said, not many foster care youth know about these programs. It should be the job of the caseworker involved with the child to inform them of these programs. Furthermore, there is a stigma against children in foster care and those who have aged out. This may be a factor in why some do not apply for such programs. Foster care and adopted children are a part of almost every community, so society should try its best to include them and not blame
According to the International Foster Care Organization “Foster care is a way of providing a family life for children who cannot live with their own parents.”(2004) Foster care is supposed to provide temporary care while parents get help dealing with problems, or to help children or young people through a difficult period in their lives. Children will return home once their parents are able to provide a safe enviorment for them. However if parent are unable to resolve the issues that cause their child in foster care their children may stay in long-term foster care, some may be adopted, and others will move on to live independently. (IFCO, 2004) Foster care has been a problem for many years and although there have been many attempts to improve it; it there still seems to be negatively impacting
They need a place where they can grow and develop physically, mentally, socially and emotionally. According to The National Adoption Center, foster care is “a temporary arrangement in which adults provide for the care of a child or children whose birth parent is unable to care for them.” Children in this system often move from home to home and don 't have a stable, permanent place where they can call home. Many of them don 't get the chance to find a place to call home because they age out of this system and left on their own. The children put in this system are looking for love, safety, stability, happiness and feeling like they