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Foster Youth Theoretical and Historical Development Introduction to the Problem Imagine you have just turned 9 years old and in a whirlwind of uncertainty you have just been removed by Child Protective Services from the only home you have ever known. You have been subjected to trauma; physically abused, verbally abused, and to some extent neglected as well. You now live in a temporary shelter where you are housed with 8 other children your age being taken care of by various staff; you are scared and lost, unsure about your future. You are forced to leave the only school you have ever attended in order to attend a school closer to your new “placement.” You have been torn from your family and friends making you feel all the more alone and frightened. This process of movement in school and placement will occur several times over the next few years placing you in a continual state of chaos. Each school transition moves you further behind in a perpetual state of academic catch up. Although this story was hypothetical, this is the long-standing reality for many foster youth. The actual implications of real life experiences for foster youth encompass personal, emotional, and educational problems. This …show more content…
The intent was to allow stakeholder input on how local funding would be implemented in order to further support student achievement and growth, with an emphasis on underperforming sub-groups, including foster youth (Ventura County Office of Education, 2014). This plan allowed more localized control of funding and created much needed support for underperforming populations in an effort to increase academic success rates (Plante, 2014b). Even with legislation moving in the right direction to help support foster youth, other changes especially within the system of education must also
Okpych, : Nathanael. "Policy Framework Supporting Youth Aging-out of Foster Care through College."Children Youth Service Review (2012): n. pag. Science Direct. Web.
For many teenagers, their 18th birthday is an exciting time in their lives. They are finally becoming a legal adult, and are free from the rules and restrictions created under their parents. But not all teens feel the same joy about this coming of age. For the hundreds of thousands of children living in foster care in the United States, this new found freedom brings anxiety and fear. Where will they live after turning 18? How will they get the medications they may need? How will they find a job with little to no experience? How will they put themselves through school? Aging out of foster care is a serious issue among America’s youth. Every year, 20,000 children will age out with nowhere to go, being expected to be able to survive on their own (Reilly 728). Young adults face various obstacles upon aging out of foster care, such as multiple health problems/issues, homelessness, and finding/maintaining a job.
One of the most common questions asked to children is: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Responses typically include professions such as teachers, firefighters, police officers, doctors, etc. Foster children are no different; they too have hopes and dreams, aspirations to be someone in life. As with anyone else, they must first go through the proper curriculum and training to establish a career. The problem, however, is that early on foster children start falling behind academically. Research Highlights on Education and Foster Care (2014) provide numerous data based on studies throughout the states that exemplify the magnitude of the issue and the need to address it through modified policies and interventions. First, it recognizes
The day begins at 8.00 am and ends at 5.00pm. for Mr. Brenner, it starts with ensuring that the children and adolescents’ welfare are up to date. Afterward, the pending issues discussed the previous day are sorted out quickly. In the afternoon, the arising issues during the day will be discussed and there after important decisions are made. In most cases, he does personal follow ups to see whether the duties are going as planned for discharged clients. Mr. Brenner believes in regression not failure. The measure of effectiveness and success for this program is difficult to measure. This is a short term program; therefore, clients are discharged at the age of 22 into society or placed back home with parents depending on apparent stability. The first six weeks following discharge is critical; clients may test limits of their newly
“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.
Another obstacle Olivia and Sabreen encounter is the lack of adult support in the foster care system. Family support is a crucial variable mediating the influence of neighborhood on a child’s development (Burton & Jarrett, 2000); nonetheless, Olivia and Sabreen receive little support and guidance and must quickly survive on their own.
Texas is the second most polluted state in the U.S, it holds a population of 28,797,290 people. Across the state a plague has spread. A plague which has brought with it the voices of Millions of people. Millions of people who are fighting to bring solutions to issues or an issue. They are forming interest groups to influence policy. Policy which they highly believe needs to change for the good and their own self-interest. Their voices are speaking up to be heard on topics such as Abortion, Wildlife, Agriculture, Capital Punishment, Education, Immigration, Transportation, and The Foster Care System. However, are they being heard at all over these issues?
The survey mainly focused on how well they were supervised, provided with things they needed, sexual abuse, and physical abuse. The study showed that most children in the foster care system suffer from abuse or neglect more than other ordinary families. The results also showed that most of the kids have health problems are behind in social and cognitive development. Foster children were shown to be way below average in their cognitive and social skills in every single level that they measured. The study also showed that the older kids who had been in the system and were either abused sexually assaulted or in group homes had a low risk for well
Healthy living conditions are provided for them such as food, a form of financial stability in order to obtain what they need such as clothing. Some youth may have the support of a family member when they exit the foster care system however those who don’t have the financial and emotional support can face challenging times when they begin to live on their own. Youth in foster homes are provided a place to live however at time it may not be stable because they may be assigned to a different foster parents depending on their situation. Having to experience moving around may cause depressing and giving youth a challenging time developing as adults and gaining the experience they need to be completely
Though foster care was originally established to help children who were orphaned, abandoned, neglected or abused, it has also caused problems for children. Agencies often have difficulty providing adequate, accessible, and appropriate services for the families in their care. (Chipungu and Goodley, pp. 76, 2004) This paper will examine the negative impact of foster care on children as a social problem and how it is viewed and understood. Also this paper would point out the key figures and groups that are affected by problem. This paper would analyze past attempts to better the foster care system and current policies that exist to face this problem. Throughout this paper the goals and objectives of the current polices would be addressed.
A child can be placed into the foster system as young as birth and as old as 16. There is no real cut off when it comes to age. Given that, the average age for a child to be placed into the foster system is 9 years-old (Santana). This possibly means that because these children are getting older they are understanding more, and they are getting harder to care for so parents are either getting caught, or they are leaving their children. Sophia and Princess Calizaire were put into the foster system at the age of 7 and 4 when they were seen wandering the streets of Southern Florida looking for their mother who’d left them at a motel (Pozo). The sisters lived with countless families, and during some of their stays, they experienced cruel and
For me, social work is a calling to bring advantages to the disadvantaged and my worldview is informed by my desire to do this kind of advocacy work. Being a foster youth, myself, I can speak to both micro and macro aspects of social inequality in this country. Moreover, my life experience has been both educational and motivating in my desire to pursue a graduate degree in Social Service because I have not only lived within the broken system, but I have also analyzed it through a variety of theoretical frameworks to better understand the problems and their solutions. My most purposeful consideration, the connection between educational services for foster youth and foster youth performance in higher education, has helped me to contextualize my own circumstances and provided me with a unique perspective through which I have been able to develop relevant and applicable solutions.
Foster youth faced many barriers when it came to education. There has been an abundance of research and data completed with the intent of identifying barriers to education for foster youth. Among the previously completed research was a study by Zetlin, Weinberg, and Shea, (2006), titled, Seeing the Whole Picture: Views from Diverse Participants on Barriers to Educating Foster Youths. These three authors built on prior data to establish foster youth as a vulnerable population. The peer reviewed article expressed the need for collaborative support between the child welfare system, the schools and other community resources to address the profound needs of underperforming foster youth in education. The authors used an exploratory study bringing together focus groups consisting of current and former foster youths, caretakers, school representative’s child welfare representatives, researchers and policy makers. The objective of the focus groups was to identify and discuss barriers to learning and achievement and strategies to address educational hurdles facing foster youth in California.
A child’s background and home life can have an influence on their cognitive and emotional well being. Children learn from teachings, but also from example and watching others. Therefore, what they see in their parents, concerning actions and words, could be what they eventually do and say in their own lives. Children with stable homes and long – lasting relationships are more likely to have better cognitive and social – emotional development, than those who are moving from home to home or live in an unstable home environment. Most of the time children in the foster care system are taken out of unstable homes, but they may not stay in one foster home all their childhood. Young children in foster care are most likely going to fall behind in their cognitive development and social – emotional functioning compared to children in stable home environments.
Taking on the role of a foster parent is no easy task, children in foster care have often experienced trauma in their lives creating additional needs compared to the average child. These needs have the potential to take an emotional toll on foster parents leading them to compassion fatigue or burnout. However, the need for foster parents is great. Foster care was created with the intention of reunification in mind so that children could safely return to their biological families when Child Protective Services deemed the household a safe place for the children. Until that time children are placed in foster homes where, within recent years, the average length of stay in foster care has been increasing for the children (Brown, 2008). Although the length of the placement itself isn’t an issue the additional toll the extended time period takes on foster parents is. Evidence has proven that it is challenging to retain foster parents especially after their first year (Fees et al., 1998, p. 348). Unfortunately social workers within Child Protective Services frequently have high turnover rates because of this the case managers that remain are often overwhelmed by the caseloads, due to underfunding of the programs (Meyers, 2002). This limits the case manager’s ability to effectively support foster parents as they care for a child. This review of the