Being A Foster Parent

The Foster Care System with the kids who are in it is a massive social issue that America is facing today. There are more than 640,000 foster children in the United States every year. There are 23,000 foster children living in group homes at one time. There are 32,000 who live in institutions, and twenty-seven states do not meet federal abuse and neglect standards. (Attention) Personally, I am a foster sister, because my family currently fosters. Therefore, we see the issues and needs of fostering, daily. (Rapport and Credibility) This speech will discuss the importance of the nature of foster care, the catastrophic problems of foster care, and the proposed solution for the foster care system in America. (Preview)

Every year in the United States, hundreds of children and adolescents are taken from their parents and primary caregivers and placed in out-of-home care situations due to issues in their homes and family lives which contribute to unsafe living conditions. These children and adolescents often face many health, behavioral, developmental, and psychological issues.

As of 2016 there were nearly a half million children in the foster care system, with roughly 25,000 “aging-out” each year (Ahmann, 2017). Most adolescents “age out” of the system with no one to mentor or serve as a caring parent figure. Foster youth are in dire need of long-term adult role models to guide them to achieve success. According to Ahmann, 50% of foster youth left “the system” without a high-school degree, as well as with having higher rates of PTSD, and depression (p. 43). Ahmann presented that research has proven teenagers, in general, that have quality relationships from adults able to provide support, do better than those that do not. If research has shown efficacy in supportive adult figures in a teen’s life then one can conclude that foster youth would also benefit. Foster children are at a disadvantage a soon as they enter “the system” so giving them resources proven positive is vital to their future success.

This paper is a summary of what research has been done in the field of foster care. It will focus on foster care social workers, foster care parents, children in foster care, etc. In this work there will also be reference to aspects of adoption and foster care together. This paper will encompass all parties affected by foster care and will ultimately talk about what qualities are expected of social workers who work in foster care.

According to the 2015 Adoption and foster care Analysis and reporting system (AFCARS), 427,910 children were in the US foster care, making foster care one of the social issues in the USA. The US Department of Health and Human services (HHS) is working on this social issue for past few years, but is still not getting positive results — every year population of Foster care is increasing by 50,000 youths. The statistics about the Foster care system is changing every day. Some things that people don’t know about foster care is that they will not only lose their children—they had lost parental rights and had broken the laws, therefore this can lead to a punishment. Foster care has many laws related to it.. Once the parents had lost the children,

Jordan is adjusting to her first foster care placement. The youth expresses not having a problem following the house and DSS rules. Jordan is struggling with the possible length in time in foster care. She hopes to leave DSS custody before the end of August 2015. Jordan withholds her feelings and does not demonstrate healthy coping skills. The youth allowed to have supervised phone calls with DSS approve family members.

An adult’s psychological development depends on one’s childhood experiences with adults and their capability of providing nurturance, protection, trust, and security to the developing child. Children with current and previous ties to the foster care system were found to have behavioral, emotional, and social well-being issues. The United States averages more than 400,000 children in foster care during the year. Amongst these 400,000 children, as many as 50% have developmental disorders or psychiatric diagnoses (Hutchinson). Children placed within the foster care system are more likely to be found to have mental health issues due to the inadequacy

The foster care system has been stretched too thin as the turn of the 21st century rolled around. Higher entrance into the system with new policies and lower staff has given way to a new problem-the highly abusive environment that surrounds the whole system. The mistreatment of the children and their foster families within in the system is now a prevalent issue in the Child Welfare Organization. The long-term effects of the abusive foster care system comes from the mismanagement of the system such as the instability within placement, lack of rights to foster families, ignoring culture heritage and misused policies that create detrimental health for the children in later years. The harsh foster care system under the control of the government in the U.S. can be changed with the addition of reorganization to the agency via more staff and communication and stability through more permanent placements for the children as well as the families. First I will define what I mean by abuse and address the current problems that the foster care system is facing such as instability and mismanagement. Then I will explain what the possible negative long-term effects of entrance into the foster care system. Finally I will discuss what steps could be taken to change this situation such as the creation of stable housing and uniform programs for the foster care system.

Foster Parent One: Shelly was born and raised in Avery, TX. She is the biological daughter of Delores Jackson and David Monsiviaz. Shelly was adopted by her maternal aunt and uncle, Eura and Woodrow Hicks at the age of 3, Shelly’s mother was killed in a car accident and her father was not accept by the family due to his ethnicity. Shelly reported she was informed by her adoptive parents that her biological father was dead as well. When Shelly was an adult she searched and located him, however she has never contacted him because she feels that should have been his job.

having a husband. In August of 2013 Telaunda, my close neighbor and friend, put me in contact with a

Although most children can make their own decisions and choose the right path, children’s lives can be changed by just one mistake of their parents’. The most common reason that children end up in the foster system is because of abuse and neglect. If a child ends up in the foster system they “are 95% more likely to be arrested as a juvenile, 28% more likely to be arrested as an adult, and 30% more likely to commit a violent crime” (“Foster Care Statistics”). It is not even the child’s fault that they ended up in the foster system and the percentage of them doing wrong has raised as a result of their parents decisions. All children in the foster system have a right to a chance of having a better life. According to mom.me, Harden wrote “children in foster care have a high incidence of mental disturbances than kids not in foster care” (“How Can Foster Care Affect The Mind Of A Child”). This explains why a few of the children lean towards negative people in their

The North American Canadian Foster Care System has been a controversial issue and has been debated for a long time. During the last few decades of the twentieth century, the number of children in foster care has increased in alarming numbers (Being a Foster Child, 2017). In the past years, it has been proven that the Foster Care System is in crisis and fails the children, who are placed in it, in various ways. In order to examine this failure to a greater extent, one essential question needs to be asked: “What is the relationship between a foster child’s placement in the foster care system and how well they develop?”. It is very important to examine the effects of the children’s past experiences on their further development during their time in the system, and moving into the future, as these past exposures

Inquiries into the mental wellbeing and “child friendliness” of hopeful foster parents should be a top priority. It should also be a requirement for foster families to be reviewed or at least monitored over the course of a few years to determine whether or not they are good parents. There should also be an increase in awareness regarding familial abuse including ways to identify it and help those who are victims of abuse.

needs. “Who are these people who become foster parents?Where do they fit into the very

The study consisted of 12 parents who foster children ages 2-8 years old. The high levels of conduct problems among children in the foster care system and the added cost to families, society and services, there is a pressing need to support foster parents. Providing foster care to children with increased emotional, behavioral, and medical needs requires not only time, but patience in dealing with the child’s demands. Foster parents often voice they are unprepared to meet demand of children with increased behavioral and emotional needs and adolescents in their care. This situation can result in placement disruption, which further strains foster care resources and has negative impacts on foster children and youth. The incidence of conduct disorder