Child Welfare Cover Letter

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)

Benefits of the foster care system include: keeping children out of abusive homes; providing stability; and cultivating secure attachments. In general, proponents of the foster care system believe it plays an essential role in providing a safe and stable environment for maltreated, neglected, and abused children (Lockwood, Friedman, & Christian, 2015). In fact, “advocates suggest that family situations that necessitate the use of the foster care system are often very complex and therefore require patience and time. They emphasize that the temporary nature of foster care is the best solution while state agencies work to achieve family reunification or otherwise resolve the family crisis” (Geraldine & Wagner, para 4, 2015).

Attentively, I watched a television from a large wooden table, crammed into a small interview room. As the young child on the screen painfully disclosed years of horrific abuse and neglect to a forensic interviewer, I observed in silence. Surrounded by a multi-disciplinary team of police officers, Department of Child Services case managers, advocates and prosecutors, I knew my purpose. I wanted to be a voice for those who were unable to speak and advocate for themselves. My internship with the St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office, Special Victims and Family Violence Unit, allowed me the opportunity to explore my interest in the legal system and helped kindle my passion for child welfare.

In the past few decades there has be an increasing amount of children placed in the foster care system. With the amount of rising teen pregnancies and maternal drug abuse means increasing numbers of infants abandoned at birth. There have been many cases of child abuse or neglect that have been on the rise. State and local agencies are unable to suitably supervise foster homes or arrange adoptions. Statistics show that many children will spend most of their childhood and teenage years in the foster care system, which has shown to leave emotional scars on the child. Today, Child Welfare groups are looking for federal funding and legislation to increase programs and services aimed at keeping families together.

The foster care system in Texas is broken and policies like SB-4 and HB-3859 continue to fracture the system even more. The high volume of children entering into the system and the substantial number of caseloads for social workers are exacerbated by the current policies. It is our job as policymakers and policy analysts to address this issue so that ALL the children of the Lone Star state have a better future. Throughout this memo, I will highlight the current condition of the foster care

The foster care system in America negatively affects the lives of adolescents in the system mentally and physically. On any given day there are over 428,000 children in foster care and more than 20,000 kids age out of foster care with no permanent family; therefore, they are being left behind socially, educationally, mentally, and under developed for the real world. Foster care first started in the nineteen hundreds when Charles Loring Brace created the “Children’s Aid Society” in New York. Then later on the 1900’s, social agencies started to supervise and pay the foster children’s sponsors. However, back in foster care’s history and still today, the kids in the system experince abuse and become mentally unstable. One out of five kids

Foster Care and Adoption are the most multi-faceted areas of child welfare. Foster care consists of placing children outside of the custody of their parents or legal guardians. This out-of-home placement can be temporary or long-term. Adoption on the other hand, consists of the legal and permanent process that establishes a parent/child relationship between individuals not related biologically (Downs, Moore, & McFadden, 2009). These two areas of child welfare are constantly evolving and the decisions made on a child’s behalf can affect many areas of their biological, spiritual, social, and emotional wellbeing.

For many years, foster care has been a difficult subject throughout our society. When the idea of foster care comes to mind, many immediately think of screaming children, distressed parenting and uphill battles. Before foster care existed in the United States, orphaned children were sent to orphanages. While these institutions were often the best option available to children with nowhere else to go, they often lacked the necessary staff, structure and resources to adequately care for all of the children in need. As a result, some orphanages were overcrowded, and children lived in poor conditions. Some children even died due to the lack of sufficient care (Adoptions, 2017). In order to give children better living situations, the United

In the John Burton Policy Brief on AB 12 the realities of education for foster youth are highlighted, “The rate at which foster youth complete high school (50 percent) is significantly lower than the rate at which their peers complete high school (70 percent),” (2011, p. 2). This affects chances for higher education including college degrees. This has a significant impact on the community as “aged-out” youth without services have more chance of risk for: homelessness, poverty, unemployment, going to jail, prostitution, substance abuse, early parenthood and untreated health conditions. Samuels and Pryce state that foster care has not always been a positive, developmentally appropriate experience. Youth who are

In the United States 21% of all children are living below the federal poverty line. 2.9 million cases of child abuse and neglect are reported every year in the United States. 428,000 children are in the foster care system, and 107,918 foster children are waiting to be adopted. The foster care system is temporary out of home care for neglected, abused and impoverish children under 18. While the foster care system has all positive ideas, they fall short in providing certain needs for these children. Kids not only in America but all over the world that are living in poverty, are abused, neglected, and have an unstable home life. Nobody wants to live a life like that, especially not a child. They don’t know how to support themselves on their own, they need a family and a guardian that will take care of them, support, and love them.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, every year close to 25,000 youth age out of the foster care system and are faced with cold hard realities of adulthood. This does not include the youth who leave the system, which is estimated to be another 30,000. Most adolescents anticipate their eighteenth birthday, as it brings on a new found sense of independence and most importantly a time of celebration. However when foster children reach eighteen, they begin facing the challenges of transitioning to adulthood. These children disproportionately join the ranks of the homeless, incarcerated, and unemployed. These youth are unprepared for the independent life they are forced to take on. The average age that young adults who have never experienced foster care leave their family home for good is 24, and 40% return home again at least once afterwards (Margolin, 2008). With these facts being stated, we yet expect youth who has dealt with rejection after rejection to leave “home” of the state custody permanently and fin for themselves. These youth sometimes have fewer than $250 in cash, only one-third have drivers licenses, and fewer than one-quarter have the basic tools to set up a household, let alone the skills to know what to do with the tools (Krinsky, 2010). Youth exit care with no more than a garbage bag of their belongings, finding themselves alone at the age of eighteen, with little reason to celebrate what is supposed to be an exciting milestone

The job of a child welfare worker appears to be a demanding profession that promotes the child’s safety, but also strengthens the family organization around them in order to successfully raise the children. This child welfare workers work in the system known as the Child Protective Services whose initiative is to protect the overall welfare of the child. The short novel From the Eye of the Storm: the Experiences of a Child Welfare Worker by Cynthia Crosson-Tower demonstrates the skills necessary to deal with the practice of social work along with both its challenges and its happy moments. The novel consists of some of the cases involving Tower’s actual career in social work. In reading the book, I was able to experience some of the actual

One of the greatest challenges for child welfare workers for years has been how to serve the unique needs of the older youth in foster care and of those who have “aged out” of foster care. The term “aging out” refers to youth that are forced to exit foster care at the age of 18 because they have reached age- defined adulthood (NASW Press, 2015). The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 attempts to meet those needs by providing states with the option to support youth who are transitioning from foster care to adulthood. The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 is a child welfare bill that was designed to achieve greater permanence and improve the well-being of children served by child welfare agencies (Stoltzfus, 2008).

Maximizing the accessibility of foster care sectors would allow for substantial attention to more foster care children, leading to better mental health in an average foster care child. Furthermore, local institutions could be allowed more flexibility in terms of federal funding usage, which could result in a more centralized focus on providing the best outcomes for children involved in foster care. Changes in current policies, such as the aforementioned ASFA, would additionally aid in lessening the unclarity in cases and allow for a greater focus on the well-being of children. Removing children from unfit environments must be done at a faster rate and within maximum reasoning. Children are the future, and we need to attempt to help the future be the best it can

Unfortunately, this is the cold, sad reality of many children and teens who have been thrown into the system like a piece of meat for the wolves to devour. I have decided to write about the issues of foster care and the abuse children and teens face while moving through this broken system. Over the past years, I have developed a passion to intercede on behalf of our youth. I want to help them navigate through a life filled with turmoil and discord. I chose this topic because I want to make a difference in the lives of these mistreated, misunderstood, and misguided children and teens. One might ask, “How can we fix such a system with these particular problems?” Although I may not have the “right” answer to that question, I do believe there is a way to repair the massive leak that has caused a system meant to serve and protect our youth to