Child 's Biological Relationships End

Preserving and maintaining sibling ties and relationships has been an ongoing problem in the foster care system. Hegar (2005) states that “since the decades when orphans trains carried children westward, placement of siblings has been a child welfare issue” (p.719). Studies have noted the inadequate number of siblings in foster care being placed together date back as far as 1921 (Theis and Goodrich, 1921). Research and legislative efforts to address the problem of separation of siblings in foster care have intensified (Hegar, 1988). The Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 has been instrumental in increasing legislation, specifically addressing the issue of sibling placements at the state level (Heger, 2005).

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.

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 exists in order to enhance the lives of children whose parents were deceased rather than because of abuse today. Our outlook, principles, and ways of being concern for and protecting abused or neglected children and looking after families has shifted greatly throughout history. In this paper I will discuss and inform the readers on the three main components. The first part will discuss the foundation and growth of the foster care system as time pass. Secondly, describe the contemporary state of the system within the United States, including pertinent statistics. Lastly, considering future guidelines intended for the system, including ways in which the system can progress throughout the time.

With child placement becoming more difficult everyday, the practice of kin placement has increased significantly within the past two decades. Kinship care is the placement of a maltreated or otherwise vulnerable youth in the care and protection of a known relative or adult with a recognized kin bond (Ryan, Hong, Herz,, & Hernandez, 2010.) Today approximately 26% of children in foster care are in kinship care placement (Cheng, 2010.)

The goal of foster care is reunification, which is the overall goal of having children placed in foster care for a brief period until the legal guardian is able to gain back custody of the child. The goal of the agency is to identify the gaps when reuniting children back with family members, and stating resolutions to the problem areas. According to Wulcyzn 2004, “Although many children who are reunified exit the system within a relatively short period of time, reunification often do not succeed” (Wulcyzn,24,p.95).The gap has been present in research over the years, and has caused more complication for children to be reunited with family members. To reunite foster kids with guardians according to Child Welfare Information Gateway (2011), “Meaningful family engagement, assessment, case planning, and service delivery are key” (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2011, p.7).

In that household there were also other cultures present. According to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), the fiscal year of 2010 reported 254,375 children entering into foster care. Studies are beginning to show that kinship care is the way to go for children of all ages. Reports are also finding that in some states kinship care is now exceeding non-kinship foster care. Such findings show that the United States is beginning to see the value of placing children in a familiar environment. Larry and his adopted brothers, one being Chinese, and one being Anglo, grew up with one another until Larry was around 10 years old. Larry, being the oldest amongst the two, saw them as his real brothers. “We used to play war games at home with plastic guns.” I was responsible for their mistakes at home, and at school, they were my only family.”

The purpose of this research paper is to examine laws regarding adoption in the state of Tennessee, which follows the Tennessee Code Annotated § 36. This law regulates who may be adopted, who may adopt, and the procedures that must be followed in order to complete the adoption process. In order to do this, we must first define adoption according to the legal standpoint which is “In family law, the legal process that establishes a parent/child relationship between individuals who are not related by blood” (Webster’s New World Law Dictionary). There are numerous forms of adoption that can take place depending on the situation of the child that is up for adoption as well as the prospective adoptive parent or parents situation. It can be a time

Kinship care is the full-time care and nurturing of a child by a relative or someone who has a significant emotional relationship with the child. If children must be separate from their parents, either voluntarily or by court order, kinship care should be the first placement option explored by the child welfare agency. The Federal Government endorsed this practice most recently in the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008. Placing children in Kinship care helps States’ compliance with Federal requirements to provide children with safety, stability, and permanency. It also meets provisions of the Fostering Connection Act that requires agencies to notify relatives when

Imagine being a child removed from your home in the middle of the night. Waken out of your sleep handed to someone you do not know and being taken to place where all the people around you are strangers. The removal process can be painful, mentally, physically and emotionally to children. The number of losses experienced by a child when they are removed from their home can be countless. Although, there are more White children in the foster care than any other race, research suggests African America children remain in foster care placements for a longer period of time and the chances of reunification with their family is greatly diminished (Knott and Giwa, 2012). The Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) report notes

Foster families provide a substitute family life experience to children who have been displaced from their parents for a variety of circumstances. In the foster environment the purpose is to provide a healthy, safe home for the child while the circumstances of their placement in foster care are being resolved, it is intended to be a temporary solution until the child can either be reunited with his or her family, or placed in an adoptive family. Foster parents must be willing to give the child unconditional love and a safe environment to enhance the healing process of the

thirds of those in foster care have siblings; many of which get separated due to the inability to

To the thousands of children in foster care, adoption means being part of a family. Adoption signifies a chance to be loved, wanted, and cared for properly. Every year thousands of children enter the foster care system. In the year 2010 alone, 245,375 children entered foster care, of that number over 61,000 were black. An astounding 30,812 black children were waiting for adoption in 2010 (AFCARS). With so many children needing homes, it would seem their adoption would be open to any and all loving families, yet this is not the necessarily the case. Transracial adoption, which traditionally alludes to black children placed with white families, is riddled with difficulties. While transracial adoption can be a successful solution, many

Kenny, James. ""Bonding" in the Child Placement Process a Psychological and Legal Perspective." Opposing Viewpoints. Policy & Practice, Dec. 2015. Web. 20 June 2016. The author wrote this article to inform people of what exactly bonding means when referred to in the foster care system. The author is qualified to write this article because not only is he a retired psychologist with more than 50 years of clinical experience but he is also a biological, foster and adoptive parent. Being a foster and adoptive parent gives him first hand to the information that he is discussing. The article doesn’t seem to be biased one way or another as it gives information, facts and data but not really any opinions on the matter. The audience is anyone like

Statistics show that the vast majority of independent adoptions in California are completed without a hitch; less that 2 percent are even contested. But when an adoption is contested, the anguish felt by both the adoptive and birth parents is unimaginable. Linda Ribordy, a family specialist who represented a birth mother in a legal case says that “if a birth mother changes her mind, it’s automatic that they get the baby back.” But the adopting parents feel furiously and emotionally different. “We have no legal status, no legal rights, none,” says Inger Bischofberger. “But he calls me Mama. The only thing that keeps me going is that I can’t turn my back on him, I can’t just walk away from him because all the grownups in his life have messed up.”