Dallas's Foster Care System Case Study

In America it is stated that 1 in every 84 children live in foster care circumstances via "Statistics on Foster Care". There is a numerous amount of contrasting children from various backgrounds and ages living within these special housing homes, and many are repeatedly in and out from unstable circumstances. As children grow and mature into the new faces of the world, they face many obstacles and tribulations that will alter their lives. Living in fostering homes is a substantial example and the effects of living in these institutions can truly be great.

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

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 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)

Although foster care can be a great system by providing kids with homes, sometimes we don’t see what’s happening behind the closed doors. The children that enter the “system” typical have experience or will experience emotional or physical trauma that impacts their development. If children’s mental states are not properly

One of the major social issues the Children’s Bureau helps is foster care. “The Children’s Bureau provides funding to states and tribes to provide safe foster care placements for children and youth who cannot remain in their homes” (Children’s Bureau, 2017). Working alongside Title IV-E Care Program and John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program, the Bureau provides for children under the supervision of the state. The Bureau provides training to foster parents to help ensure competent caregivers are in the system. Because children tend to be cycled in and out of foster care, the Bureau created a Permanency Innovations Initiative. This federal program is targeted to promote permanent homes for children with serious barriers

One way Maurice William’s faces problems in the foster homes is to have a meeting with every foster parent under their program every three months. In this meeting, all issues are discussed in great length and an appropriate procedure to deal with each specific problem are agreed upon and implemented so that the problems do not come up

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.

The research topic Foster Care is the topic that has been proclaimed. The research question begins with, “What are some of the challenges facing the placement, and adjustment of Foster Care in the Valley?” This study is important because there are several challenges that are difficult for a Foster child facing being in Foster care. It is important in Social work that the Government with a Social worker must be responsible for taking away the child who is either being physical or sexual abused, neglected, or not being taken care of by their primary caregivers. In this type of situation, the child will be put into Foster care. It is key to understand the big challenges each child entering Foster care might have already experienced in the past

The public sector of the foster care system has issues with abuse, and the private sector is experiencing an even higher rate of abuse (Therolf). One reason that abuse, in both sectors, occurs is that the children are placed under the care of people who are not properly trained (Slattery). This lack of training often results in multiple types of abuse

As of September, 2011 in the United States over 400,540 children were in the foster care system. The Minnesota Department of Human Services, 2011) defines foster care as, ?A 24-hour substitute care for children placed away from their parents or guardians and for whom the State agency has placement and care responsibility.? Of the 400,540 children in foster care nationwide, 195,400 were Floridians. With the fifty social service programs nationwide, Florida is one of a very few states in the nation with statewide privatization of social services, for this study, with an emphasis on privatization of foster care. In the present paper, the privatization of foster care plays a significant role in the care and placement of Florida?s abused, neglected, and abandoned children. The major thrust of privatization of foster care was implemented under the administration of Governor Jeb Bush, a staunch political conservative. The purpose of privatization was to provide better foster care services to stake-holders, primarily to find permanent homes for foster children. The Bush administration was always trying to adhere to the conservative mantra of fiscal reduction as it pertained to social services

Since the 1970’s, many debates and arguments have formed over the problems in the Florida foster care system. Some of the arguments were made as to whether different races should become foster families or whether or not is was suitable for gay couples to foster children. Another issue that arose was the children with special needs or older children that people didn’t want. As the foster system grew, it began to experience setbacks. There were now more children needing homes than available homes. The foster care system became full of problems. Foster parents started to complain about not having an adequate support system. The children were not receiving the medical treatments they needed. And foster children were staying in the system so long that some were aging out. Those that age out a were not receiving any support or training to cope with adult life. There was also a shortage in funding. In addition, there had become an alarming number of child abuse and neglect cases within the foster families. Although some aspects of foster care have improved, some changes still need to be made.

The removal of children from foster placements are rapidly increasing. Many of the discharges are typical behaviors of children who have experienced trauma. The survey will sample 20 caseworkers from The Department of Family and Protective Services who have taught foster parent training in the last year. The survey was conducted to find out if there is a relationship between foster parent pre-service training and the number of children being discharged from foster placements within a 30 day time period. The research will conclude that foster parents are currently not receive enough training to care for fostered youth. This research is important to the agency because many children are without stable loving homes. They sleep in local Child Protective

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

Figure 1 shows foster home capacity needs by county: red meaning an under supply of foster homes, and blue meaning an oversupply of foster homes. From figure 1, we can see that Dallas County is facing a deficit (undersupplied) of foster homes available to foster children. We can also see from Figure 1 that the surrounding areas of Dallas, such as: Denton county, Collin county, Kaufman county, and Rockwall county all have an oversupply of foster homes. This means that children from Dallas county have no other choice but to move to foster homes outside of Dallas county. This results in moving away from friends and family, which can be traumatizing to a child. We feel that this is one of the primary problems we aim to fix in the Dallas foster care system. Early childhood