Foster Adoption Research Paper

Foster care is supposed to be temporary, but for many teenage youth in foster care it is often a permanent solution. Foster care was never meant to raise children into adulthood. Even though foster care is supposed be temporary, most teenage foster youth reach their 18th birthday and become emancipated and end up living their lives without a family. Currently, 40% of foster youth in the system are between the ages of 11 and 21 (Child Welfare 3). Foster care is supposed to be a temporary arrangement in which adults provide care for children whose parents are unable to do so, due to issues within the family such as neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, or homeless. The earliest documentation of foster care can date back to the Bible, which

First of all, children in the foster system have no one to turn to that they can truly trust. Most children in the foster system do not trust many people because of the fact that many see that their own parents ended leaving them. Some adolescents in the foster system saw therapists and social workers as just being paid to listen to them and not actually help them with their problems. When I was eight, I moved into a foster home and the foster parents had their own biological son that was treated like a little angel, yet I got treated as someone that was unwanted in their home. The foster parent’s son would end up breaking something and blame it on me and when I would tell the foster parents that it was their son

Foster care is intended to be a short term solution until a permanent placement can be made. Generally, the first choice of adoptive parents is a relative such as an aunt, uncle, or grandparent, known as kinship care”(Foster Care Wikipedia). If no relative is willing or able to take the child into their home, they move on to the next alternative, which is a close friend or someone else involved in the child’s life such as a teacher or coach. If a parent willingly put their child into foster care because of reasons like disabilities,physical or mental, financial problems, or sexuality, that is known as voluntary placement. Involuntary placement is when a child is removed from their legal guardian, due to abuse or neglect to the child. When a child is placed into a foster home, the foster parents are responsible for the child's well-being (Wikipedia). Adopt us Kids says, “When a child is placed in your home, you will need to ensure their well-being in that their emotional, medical, dental, and educational needs are being met”(Being a Foster Parent). Adopt us kids also states, “For Sleeping arrangements, most children may share bedrooms. They must have a separate bed and children of the opposite sex can only share a room if they are under the age specified by the state”(Adopt Us Kids). This can also be waived to keep siblings together and in sight of each other. If a babysitter is needed for the foster child, they will need to be at least eighteen years or older, or approved by the state, if that state has certain

“ In 2015, over 670,000 children spent time in U.S. foster care. On average, children remain in state care for nearly two years and six percent of children in foster care have languished there for five or more years” (Children’s Rights). There are simply not enough people looking to adopt or to foster individually. Many kids, especially teens, are immediately placed in group homes. These homes do not provide the same stability and support that a foster (or adoptive) family might. Group homes are actually 7 to 10 times more expensive per child than placement with a family. Not only do many children spend years waiting to be adopted, in many cases after a certain age children will be subjected to “aging out of the system.” While there are different laws in each state, for the most part this means that after a certain cut off the state no longer actively looks for adoptive families and instead waits for the child to turn 18 and therefore, become legally independent. According to TheForgottenInitiative.org, more than 30% of homeless people in the US were previously in Foster Care. An estimated more than 40% of youth who age out of the foster system won’t complete high school. Very few teens are emotionally ready to be completely independent at 17 or 18, regardless of family support. The foster system is simply not designed to fully take care of children, and it certainly

Over the past several there has been increased focus on the foster care system with implementation of new policies and pieces of legislation to support this population. Although, initial services and support was extremely broad with the intent to meet the needs of the entire population, the youth exiting foster care due to age limitations shed light on the need for more specific legislation for this population. It is clear that youth “aging out” (Dworksy, 2008) of the foster care system are in some ways forced to transition into a role of independence much differently than the general population. There is typically no chance for this population of youth to return to the foster care system for support even if they are completed unprepared for the transition (Geenen & Power, 2007). Clearly, specific populations of foster care youth are in need of special attention particularly those aging out of the system. These youth are believed to encounter adverse challenges in areas such as incarceration, drug use, education, and homelessness. In the hopes to address the issues of homelessness in youth several pieces of legislation have been passed and amended over the years.

Joyce Meyer, a Christian author and speaker once spoke: “If you can help a child, you don’t have to spend years repairing an adult.” In America, there are many social issues that are neglected because they do not have a daily effect on each individual. As a result of this, one of these issues is the foster care system in America. Foster care is a program worldwide that helps neglected and abused children be put in safer homes through a brief period of time until a social worker allows the children to go back into their original home or be adopted by their foster parents or other individuals. According to http://www.adopt.org/what-foster-care, “Some will be separated from their siblings. Others will be bounced from one foster care placement

This specific topic is not a topic that catches someone off guard but it does hit people by surprise because of the unawareness of the extra mile these teens have to walk in order to become successful. Research indicates that, “youth who age out of foster care to

Adults out of the foster system are more likely to become homeless, unprepared for employment, have low-job skills, depend on welfare, and have a higher crime and drug use rate. Many of the foster children don’t have a social network, so they can’t rely on a steady guardian/parent to help them transition into the real world. People that run the foster care system don’t listen or take the kids opinions into consideration that the children are being put in foster homes and may be getting abused and are not doing anything about it to get the children to a safe home.

Results from 2013 census revealed that approximately 402,378 were wards of the state, respectively. These children reside in foster homes or group homes until they turn 18 and age out. The goal of the foster care system is to provide a “home-like” setting for children rather than placing them in orphanages, often while children await adoption. Despite these efforts, only a slim percent of American children are adopted each year while the rest age out. After turning 18, about 25% become homeless, are up to 10 times more likely incarcerated, or up to 7 times more likely to become dependent on drugs and alcohol. However, these numbers could decrease significantly with the increase of assessments of group and individual foster homes made by Child

In an effort to gain some clarity on what additional sources are needed for a successful transition for youth, Scannapieco et al conducted a study addressing three major themes. According to Scannapieco et al (2007, pg 424), “the purpose of this paper is three-fold. First, a review of the empirical literature on the short- and long-term outcome for youth who have experienced foster care in adolescence will be presented. Second, results from focus groups representing foster youth in care, youth who have aged our of care, foster parents fostering adolescents, and social workers working with youth in foster care will be presented. Third, implication for policy and practice will be discussed”. The number of youth in foster care makes up 40% of the 1.4 million children that do not live with either parent or grandparent. The article displayed the racial disparities among children in foster care youth which included African Americans being overrepresented among children entering

The adoption process domestically and internationally has been a huge topic of controversy for years. There are many reasons why couples, and even single people choose to adopt children. Some can’t have children of their own, and some are just determined to make the world better for at least one child. Many people choose to adopt international because they feel they can make a difference for some child out there somewhere, but Some people choose a different route though, some parents choose to become foster parents to children in their area who need the help first. Foster parent take children in on a more temporary basis and help them through whatever situation they are in. Adoption as most people know is a permanent solution to the child

Adoption just like most things has its positive and negative effects. Its an absolutely amazing thing that a child can finally have a place of safety and warmth. Especially kids that have gone through very abusive relationships with their biological parent. They can still suffer from the loss of their parents. Children who are old enough to remember what it was like before adoption are more open to anxiety and rebellious acts towards their adopted parents or suffer from anger towards their biological parents. Teens who are aware that they are adopted also struggle with identity issues. They are often paranoid that they would be a completely different person if they weren't adopted and maybe that's who they are supposed to be instead. An adopted

The purpose of this article is to show us the research that was conducted on challenges that older kids face when it comes to adoption in foster care. New data is also presented from the voices of the youth who received services from the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption’s Wendy’s Wonderful kids (WWK) adoption recruitment program ().

There are many children wanting to be adopted, and many singles with the adequate resources to raise a child, and doesn’t make sense to rid a child of a stable home. “In the U.S., there are 397,122 children are living without permanent families in the foster care system. 101,666 of these children are eligible for adoption but nearly 32% of these children will wait over three years in foster care before being adopted. In 2012, 23,396 youth aged out of the U.S. foster care system. Out of these adults, 60% had been convicted of a crime, and only 48% were employed” (“Facts and Statistics” 1). As these statistics show, there is too vast of a number of children in foster care. Foster care has its negative effects,

Teens in foster care will be a bad influence on younger biological children in the home.