Foster Care: A Flawed Solution That Leads To Long-Term Problems

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

INTRODUCTION: 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)

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

Will Mohamed Mrs. Landgrebe Advanced Composition/ 3 21 December 2014 The Negative Effects of Foster Care: RD “Family is forever.” Many people believe that this quote happens to be true. Everyone wants to believe that their family will always be there for them, and support the decisions that they make. For a normal family is quote would be accurate. On the other hand, there are families that will not be together forever. This is not just a choice that these certain families make, it is forced upon them. At this very moment hundreds of thousands of children around the country are spending quality time with their family. But, at the same exact moment, there are over five hundred thousand children living in the foster care system. These children do not know what it is like to spend quality time with their actual families. Instead, these children are forced to live with complete strangers, and suffer. Government officials say that foster care is for the safety of the children, but many do not share the same views. Foster care does not benefit children because of extensive developmental, social, and economic problems later in their lives.

Foster Care 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.

Marsh 1 Mariah Marsh 11/12/14 Professor Molly Tetrault Analysis Paper Perspectives on 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.

There are numerous changes that need to be made in the foster care system. “... [the children] tried to tell a different story to anyone who would listen - a school guidance counselor, or social workers”(Stewart, Nikita and Arielle). The people who were trusted by the children to get help failed. The children were further neglected and abused. In this situation children get little to no help. “...they failed her by ignoring her cries of abuse and they failed her by letting her die in that foster home” (McFadden). People need to listen to the cries of help, from a little five year old to a teenager. Without the help they need children are neglected, abused, or die.

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.

From existing research it is proven that children have mental, physical and development issues from growing up in foster homes. These young adolescents and children do not have the proper care in fostering homes as they would in an "all average American home". These kids are open to new traumatizing experiences not usually seen if one had a stable home, and these events causes permanent damage to one 's health state. Also with the simple fact that there are hundreds of children per foster home, all with different needs, still needing the basic necessities to thrive as a human without getting the proper funding calls for malnutrition children. Now these young kids are not just getting the proper care needed but they are also doing poorly in school and with daily challenges in life generally.

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

When an adolescent comes into for therapy there is really never an easy task of finding out what is going on. Adolescent that come in who are part of the foster care system will add another degree of challenges. Children and adolescents that are put into the foster care system are not there because they choose to be, they are there due to some event in their life putting them there.

Unfortunately, there will always be kids who get abused and neglected, and there will always be people who live in poverty, but this issue can be improved. First, we need more educational training for foster parents, as well as educating the public about the foster care system. There needs to be more funding for foster care so that children have an opportunity to have an education, and foster parents have the right resources for their foster children. That is where this charity comes in, The Alliance for Children’s Rights.

Foster Care System: Children without families SOC 331: Social Justice and Ethics Bernie Colon November 14, 2011 Raising children is one of the most important responsibilities in any society. Today, working parents have many options, but what about those children who have neither a mother nor father? What about those children who come from

Foster care is something that 400,000 children in the United States, go through. I have personally been through this myself. To improve foster care for children, I have created a website along with an app. The name of both the website and app is Foster To Success. Foster To Success will especially be useful for foster youth, social workers, potential adopters, foster parents, and any additional people, who work with foster youth. But it can also be useful if you are going through a hard time. The app is free and available on iOS devices at the App Store, and on Andriod devices on GooglePlay. If you would like additional features the cost is ninety nine cents. I believe this will help improve foster care and help make it an easier transition for the children.

Foster Care and Its Effects Many children are suffering due to various complications in their life. Children of all ages end up in the foster care system year after year. Their hardships influence them to feel really depressed and stoic. Many people do not read autobiographies, but the book, Three Little Words by Ashley Rhodes-Courter teaches people about the complications of a first-hand foster child, how the foster care system is, and book reviews of famous authors and well-known magazines, as well. The story gives hope to people who believe there is no way out anymore, and it influences upon the world’s culture greatly.