Foster Family Case Study

Many teens, in the United States take advantage of Christmas such as myself. On Friday, December 9th of 2016, I went to the DHR in Geneva, Alabama to wrap Christmas gifts for children in the foster care system. My parents also told me that there are kids that didn’t get anything for Christmas now I know what they meant.

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.

The U.S foster care system is corrupt and the children trapped in it face the worst of it. The goal of foster care is to eventually reunite children with their parents or find the child a safe, loving home. Instead, foster kids face the harsh reality of abuse, mental illness, and temporary homes. The children and ripped from the homes they’ve known their entire lives because their parents struggle financially. The system would rather pay strangers to the child to take care of him/her rather than helping the parents of the child. This case would be called “neglect” when in reality most parents were doing all they could to take care of their children. The children’s new foster parents are paid hundreds of dollars per month. Often times, the money doesn’t go to the child and he/she is left truly neglected. The system is broken because children are taken from their homes for the wrong reasons and put into unsafe environments that will have a traumatic effect on the rest of their lives.

ABSTRACT 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 maltreatments that children face prior to entering into the foster care system can be grouped into neglect, physical abuse, psychological maltreatment, and sexual abuse. Though these forms of abuse can be identified separately identified, they often occur concurrently with

Foster Parent One: Shelly was born and raised in Avery, TX. She is the biological daughter of Delores Jackson and David Monsiviaz. Shelly was adopted by her maternal aunt and uncle, Eura and Woodrow Hicks at the age of 3, Shelly’s mother was killed in a car accident and her father was not accept by the family due to his ethnicity. Shelly reported she was informed by her adoptive parents that her biological father was dead as well. When Shelly was an adult she searched and located him, however she has never contacted him because she feels that should have been his job.

having a husband. In August of 2013 Telaunda, my close neighbor and friend, put me in contact with a

Youth aging out of foster care are one of the most disadvantaged populations in the United States. Unlike other young people in the general population who continue to live with family and receive support and financial assistance, foster youth transitioning into adulthood often struggle just to obtain and maintain general needs. Apart from the trauma associated with the history of abuse or neglect, foster youth are put in a circumstance that expect them to become independent and self-sufficient immediately as they prepare to transition out of foster care. According to Courtney, Dworsky, Lee, and Raap, young people formerly in foster care, compared to the general population, experience significantly different outcomes in areas of education, employment,

To: Lorena Gonzalez, Assembly member, California State Assembly From: Jesus Gonzalez Date: 4/30/2018 Re: Children in the Foster Care system Executive Summary Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (AFSA) clearly and unequivocally establishes three national goals for children in foster care: safety, permanency, and well-being. ASFA was in part “a response to the fact that more children were entering the foster care system than were exiting.” Five principles underlie the ASFA and apply to professionals working with families through public and private agencies as well as state courts. These principles are:

The one thing to remember with therapeutic foster care (sometimes called "Intensive Foster Care", IFC for short), is that you must always expect the unexpected. We were unprepared for all the trials and all the joy that we would experience while taking care of children with special needs. In 2004 our

The reporting party (RP) stated foster child Daniel disclosed while in respite foster care Nicholas Nordyke tasted him pointing to his genitals. Daniel stated he licked Nicholas' penis and bottom. The RP stated Daniel was in respite from April 28 through May 2, 2016. Daniel has not returned to the

“I had no medical history. I had no shot records. I had nothing.” This was the response given by one of the foster caregiver participant in a qualitative research conducted by Greiner, Ross, Brown, Beal, & Sherman, 2015). Children in the foster care are among the most vulnerable population and have many health issues including chronic medical conditions and developmental delays. In addition, there is a high rate of mental health problems. As Greiner et al., 2015 depicted, children entering foster care lack organized documentation of their health history including immunization records. There are some efforts and policies in place to improve the provision of health to foster care children but they are implemented inadequately and lack coordination.

Respond to inquiries within 24 hours. Certify qualified homes within 6-8 weeks. Orientate prospective foster parents. Conduct orientation sessions and pre-service trainings. Weekly (documented) contact during certification process. Interview, assess and certify new foster parents and homes. Prepare/complete IMPACT home study evaluations (including a minimum of 3 in-home visits) and

To start off with, children who are left unadopted due to race linger unnecessarily in the foster care system. Out of the 279 prospective parents waiting to be matched with children, 190 were white. Out of the 426 children unadopted, 398 were of another race. (“Child Welfare”). This alone proves there is a disparity between the majority race of potential adoptive parents and the majority race of potential adoptees. Even out of the total children in the Foster Care system, 55% of the children were of races other than white (2015) (“Child Welfare”). Because race is prioritized, children are left in the foster care system, sometimes until the age of 18 (“Committee”). This can lead to detrimental issues later on in life because of the lack of

The study consisted of 12 parents who foster children ages 2-8 years old. The high levels of conduct problems among children in the foster care system and the added cost to families, society and services, there is a pressing need to support foster parents. Providing foster care to children with increased emotional, behavioral, and medical needs requires not only time, but patience in dealing with the child’s demands. Foster parents often voice they are unprepared to meet demand of children with increased behavioral and emotional needs and adolescents in their care. This situation can result in placement disruption, which further strains foster care resources and has negative impacts on foster children and youth. The incidence of conduct disorder