Kinship Care Research Paper

Benefits of the foster care system include: keeping children out of abusive homes; providing stability; and cultivating secure attachments. In general, proponents of the foster care system believe it plays an essential role in providing a safe and stable environment for maltreated, neglected, and abused children (Lockwood, Friedman, & Christian, 2015). In fact, “advocates suggest that family situations that necessitate the use of the foster care system are often very complex and therefore require patience and time. They emphasize that the temporary nature of foster care is the best solution while state agencies work to achieve family reunification or otherwise resolve the family crisis” (Geraldine & Wagner, para 4, 2015).

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.

Kinship is when a child is cared for by either close family friends or relatives. This is usually short-term; however it can become long term. Kinship is preferred for children who have been separated from parents because it sustains the Childs connections with their families.

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.)

In this research they took out a longitudinal study. They studied 65 children which were placed in an institution when less than four months, which had all experienced early privation. By 4 years old, 24 children had been adopted, 15 returned to their natural homes and the rest remained in the institution. It was found that the adopted children had closer attachments to their parents and had good family relationships and this was not the case for the ‘restored’ children.

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.

They may not know who to turn to and may get pushed aside from one parents if they are not biological child but are to the steo siblings. If in fostercare they may get passed to different people a couple of times and have to get used to different people in their life all the time. They may start to not trust people may have trusted a social worker but have now been taken away from their parents. Adoption may feel a little better due to being with the same person untill they leave but may feel like the child has done something to never see their parents

An adult’s psychological development depends on one’s childhood experiences with adults and their capability of providing nurturance, protection, trust, and security to the developing child. Children with current and previous ties to the foster care system were found to have behavioral, emotional, and social well-being issues. The United States averages more than 400,000 children in foster care during the year. Amongst these 400,000 children, as many as 50% have developmental disorders or psychiatric diagnoses (Hutchinson). Children placed within the foster care system are more likely to be found to have mental health issues due to the inadequacy

Children are taken/put into care for many different reasons, they may not have had a great life or may have missed out on opportunities, or maybe they were neglected and/or abused and being in care is an opportunity to give them the best life possible. However, being in foster care also has its difficulties. Children may be unable to form attachments; they may isolate themselves socially, making it hard to build relationships. They may have been through trauma and are unable to move on, which will affect many parts of their development.

Court involvement and a label of permanency differentiate traditional foster care placements and kinship placements.imagine a child who lives with a relative for a dozen years and maintains traditional foster care status, before entering a kinship program.

Helping these vulnerable children access the services, interaction, and the stability needed for them to grow-up to being successful members of society can be provided with foster placement. If the process is well planned and if the foster parents are given adequate support, the foster care system can be a valuable resource for abused and neglected children (Crosson-Tower, 2014, p. 321).

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

Keeping Foster Parents and Kinship Parents Supported (KEEP) was established in 1996 and was formed out of a family based alternative program for teenagers with chronic delinquency and mental health problems called Treatment Foster Care Oregon (TFCO). (keepfostering.org) The program was developed by Patty Chamberlain and Oregon Social Learning Center. (cofcca). KEEP serves foster and kinship parents and their foster children aged five to twelve years old.

This has caused me to want to further research the issue. What are the social and emotional effects that adoption has on children?

In the last four decades, the concept of the American family has undergone a radical transformation, reflecting society¡¯s growing openness. Among all segments of society, there is a greater acceptance of a variety of family structures ¨C from single parenting to blended families to same sex parenting of children. The introduction of openness into the process of adoption offers new opportunities for children in need of a parent or parents and prospective parents wishing to create or expand their families. Meeting the requirements to become eligible to adopt no longer means being constrained by the conventions of an earlier generation.