Mental Health Is The Overall Psychological And The Emotional Well Being Of Any Individual

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.

There can be cultural, ethical, and legal concerns associated with this theory are somewhat intertwined. The possible assumption that if a child is born poor, of ethnic minority, raised in a violent setting, and neglected by parents – foster care placement may lead to disruption within the child’s chronosystem. This can lead to attachment issues related to trauma, increased fight or flight reactions that may lead to legal issues, academic challenges, and poor social skills. There is a possible ripple effect from life events and socioeconomic status that could lead to changes with behavior in association with the child’s environment. Understanding this theory can help with application in a school setting

Notably, children placed with a foster care family have better outcomes than children who are institutionalized. For instance, research conducted by Bos et al., (2011), shows children sheltered with a foster family are more likely to develop a secure attachment than those placed in institutional care. Also, according to Cashmere and Paxman (2006), children who experience stability in a foster care setting are more likely to have improved academic achievements and cognitive abilities. So, “a stable foster care placement can have positive effects on a vulnerable youth population compared to the alternatives of living in institutional or group care or in a home with neglect or maltreatment” (Lockwood, Friedman, & Christian, p. 310, 2015).

The chosen population of interest for the course project is children who are placed in foster care. Children in foster care are considered vulnerable due to a variety of reasons for which they are taken away from home and placed in the child welfare system. Foster care children are often removed from their home due to physical abuse, drug exposure, or in some cases due to parental inability to fulfill the child basic necessities. Foster care children are at greater risk of mental, health, and behavioral problems (Lovie, Beadnell, & Pecora, 2015). Case management is an essential part of the care plan to improve the outcomes of the population of interest. Foster care children face additional problems when the health care system is inadequate.

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.

No two children in foster care have the same background. The youths can vary by the age when placed into care, the number of times they were put into care, the quality of the home and family they lived with, and the youths own emotional outlooks (Zlotnick 539). They can develop abandonment issues due to being separated from their biological parents, and stunted emotional growth due to the trauma that foster care puts on a young child. Children need to be raised in a stable and safe environment, and while plenty of foster care parents are loving and nurturing to the child, they may still be affected by being raised by multiple families in a negative way. Every year, over 1 million children experience maltreatment, and about half of these children enter foster care (Greeson et al. 92). Those who enter foster care have usually encountered multiple traumatic events, from either their parents or another caregiver in their lives.

More than two-hundred and fifty thousand children enter the foster care system each year, making it extremely difficult to find the right caregiver for each child. There are so may effects on the child that last their entire lifetime, making it difficult for them to trust others. Not being able to trust their peers, they often find it hard to make friends and long-term relationships last. Fortunately, there are many results that can improve everyone’s position in placing the child. Foster care agencies repeatedly create destructive situations due to the selected caregiver, as well as the plethora of glitches that are created. Due to the unacceptable and inappropriate selection of foster parents, the child frequently experiences difficulties and disadvantages later on. Most children are placed into foster care because of mistreatment and experience the same treatment in their foster homes. Unfortunately, a lot of times the foster parent will take their anger out on their foster child, making a wide array of short-term and long-term complications for the child.

Over 600,000 children in the United States are in the foster care system. Reasons include, abuse, neglect and abandonment. These children lack nurturing environments and stable homes. Children within the foster care system have more mental, physical and developmental problems. It is imperative to understand the challenges children entering the foster care system are exposed to. The system works best when children are provided nurturing, and short-term care until they can be placed back home safely or a permanent adoptive family. For many children, however, the stay is longer, with 30% remaining in temporary care for over two years. Staying in the system is detrimental to the child’s well-being. The foster care system is an unsuccessful intervention for children that cultivates development, health and mental issues.

Ronald Kessler, an American journalist, author of the article "Effects of Enhanced Foster Care on the Long-term Physical and Mental Health of Foster Care Alumni" claims, ¨child maltreatment is a significant risk factor for adult mental disorders and physical illnesses¨ (2). Child maltreatment is not only a risk factor for children, but it is also the number one reason children are put into foster care services today. Foster care is when a child is relocated to another home because of a crisis within the biological family. The child or children may be taken out of the adults care for reasons such as abuse, neglect, or abandonment of a child, as well as if the guardian has a personal problem, much like drug addiction. One of the issues grabbing

The health of children entering the foster system is very important, but not always stressed. When entering the foster care system some children enter with health issues, such as developmental and psychiatric disorders (All Foster par. 3). There could be many reasons why they enter with these health issues. One could be due to the abuse and neglect many children encounter while with biological parents (par. 3). While in the care of foster parents, the health of foster children can be neglected as well (par. 4). “Younger foster children do not receive adequate preventive health care while in placement, many significant problems go undetected, or, when diagnosed are not evaluated and treated,” stated U.S. General Accounting Office (par. 5). (The U.S. General Accounting Office is an investigative arm for the U.S. Congress.) This is a problem and can result in death while a child is in care. Between 2000 and 2007, about thirty foster children died while in the care of foster parents,

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).

Everywhere across the world, more and more children are being placed into foster care or a welfare type system. Foster care can benefit children or harm them; the effects of foster care differ for every individual. These types of systems often have a major effect on young children’s physiological state. Children entering in foster care are often malnourished and have untreated health problems. A high percentage of children who are placed in these types of systems have mental health, physical health, and/or developmental issue which often originates while the individuals are still in the custody of the biological parents. Children in foster care should be provided with a healthy and nurturing environment which often provides positive long term results. The age of children in a foster care varies across the world, but it is often seen that majority of these children are young (George para. 1). There are more young children in the system because younger children require more adequate care than older children that are already in the system. Placing these children in welfare systems is supposed to be a healing process for them. Although this is supposed to be a healing process, statistics say these children have a negative experience while being in these systems, but this is not always the case. A number of children in foster care fall sucker to continuous neglect and recurrent abuse with the lack of nurturing and an unstable environment. These same children often have unmet

As of 2006, approximately 1.5% of urban infants in the US were in foster care (Cole, 2006). This is a system and a lifestyle that will likely affect the rest of their lives via developmental and relational problems, for the most part against their will. John Bowlby, one of the main scientists behind Attachment Theory once wrote about forming a secure attachment “the infant and young child should experience a warm, intimate, and continuous relationship with his mother (or permanent mother substitute) in which both find satisfaction and enjoyment” (1951, p. 13). This is a challenging feat for foster children, who don’t necessarily have a permanent mother substitute. While I expected the literature to describe foster kids to typically have some degree of Reactive Attachment Disorder, it turns out that this is fairly rare, occurring in less than ten percent of children who were severely neglected as children (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The literature more often refers to insecure and avoidant attachment as the main attachment style among foster and institutionalized children. Individuals with avoidant attachment styles have learned through interaction with caregivers that any support-seeking or emotional expression will be met with rejection, and therefore avoid doing so. The following will detail and at points expand on or critique articles supporting the notion that foster children often have avoidant attachment styles, and that this is often problematic.

The World Health Organisation (2014) defines Mental Health “as a state of well-being in which every individual realises his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community” (para. 1). Mental health refers to an individual’s psychological, emotional and social wellbeing; it has the ability affect people’s perceptions, thought, feelings, actions and capacity to respond to change, stresses and challenges within their lives (Headspace, 2013, para. 1). It influences how individuals perceive themselves, their resilience, life decisions and the people around them. Maintaining a stable, healthy and positive mental state is crucial for all individuals throughout their lives in order to avoid developing mental health problems and illnesses. The following essay will address Mental Health and why it is considered one of the challenges facing PDHPE teachers in the 21st Century, it has a major aim of exploring how the subject of PDHPE can address the challenges of the wider community and how classroom teachers can address mental health within the schooling environment.

The study Cognitive Development and Social-Emotional Functioning in Young Foster Children was conducted to investigate the cognitive and social-emotional functioning of foster children two and three years old, and their potential of catching up with their peers during their third year. It was also to analyze the relationship between the age at first placement in foster care, the reason for placement, the number of