Personal Response: Staying With A Foster Family

As a child I grew up in the foster care system. My formative years consisted of uncertainty and confusion since I was not able to express myself effectively to the state assigned child advocates. During my time in foster care I volunteered to care for the younger children who had special needs. As I began to care for the children especially with neurological brain damage I became intrigued by how little science seemed to know about Special Education or effective treatment. At the age of eleven I started reading peer-reviewed articles such as Neurology journal and Exceptional Children (EC) trying to adsorb everything science related that would provide answers. Several years after I aged out of the system I had a child of my own who was born with severe Autism and sensory integration disorder. My son Andrew was non-verbal for the first four years even after extensive

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.

Everyone loved it, it was my first time playing, but because I’m not in foster care I’m suppose to answer all the questions that apply to my life, if I get one that is specifically about foster care I am to pretend that I’m in foster care and think about how I would feel in those situations. The kids really started to open up about their feelings of frustration, loneliness, abandonment, confusion, and many others, these were just a few that were repeated. At 7:30 p.m. the kids left and we put the room back together. During our meeting we found that the siblings were no longer at the same foster home anymore, one of them had to be moved out. This explained a lot of the behavior that was experienced tonight, one of the girls went off in the Volcano room beating Max, the giant stuffed man, with bats, tying him up with ropes, and making a whip for him. This also can explain the little boy’s attitude toward doing the activity. We came to the conclusion that these kids need Healing Hearts more than they know and we can’t give up on them even when the going gets tough, because it will get tough.

As of today, approximately 415,000 children are in the foster care system within the United States of America, and about 22,000 teenagers age out of the system, without any assistance, or any financial support (AFCARS 2015). Without guidance, it is more than likely for a teenager to turn to selling drugs, prostitution, or other criminal activities to provide for their basic necessities. Research has shown that those who leave foster care without any stability, have a higher probability to face prison time, homelessness, and are not able to maintain a financially stable lifestyle when he or she grows out of the system. At the age of seventeen, children are kicked out of their homes, and are forced to survive by his or her own means of survival. The children are not allowed to contact previous foster families, or anyone within the system to help them transition into adulthood. The transition from foster care, to adulthood can be a difficult one, especially for children who have endured different forms of psychological and physical abuse for the majority of their lives. It is important to reach out to children in need, especially those leaving foster care without any assistance. Many of those who age out of foster care are completing their last years in high school, and on top of school, they are forced to find a job, a home, and some sort of transportation. The youth leave the foster care system with a limited work history, if any at all, and a limited education. The little

R/s July 3rd-8th Danielle (4) and Josiah (5) were staying in Georgia with Judy and Felicia Wilson. R/s Felicia beat Mariah with an electrical cord and Mariah has scratches on her back and bruised buttock. R/s Danielle (mom) took the child to ER and trying to press charges against Felicia.

The reporter said Justin assaulted Teagan as well; she was having bladder problems, and her mother (Michelle) didn’t take her to the doctor, but she looked at her and said “it looked like pink cauliflower coming out of her vagina and she had been bleeding”. In the report, it stated that Chad found out he attempted to do the same thing to Leslie (8 years old) when she was 2 years old. The reporter said the family resided in Alabama, and Justin’s mother walked into the room and found Justin trying to put his penis in Leslie’s vagina. Heather indicated that she didn’t call the police because she didn’t want him to be charged with a crime. Heather told Justin if he did it again, she would report him to the police, and he would be taken to the Juvenile Detention Center. The reporter was concerned because Justin is now living at the same address as Leslie. The reporter said Heather gave temporary guardianship of Leslie to Supreina Holcomb (July 2012), but the she removed guardianship when she placed the child in the Mobile School District (Gilliard Elementary/March 22, 2013). The reporter has never seen the

Foster care has been around for years, it is a place for kids with no families to go or for kids who's parents didn't want them. It isn’t all bad. When someone gives up a child, they are giving someone who wants a baby/child and can’t have any, a chance to be a parent. There are a lot of problems with the system. That is why people should keep an eye on the child, they do not understand why things happen to them. If one foster child says they are getting abused someone should watch them and they should have surveillance cameras in all rooms of the home to ensure that the children there are not mistreated. For at least a month or two.“Parenthood requires love, not DNA.” -Anonymous (“Foster Care Services”)

Over the years, foster care has evolved into something much greater than in the past. It has become modernized and more diverse. There are three different kinds of foster care; emergency care, traditional or regular care, and therapeutic needs. The system helps children who have or are suffering from abuse or neglect. “Children in foster care may live with unrelated foster parents, with relatives, with families who plan to adopt them, or in group .

The reporter stated on 07/05/15 Ms. Smith returned to pick the children up and after they began screaming and hollering because they did not want to leave with her Mr. Course told her they could stay with him. Per the reporter, Ms. Smith became upset and pulled a knife on Mr. Course; the children were present. The reporter stated law enforcement was called and the children were allowed to stay with their father. Ms. Ballard stated that the children are not allowed to stay in the home with their mother and have to stay with their grandmother; Brittany only allows her boyfriend to live in the apartment with her. The reporter also stated whenever the children are with their father, he buys their clothes and they return home fully dressed. Ms. Ballard stated whenever the children return for visit, they come without shoes or socks, no shirts at times, and no underwear on; if they do wear underwear, they are nasty and dirty. Ms. Smith tells the reporter she doesn’t know where their underwear are if

Growing up in the foster care system can be a traumatic experience for most of the children in this population. This study takes a closer look at certain types of abuse, rather than traumatic experiences suffered extensively, that ultimately led to the diagnosis of PTSD. Most of the abuse consisted of either rape, torture, and/or molestation. The methods and data were obtained from 732 foster care adolescents, ranging from 17 to 18 years of age. The study assessed the trauma within the DSM-V that the participants were exposed during their lifetime, and the diagnosis of PTSD that followed. The results of this study showed that 80.3 percent of the participants were exposed to at least one major traumatic experience, with 61.7

The reporter said Leannah never took the child to the doctor. The reporter spoke with mom about the allegations against Chris, and she “beat her head into the ground and kicked her teeth out”. The reporter said mom continues to bring the children around Chris, even after what she told her (unknown when). Also, Chris “whoops” both of the children (unknown when), and it is unknown if there were visible marks or bruises. There were no details given. The reporter said she hasn’t seen the children in over two weeks. The reporter said Leanna “whoops” the kids with belts and hand, and she has left marks on the children. It is unknown when she “whooped” them or where she left marks on them. This occurs “whenever they do something and she has to tell them more than once or when she is tore up” (unknown when). The reporter said mom is an alcoholic, and she does drugs (pills). Mom will take anything you give her (pills), and she smokes marijuana in her bedroom. Also, she smokes marijuana with the people next door, but it is unknown if the children have access to the drugs. Also, it is unknown if she is smoking around the

She was taken to the E.R. by the mother. Elizabeth told dad's ex-girlfriend that she was leaking on herself. She was too scared to tell dad she was hurting. Mom said dad's ex-girlfriend told her that dad got upset with Elizabeth and threw her on the bed and made her sit in the bathtub. She also said he grabbed her by the neck. Mom said the child has no marks or bruises that she could see. Elizabeth said dad told her if she went with the mother, he would have mom locked away and she would never see her again. Elizabeth said dad wanted her to watch her younger sibling (Timber) while he showered. She gave Timber some of her candy and she was crying. Dad grabbed Elizabeth by her hair and slammed her on the bed when he thought she hit Timber. Alexis asked him for spending money for the fair and he told her either you've gone crazy or the mother is drugging you. He told her no and he shouldn't have to help when mom didn't help for those 2 months. Mom said when she got Elizabeth from school, dad wanted to know if she had her. Dad told Bay St. Louis police that he has new custody papers showing that he had custody. Mom was contacted by police and she was asked what her custody

“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.

Foster care is very beneficial and common in Ontario, it provides many great benefits for families, and children in need. Under the Child and Family services act foster care is defined as the placement of a child or young person in the home of someone who receives compensation for caring for the child but is not the child’s parent. All children who are having troubles at home do not just get thrown into foster care, there is a process that is brought into families having difficulties by the Ontario’s Children Aid Societies (CASs). They work hard to analyze behaviours in a family, and try and keep a family together and the children at home, until seen that the family is unfit to support and provide for the child(ren). At that time, the children are taken until the family proves

The worker contacted Brittany Coleman, the sister of Jessica Farrand. Mrs. Coleman stated” I don’t think the children are being properly taken care of because Jessica is erratic, emotionally unstable, and she and Steven Burke both have a drug and alcohol problems”. Mrs. Coleman stated “Jessica is in an abusive relationship with Steven and he has put a gash on her forehead so bad my mother had to take her to the hospital. Jessica originally told my mother she fell and got the gash, but later admitted to me it was from fighting with Steven”. Mrs. Coleman stated “Jessica doesn’t talk to her children, all she does is scream, yell, and curse at them they don’t get any help from her they’re defenseless”. Mrs. Coleman stated “The children live in