Reasons I Have Decided To Take Social Services: Other Than To Help

Experiencing hardships and my resilience to overcome them is the main reason I chose to pursue a Master’s of Social Work (MSW) degree. My familiarity with asking for resources, as a former foster youth, a number of my interactions involved social workers. I utilized resources as a transition aged youth; and I believe it was those same resources that kept me focused on my future and school. I became homeless at eighteen years of age and it was transitional housing, through The Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) that gave me hope and direction.

The life for a child in foster care is much different than any other child’s. While growing up children look up to their father or mother. They aspire to be like them and follow in their footsteps. For the children placed in foster care all they see is that their parents could not take care of them. They will not have the memoires of growing up with their family, but instead memories of the different homes they have been transferred too. Foster parents love and care for all of the children that come into their homes, but it’s hard for the children to accept someone who moves in and out of their lives.

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.

I remember it like it was yesterday. There i was a eight year old child, standing there in our front yard when the social worker dropped off our very first foster child. My parents placed the baby in my arms and as i stared down at it, i remember the very first thoughts running through my head; what the heck are we supposed to do with this!/ we are supposed to take care of this thing Well six months later, surprisingly, the baby still lived, but we had all just began a journey that would continue throughout the rest of my life. The one thing conclusion that i have come throughout these past 8 years is that foster system is indeed a problem that needs to be recognized and addressed by EVERYONE. And i hope to persuade you on this by exploring the problem, privileges, and promise for these kids.

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.

Children enter foster care for a number of reasons. For some children, the journey begins at birth, when it is clear that a mother cannot care for her newborn infant. Other children come to the attention of child welfare when a teacher, a social worker, a police officer, or a neighbor reports suspected child maltreatment to child protective services. Some

Many children can have social problems, identity problems, and many other difficulties. Many studies have been observing that the established structure of foster care can diminish the status of a foster child, and the view of the foster child has been stereotyped bringing many consequences and negative effects on the child. Throughout being in foster care, adolescents experienced low self-esteem and depression. The long term consequences of these conditions are slurred self-identity, social isolation, lack of a true family connection, low self-confidence, and lack of future goals. Also, they are more likely to separate themselves and experience depression and many other disorders, asking themselves what did they do wrong for their biological parents to leave them, or why doesn’t anyone truly want to take care and love them. If Jeannette and the other siblings would have been sent to foster care, Lori, Jeannette, and Brian would not have been motivated to move out on their own and pursue their dreams. If they would have been sent to foster care they also would not have each other, and as one can see, the Walls children were close to each other, often relying on one another for

Though I never entered foster care as a child and therefore, did not consider this topic directly related to my childhood; I see things differently now. The largest common denominator for the existence of foster care and the primary reason why children get placed is extreme poverty. Although I have gone hungry myself here and there in my life, and I also have encountered financial hardship throughout, it appears as really nothing compares to the histories of these families. The traumas they have endured living through despair and darkness of these circumstances is not easy to put into words. My research took me to different genders, different cultures, and different extremes of personal history. It was really heartbreaking to find out these facts via individual memoirs because it felt like they all sat in the middle of my room, up close and personal. What I do know now without a doubt is that I can clearly relate to the raw emotions which back up any human trauma out there. Any of these emotions are what connects humans all over the world; it gives people the key to relating to one another, especially in the space of suffering, as it will demonstrate through the call for and usage of foster care.

A great deal of personas have realized how Foster Care is affecting the nation. There have been many attempts to fix the problems, some have failed and some have been successful. Out of all of the attempts, the programs Kinship Care and Foster Care to Success are a couple that have been successful.

In this article, the author shows that the longer children are staying in foster care, the chances of them moving back to something permanent living is very small. He explains that the age of the child really puts a toll on when they will be leaving. Once they reach the legal age, they age out and are to find a permanent place to stay. The chances of this not happening is very slim, considering over 70% of twelve-year-olds deal with this situation. The article explains how the experience living in the foster care causes children to forget past events. Children that have been through rough times only believe they have lived only in foster care. Those children who have not dealt with a serious household problem tend to know where they used to

“Mother meant the whole world to me and there wasn’t anything I could do to get her back. It was like I had lost everything.” Lucie, Age 19. “I felt so bad for my mom and I constantly felt like it was my fault because I couldn’t do anything to stop it.”Poem Girl, Age 17. “I felt so disappointed and heartbroken. I hated my life.” Brittany, Age 13.“I felt very sad and I knew I could not do anything about it. I had to get over it. I know how it feels to be pushed around. I have been there.”Einstein, Age 11.These are real quotes written by real foster kids. Sadly for foster care there are 264,746 children entering care - that translates to a child entering care every two minutes in the United States and Child Abuse. The main reason for foster care,

Imagine your 18th birthday I bet most of you were excited you're an adult now you're ready to experience the world. Packing your bags for college. Something you have been preparing for a while now imagine what it is like for a foster child. Turning 18 is their worse nightmare. Could you imagine leaving your parents who you have spent your life with and never talking to them again?

That spirit that makes a child want to succeed is something that is built over time. Many foster children feel uncertain or their self esteem may have suffered at the hands of an abusive parent or caregiver. It is only through consistent praise and encouragement that a child will begin to overcome these setbacks and learn to seek success on his or her own.

There are so many kids in foster care that need a forever family to love them, help them, it will change or even save a life, doesn’t that want to make you help a youth.That is why my family went into foster care, we have adopted one child so far and his name is Charlie. When he was born his liver was horrible and he was in the hospital bed for quite a long time. I remember the first time holding him so extremely well, it was the day before my birthday and we were visiting the hospital and when my family found out that we could hold him, my eyes filled with joy, it was like a birthday

.For my mother her choice to go to school to go school and get an education was important because her mother didn't get the choice to. the result of my great grandfather's sexism caused this horrible thing endowed upon her. Namely, because of that she made up her mind to get an education no matter what it takes because they are equally endowed with the power to be successful. in the choice of discipline she had a wayward cousin and she was moving with bad company and was negatively affected causing a lack in education. because y mom didn't want to end up like that she choose her friends carefully because of the effect they evidently have. she wanted to be in power of her own life, and not allow others to dictate it for her. her mom's illness