The Goal Of Healing Homes

The number of children in the foster care system continues to increase. While the foster care system is essential in helping abused, abandoned, and neglected children, many children remain in foster care for long periods of time when family reunification or adoption is planned. Court delays can often extend the time between when children enter the foster care system and when they are placed into permanent homes. Significant differences exist in the quality of care and outcomes for children depending on their race and ethnicity. The percentage of children of color in the foster care system is larger than the percentage of children of color among the general U.S. population. However, the occurrence of child abuse and neglect is at about the same rate in all racial/ethnic groups.

The Foster Care System with the kids who are in it is a massive social issue that America is facing today. There are more than 640,000 foster children in the United States every year. There are 23,000 foster children living in group homes at one time. There are 32,000 who live in institutions, and twenty-seven states do not meet federal abuse and neglect standards. (Attention) Personally, I am a foster sister, because my family currently fosters. Therefore, we see the issues and needs of fostering, daily. (Rapport and Credibility) This speech will discuss the importance of the nature of foster care, the catastrophic problems of foster care, and the proposed solution for the foster care system in America. (Preview)

A foster carer should respect and nurture a child’s cultural, racial and religious identity they should

Foster children struggle immensely within healthcare and the foster care system. They are not receiving the correct support to help them when they go out into the real world.Within foster care, children and teens can either go into a foster home or a group home. Group homes can prevent permanent and authentic connections, while in foster homes, adolescents experience abuse and they are aware that there is no long term stability. For fifteen years, Betsy Krebs has worked with teens in the foster care

While the number of Latino children in foster care continues to increase, there is a shortage of Latino foster care/adoptive parents to take children in when they are placed in the system. Although it is not required that a Latino child be matched with a Latino family, it can be of great benefit for the child to be placed within their racial/ethnic group (Bausch, 1999). Reasons for the lack of available foster/adoptive parents in this community are greatly affected by Latino perceptions of foster care and adoption, cultural beliefs, and organizational barriers (Quintanilla, 2002).

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.

Each year 542,000 children nationwide live temporarily with foster parents, while their own parents struggle to overcome an addiction to alcohol, drugs, illness, financial hardship or other difficulties (Mennen, Brensilver, & Trickett, 2010.) The maltreatment they experienced at home, the shock of being separated from their birth parents, and the uncertainty they face as they enter the foster care system leave many children feeling abandoned or lost. Children have many needs, but while in foster care these needs are not always met. A supportive family environment is created for those children whose parents are not able to take the

The overrepresentation of African American children in the foster care system is a major issue in the United States. African American children only represent about fourteen percent of the child population in the United States, yet represents for thirty percent of the children in the foster care system (Lorthridge, 2011). Ards (2012) stated that African American children are one and a half times more likely to be involved with child protective services and two times more likely to be placed in an out-of-home placement compared to any other race. Being a minority in a country, but the majority in an institution, such as foster care, is a significant problem. Not only is the overrepresentation of African American children a matter of question, but their experience while in foster care is concerning as well. African American children are overrepresented at every aspect in the foster care system and the numbers are not decreasing. According to Anyon (2011), African American children are overrepresented at every stage/decision point in the foster care system. The five stages are known as the five key decision points, which are, report of abuse and/or neglect, referral of report for investigation, reunification, out-of-home placement and termination of parental rights, and exiting the foster care system (Harris, 2008).

Even in places where the minority population is small the amount of children removed from their families was still large, in fact about three times as high as their proportion in the general population. “Bremner (1974) states, “Although the rate of child welfare services to Negro children was higher…behavioral and emotional problems were reported for a considerably smaller proportion of Negro children… This raised the question for some professionals that whether placement of minority-group children is precipitated by poverty and lack of supportive resources, rather than disruptive family relationships or perceived habits of the child” (p. 8). The removal rate of Native American children was high as well. Like African American children there were obvious overlaps between removal from the home and poverty. As well during that time most social workers were Caucasian and tended to have different cultural standards in terms of family life therefore creating convolution. Like the circumstances of Native American children being taken from their home in the turn of the century, Native American children, when taken from their home often lost their culture and

In conclusion, Lee explores a challenging topic in her article, revealing an area in which America is truly failing her neediest children. The article impacted me most because I want to work in the foster care system, helping children and trying to keep them from falling through the cracks, like many of the children in New York City’s foster care

The foster care system in the United States is viewed negatively and the media portrays it as such. The public only knows what the media tells them about the foster care system. The stereotypical views are mostly what is thought the foster care system consisted of, not what goes on behind the scenes (Leber & LeCroy, 2012). The only people who would have a good insight on what goes on behind the scenes are the people that are involved, which are the caregivers, the social workers, the biological families, and the children. Their placements, relationships with their caregivers, and stability all had factors of how the foster care system was

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

Although this situation can create negative consequences that can be detrimental to the child once reunited with their biological families. Once the child has been reunited they stand the chance of having a sense of not belonging, and not having a clear understanding of the beliefs and culture which they were born into, this can cause annihilation for all family members. Those that experience culture differences has the potential to benefit from a useful learning experience especially when education is put into the living arrangement, education holds the key to success for most. When speaking on personal culture influences those children miss out on what generations have passed on to the next generation, not having the knowledge of the struggles their parents, grandparents, and others have had to endure lessen the ability to understand the family’s animosity towards other cultures. Poverty and homelessness has become a rising factor for children being placed in other cultures in society today, we see white families adopting and fostering African American children, which can be a success story, but when these children are not exposed to their natural heritage they loss out on the link to their

Last year, the sweetest child ever was being adopted by a great couple with great kids. After living with them for over six months, they were considering taking her in. They denied the case. She was unable to permanently live with this great family because she was Indian and the foster couple was not. In Oklahoma, there were fifty-six adoptions in 2015, ages one to seventeen. However, in 2000 there were about 128 adoptions, some being only a few months old, all the way up to seventeen years old (“Statistics”). Non-Indian couples should not only be able to foster but should be able to adopt an Indian child, because the child begins to bond with the temporary family, and the foster family can learn what is necessary for not only fostering