Alexis Sanchez
Hampton
Period 2
2/22/12
2nd Draft of Foster Care System Essay
The foster care system originally developed near the 1990’s when the new law requires state child welfare agencies to identify cases that where "aggravated circumstances" to make a permanent separation from their family for the child’s own well-being (5). An advocate of foster care believes that foster care provides a protective stable environment for children who cannot live at home. It also acknowledges that children are better off in foster than in abusive homes. The foster care system is mistaken because it lacks the emotional phase that a young adolescent, perhaps may encounter in their own foster home.
In the Foster Family Startling Statistics, research found out that young people in foster care are more likely to face unhealthy conditions by ending up in the streets, poverty, and unemployment or in prisons after they leave the foster care system(4). Also, nearly three million reports of child maltreatment (physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect and abandonment) in foster homes, has come to the attention of the public child welfare agencies in the United States every year(1). These statistics matter because it notifies that the foster care system is not doing their job right. The U.S. General Accounting office found “young 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”(7). Young children are expected to be in good hands of people to be trusted, not “neglected”.
For instance, Julie and her twin brother Juan were placed with their grandmother who tried to care for their needed services. The agency refuse to provide assistance, so the children were being put in five different placements in which they often failed to receive proper medical care for their health problems. The agency then sent Julie and Juan, at the age of two, to an institution for adolescent boys. When their grandmother visited them she discovered that Julie had been physically abused. The twins were then placed with a foster mother who again abused them, while failing to provide proper medical care. Juan, after suffering a harsh abuse, died at age 3 before he could be returned to his grandmother. Julie's condition worsened after her brother's death, and she died at age four. The advocacy group Children's Rights sued the city of New York for damages, and a jury awarded $87,500 to Julie's estate. Because of the shortage of conventional foster homes due to the high number of children being unnecessarily placed in care, children often have labels assigned “arbitrarily” or decided by a judge, for purposes of placement (6).
The foster care system people have to be interview in order to become foster parents. The first step in becoming licensed as a foster parent is by calling the program. Then the foster care program will send an informational packet. They will also take some information from the parent and refer them to an open house in near their area. The Open House will provide information needed to be a foster parent. After that, if the parent is interested to be a foster parent, they will have a personal interview that will be scheduled. When they are done with the personal interview, the Department of Children and Families (DCF) would then determine if they had the qualifications to be invited to a series of 10 PRIDE classes. PRIDE stands for Parents Resource for Information, Development and Education which are classes that are very informative about DCF and the children they serve (3). Above this, my point is that the system is not well developed to license a foster parent. There should be a record of their maintenance or possibly a criminal record. This can show if the foster parent is eligible to be a foster parent. Also a parent who attends this may lie about their situation; therefore they should have evidence proving that they are available to provide for foster children. Also they should be tested on the way a parent will treat a child. The foster system tend to ignore “minor” mistakes like a “DUI cannot affect a child’s safety. Those “minor” mistakes should be very well considered because it may result to a drastic problem (2).
A number of social workers, have claimed that they dealt with rebellious children went sent to foster home. “It is not the foster care system that has failed to reach its purpose for the development of the child, but the child’s attitude towards the situation to the system, like rebelling to their foster parents...” (6) it clearly states the child’s actions are or can be the reasons that the foster care may not fully function. I disagree, with their view that it is the rebellious adds to the problem because, as research has shown that children driven to bad behavior because of psychological stress and trauma. “Sometimes children feel that they should be protective because of their past experiences. Children also may experience this kind of behavior due to the lack of attention they receive”(6), states the Children’s Association Program. Briefly, children are going through stress about their dramatic situations in their life. Children need professional help that will alleviate their anger and frustration from the problems that they have experience. Furthermore, it is often said that foster homes remove children from abusive / neglected homes; therefore less likely to experience abuse in foster care then in their own homes. It is possibly true, but there are millions cases such as Julie and her twin brother Juan. Foster care should provide a better system and the government should put attention about these situations. If some cases there are children who have succeeded from these foster homes were because they were picked on race. Most foster children who succeeded were Caucasian, which reveals how the system works under type of favoritism. Also some many minorities grow in inadequate neighborhoods that affect the child’s being. “Hispanic populations are more likely (54 percent) to consider adoption than African-American (45 percent) and White populations (36 percent)” (1), likewise the statistics show higher rates for minorities then in whites to be in foster care and causes because of the area they live in.
Moreover, all the facts and evidence stated here have shown that the foster care system needs improvement the way in needs to run. I suggest that the Child Services should do an act instead of investigating the situation because already many cases have been identified of neglect. Other bigger programs or the National government should take part and notice how these happenings have occur in causes to leading worst effects that a child faces. I conclude my statement that foster care systems have been unsuccessful in focusing on the child’s emotional condition.
1. Rick Thoma “A Critical Look at the Foster Care System: How Widespread a Problem?” Last updated December 1, 2005, Web. 20 Feb. 2012 http://liftingtheveil.org/foster04.htm
2. “How to Become a Foster Parent”, Department of Children and Families, copyright 2002-2012 Web. 20 Feb.2012, http://www.ct.gov/dcf/cwp/view.asp?a=2552&q=314442
3. “Foster Parent Interview”, Junior Member of Adoption Forums, October 27, 2009 Web. 20 Feb.2012, http://forums.adoption.com/foster-parent-support/366617-foster-parent-interview.html
4. Carolyn A. Kubitschek, “Holding Foster Care Agencies Responsible for Abuse and Neglect”, Winter 2005 Web. 20 Feb. 2012, http://www.americanbar.org/publications/human_rights_magazine_home/irr_hr_winter05_fostercare.html
5. “Foster Care”, Children’s Law Center, 2012 Web. 20 Feb. 2012, http://www.childrenslawcenter.org/issues/foster-care
6. Kendle Walters “Child welfare advocate speaks against foster program, shelters Default Thumbnail”, February 28, 2011 Web. 20 Feb. 2012, http://unlvrebelyell.com/2011/02/28/child-welfare-advocate-speaks-against-foster-program-shelters/
7. "Foster Care." Gale Encyclopedia of Everyday Law. Ed. Jeffrey Wilson. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 787-790. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 1 Feb. 2012. http://ic.galegroup.com:80/ic/suic/ReferenceDetailsPage
