Foster Care Literature Review

The second theme collaboration and better communication consisted of the challenges that caseworkers faced when attempting to communicate with the youth’s support team included, social workers and foster parents. From the results lack of communication with the youth’s support team was prevalent in most of the youth in foster care. In addition to the lack of communication, foster youth expressed since they have been in foster care, numerous caseworkers have been in their lives, which also could have an impact on the accuracy of knowledge of supports in services for the youth aging out in foster care

As it stands, the foster system seeks to achieve these goals, but it falls short in many ways. Alumni of the foster care system are more likely to develop mental and physical health issues (Kessler et al., 2008). A factor in this fact is the lack of support that alumni receive once they have aged out of the system. The age adults are able to leave the foster care system is 18 in some states and 21 in others. However, these former foster children are typically not given adequate support once they have aged out, and are mostly not prepared with resources and information for life on their own, outside of the child welfare system.

Foster Youth books often expand on the complexity of psychosocial transformations and trials and tribulations children face in the process of being placed in foster care system, but authors do not incorporate testimonials from the youth. An example of such book is called To the End of June, in which the Cris Bream sheds light on the foster care policies and the meaning of family without expanding on the life history of foster children. In order to be able to understand one of the most vulnerable members within society, foster youth, it is important to have contextual evidence, such as personal testimonies from the youth. Yes, it is significant to understand the statistics and policies that play a role in the foster youth community, but it is vital for stories to be shared in order to humanize the group.

The Effects of a Broken System Foster care is a system in which a child under the age of eighteen, is placed in a temporary home away from one’s parents due to physical or mental neglect. Children from as young as a few days old to teenage years are placed in foster care every day. The amount of children in the system affect how needs are met and how high these youths are placed on a need of special care for problems that were developed before and while in the system. Most of which occur because they are abused and that is why they were taken away. Foster care is an escape for those being mistreated.

Most children are entering foster care in the early years of life when brain growth and development are most active. It is known that emotional and cognitive disruptions in the early lives of children have the potential to impair brain development. Child maltreatment during infancy and early childhood has been shown to negatively affect child development, including brain and cognitive development, attachment, and academic achievement. The experiences of infancy and early childhood provide the organizing framework for the expression of children 's intelligence, emotions, and personalities. When those experiences are primarily negative, children may develop emotional, behavioral, and learning problems that persist throughout their lifetime, especially in the absence of targeted interventions.

When 22 percent of any child population flees the system which adults have provided to keep them safe, something is wrong. These youth may have insights the rest of us fail to see. Studies show foster care is a highway to health problems, homelessness, early pregnancy, arrest, incarceration, and sex trafficking. And those are the lucky kids. Foster care alumni are five times more likely to commit suicide and eight times more likely to be hospitalized for a serious deranged disorder.

Advocates of foster care programs are declaring that the need for foster parents is greatly needed. In New Orleans alone there was a ten percent decrease in foster families. In addition, children needing to find a temporary home has increased. Some obstacles affect the outcome of this system, but not many people would guess that environment changes the situation drastically.

Children and adolescents in foster care represent a highly traumatized population and are at an elevated risk of developing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). These youths experience a wide range of trauma ranging from familial separation, physical/emotional/sexual abuse, neglect, bereavement, and domestic/community violence. As of September 30, 2014, there were approximately 415,129 children placed in foster care (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2015). The number of children entering the foster care system has dramatically increased in recent decades, and research suggests the surge is due to the rising number of neglect cases associated with parental drug/alcohol abuse, poverty, homelessness, AIDS, and domestic violence

Common misconceptions associated with being in foster care portray youth in the system as orphans. Youth in foster care are supposedly delinquents, and will perform poorly in academics compared to their peers who are not placed in these institutions. In society, these stereotypes are often pretended, but very little people understand the circumstances and factors the youth in the foster care system are facing. Youth in care are often juxtaposed to their community counterparts, to signify the impact of being a ward of the state, rather than being with a family member.

According to Crosson-Tower (2010), children enter foster care for causes such as but not limited to physical abuse, physical neglect, sexual abuse, emotional maltreatment, domestic violence, substance abuse, and physical or mental illness of parents. In addition, she states that the death of parents can cause a child to enter foster care if no available relatives could undertake their care. Many of these causes of child maltreatment may also come from parents who are poor, uneducated, and experienced childhood trauma (Crosson-Tower, 2010). Therefore, the cycle of child abuse and neglect will continue if not provided the necessary services to prevent and treat the

Our foster care system was developed in the 19 century, and it all started with Charles Loring Brace taking in homeless children. The system has come a long way since it started by passing laws, such as the child abuse prevention and treatment act, that protect children, and among another things, however, it still has problems. Some of the major issues they have are children placements, preparing them for adulthood, the rules and regulations with the foster parents, and drug abuse among teens in foster care. Child welfare promises these kids a place to call home, to be loved, supported and cherished, as every child should. Some of these kids go from foster home to another one, which affects them in their development.

a. Foster parents can have an impact on the lives of a foster child by giving them a safe place to stay where they can feel loved and cared for. Foster parents can also provide the love and support that these children need especially if they came from an abused or neglected home. According to (Hasenecz, 2009) there have been several shocking stories about children being abused and neglected while in foster care or even worse reports of social workers who knew of the abuse and neglect and failed to report it or do anything about

Experiencing rejection and parental unavailability can cause, children develop behavioral patterns that have negative consequences for social-emotional development. Multi placement in foster care is linked, to poor social functioning as well as, emotional difficulties. There are also negative impacts on child behavior when there are multiple placement changes. It makes it hard for children to have a good relationship with their foster parents when they 've, had multiple changes in placement.(Hodges 2156). There are frequent, anxiety and depression diagnoses among foster children.

When children are taken from their homes at a young age and placed in a foster home they are already create a form of disconnection, yet when taking them from their siblings their familial connections are torn away ten times faster. Siblings provide leadership, care, and challenger in each other's lives, siblings are meant to guide one another and help their family in tough times. When one doesn't have their sister or brother to be their guide, the child may not join the right crowd. Then the serious issue of full disconnection from all relationships. When one is separated from so many things all at once, it is very rare for that child to form a bond, with the adults or the other foster children.

According to a Child Protective Investigation, there are approximately half a million children in the U.S. foster care system, otherwise known as congregate care (group homes and institutions). Children are placed in congregate care when they are found to be in an unsafe environment. Usually children of abuse or maltreatment are placed first (Font, 2015). Out-of-home-care causes increased problems of attachment, behavioral, and psychological disorders in the developing child. Child safety is the primary goal of out-of-home-care; however, maltreatment investigations are still reported in those institutions.