...Foster Care in the United States Sue King Liberty University Abstract The history of foster care in the United States started with orphan trains and the Children’s Aid Society founded by Charles Loring Brace. Recent research describes the child welfare system as an organization that provides service to helpless children in need. This paper will discuss foster care as it is relates to safety, permanency, and wellbeing of children in need The role of a foster parent and the process of loss, and grief after a child leave their biological parents will be discussed. Research suggests that Courts has the final decision whether a child will stay in foster care or return home. This paper will describe the developmental impact that foster care has on children after losing their biological family. There are several risk factors associated with poverty. This paper will discuss the significance of children reuniting with their biological parents and/or being adopted for permanency. Empirical evidence from recent research confirmed that hard times during childhood was related to health problems later in life. Foster care reform, educational outcomes, economic incentives for adoption, mentors and home visitation programs should be implemented to improve the foster care system. Keywords: foster care, developmental, health problems, orphan trains Foster Care in the United States The prevalence rate is high for foster care in the United States. The history...
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...include ARKids First health insurance for children, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps), Transitional Employment Assistance (TEA) and Medicaid. DHS uses Medicaid that is both federally and state funded to pay for 64 percent of the babies born in Arkansas each year and for the care of 69 percent of the state’s nursing home patients. Additionally, DHS protects children and the elderly who have been abused or neglected; finds adoptive homes for foster children; funds services for the elderly such as congregate and home-delivered meals and regulate nursing homes. While regulating childcare facilities, they also support high-quality early childhood education; treat and serve youth in the juvenile justice system; oversee services for blind Arkansans; runs residential facilities for people with developmental disabilities; manages the Arkansas State Hospital and Arkansas Health Center for those with acute behavioral health issues; and supports nonprofit, community and faith-based organizations that depend on volunteers to continue programs vital to our communities. The agency also partners with community mental health care centers to provide mental health services to almost 74,000 people each year. Over all, DHS serves more than 1.2 million Arkansans every single year. To manage these services and programs efficiently, DHS has 10 divisions and five support offices headquartered in Little Rock in addition to the 85 county offices. Among those...
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...Abstract Children being placed into the foster care system have experienced or are at risk of experiencing maltreatment. A study conducted utilizing data from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting Systems (AFCARS) provides estimated risks for children in the United States. As social workers we aim to make the voice of our clients be heard. A study conducted in Canada provided just that for twenty children in foster care. These children provided valuable advice for children entering foster care, foster parents and social workers. Having this valuable information can only bring positive insight to a difficult situation. Foster Care Risks and Transitions Foster care placement for children occurs when the child or children...
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...The safety of children should be one of the main goals throughout the world. Foster care is something that can help children stay safety. In the 1800s, people started to do something about children who were not taken care of. It started when children were told to work in the fields and in the house with their parents instead of getting an education. The children, therefore, set off to New York City. When they reached New York, they were taken by families that were going to help and not force them to work at such a young age. The main issue that raised awareness were cases involving parents harming their children. Some cases the children would pass away because of health issues. In the first article, Amy L. Ai et. al. (2013), writes about...
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...Youth in the foster care system repeatedly undergo multiple transitions before they reach adulthood. These transitions often create substantial amounts of stress and can intensify emotional and behavioral problems. With more than 29,000 young people exiting the foster care system each year, research has shown that these young people are frequently unprepared for their lives after foster care through findings of high rate homelessness, incarceration, unemployment and school failure (Greenen & Powers, 2007; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010). Furthermore, research also shows that less than 55% of youth who had exited foster care obtained jobs in the future that paid above the poverty line. Unfortunately, the young people aging...
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...As of 2014, more than 650,000 children were involved in foster care. More than half of these children were non-white (Foster Care - Children's Rights). The numbers continue to rise as years go by and we are seeing these children become products of their environment. Once they age out of foster care nearly a quarter are homeless, sixty percent of males have been convicted of a crime, and more than two-thirds of women have a child (Fessler). With all of these children under the care of the states, these children will soon age out and become members of our society. With almost forty-seven percent of former foster children being unemployed (CR Staff) they are contributing nothing to society, thus making this a huge societal problem. So, what happens...
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...America was undergoing issues with the foster care system. The problem was that there was too many children in the foster care system for an extended period of time. The president at the time, Bill Clinton, signed into law The Adoption and Safe Families Act (1997) (social work). This act was created because of the dramatic increase in the number of children in the foster care system. In spite of the number of placements for the children where drastically decreasing (hard knock life pg 376). The reason for the growth in quantity for children in the system was because of the rise of abuse in home (Illinois welfare). For the reasons illustrated above, the purpose of this policy was to keep children safe. Also, to move children through foster care more quickly. This will allow them to get a permanent home. Another purpose of this act was to provide services that are more effective for children. (Hard knock life 382). There were new provisions created to insure that the purpose of the act was followed through. Some provisions are to find an adoptive family or permanent home, the termination parents’ rights for circumstances, and providing states financial incentives for escalation of the...
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...There are approximately 670,000 children in foster care within the United states, 670, 000 kids that's the united states government is expected to feed, clothe, and provide a home for, leaving the United states economy. I propose a solution, one that will relieve the U.S. foster care system of all its burden, what if we hurdled up all the children over the age of ten, since less than twenty-three percent of children over the age of ten are wanted or are adopted within the U.S foster care system. Therefore, instead of scouring around to find decent homes and paying thousands of dollars to an individual to take care of these children who will not get adopted, but will also only be thrown into the streets on their eighteenth birthday without...
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...What affect does foster care have on children? Is it a stable and supportive environment? Foster care allows kids to have a chance to live a somewhat normal life. There are advantages and disadvantages for kids living in foster homes, but questions arise when there are foster parents that do not provide a stable environment. When we are not aware of these situations of unstable foster homes the kids placed in those foster homes will not have a good survival rate for success. Although there are parents out there that provide security for their foster children, we still need to be aware of the circumstances of kids placed in foster homes that are not safe and secure. Foster care is a great system to provide kids with families who do not...
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...and settle, rather then get moved around and feel worthless because we feel that no one wants us.” When people think of foster care we think of a safe place for a child to live in temporarily, but we often don't realize what is happening in a foster care system. This quote comes from a foster care child who talks about the fears of never having parents or ever being accepted because they are in foster care. Foster care systems have face many difficulties, and increasing amount of children, and the problems that the children face in and out of foster care. In our world today the economy is so badly corrupted that permanency for a foster...
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...Our Foster System Children are the backbone of any society. They represent what will come of that future society. Unfortunately, not all children are cared for, this can be a problem when we look at how children in the foster care system will grow up. When looking at the present time, there is major flaws in the current foster care system. The children today are not being properly taken care of. There are many reasons including: Poor funding, lack of homes, and settling issues. Overall, the flaws are making an unstable households and the issue must be fixed. The foster system of today is broken, the child inside are struggling mentally and physically; the system needs to be improved, the opposing view would be that foster care is successful...
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...Foster Care In the United States the homeless is on the rise. Much of this can be attributed to not only the lack of jobs, but also the improper care provided in critical developmental stages of one's life. Much of this improper care comes from our foster care system. A government run program is very corrupt not to mention inefficient. The foster care system is broken leaving 18 year olds helpless, on the streets, and drugs or prison. All of this could be prevented if these children were properly placed and if more funding went into it. Many children do not get adopted in the foster care system. In most states when a child turns 18 they are no longer able to remain in the foster care system. Some states have extended time where a child can...
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...Youth who age out of the foster care system are vulnerable to adversity. Research shows that half of them age out of the system without a high school diploma, employment, or housing security (Stott, 2011). Furthermore, about 25% of young adults have reported substance use and 15% have dependence disorders. The youth population in the American foster care system is five times more likely to be diagnosed with substance abuse disorders than others who are not in the system (Meyers, Kaynak, Clements, Bresani, & White, 2013). According to Garcia and Courtney (2011), 19.2% of youth in the child welfare system met the criteria for substance abuse and dependency. When adolescents are in the foster care system for long periods of time, which is usually...
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...experience prior or during the foster care system might have an impact on children’s attachment styles as well. Getting mental health support is important but often unsupported. In a study conducted by Burns, Phillips, Wagner, Barth, Koko, Campbell, & Landsverk (2004), 47.9% of children in foster care reported behaviors in need of mental health services. Of that group, only 11.7% received the care that they needed (Burns et al., 2004). The type of foster care home they go into also may impact the type and amount of mental health support the children will receive. Swanke et al. (2016) showed that children placed in traditional care, which is a total stranger, are 14% more likely to receive mental help than children placed in kinship care, which can be a relative or family friend. Even then, if the child has been in the system for over one year, the mental health...
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...Analysis The approach that I chose to take was that of in depth observations of ten families, these observations took place in random settings so that I would not disturb the families or their children. As mentioned in our method portion ten families and their foster children were observed . To analyze the effectiveness of my in depth observations I will take my raw notes of each child and their families and analyze how each child has been affected by being part of the foster care system. For my initial coding phase I will use the approach of structural coding in which I will analyze my notes and also incorporate three common similarities between the 10 families and their new foster children. The structural coding of my notes will lead...
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