Foster Care and the High Risks of Children in the Foster Care System in the United States

Forty percent of all adolescents that age out of the foster care system end up homeless (Scannapieco, M, Carrick, K, & Painter, K., 2007). From the Orphan trains to the Children’s Bureau, foster care has been a controversial and well researched topic in the United States. The Orphan trains gave children the opportunity to be chosen by a family, oftentimes to work, but to be accepted into another home nonetheless. Being placed into the Foster Care system is done so with the intention that in the future permanent placement can be established for the foster child; however, many cases have proved that the ongoing transition from home to home has left adolescents ill prepared for the adequate change into adulthood.

Children in foster care are at a high risk on many scales. Not only have studies shown that adolescents growing up in foster care are behind in academics, but their overall quality of life has shown less than peers growing up in permanent homes. Research has indicated that issues with forming positive relationships, having mental and physical health problems, experiencing reduced educational information and being very dependent on others are some of the many risk factors that target those in the foster care system (Atkinson, 2008).

Foster care children are at a greater disadvantage of succeeding financially. Poverty is a social problem for adolescents who age out of the foster care system because they are oftentimes denied/unaware of resources to get them to financial stability. Forty percent of foster care adolescents who age out of the system become homeless. (Scannapieco, M, Connell-Carrick, K, & Painter, K, 2007). Further, the rate at which foster youth are dropping out of high school has sky rocketed. Aging out unprepared has left the foster children unaware of what it takes to fend for oneself, take care of one’s personal needs causing studies to show that only 33% of aged out foster adolescents graduate from high school, and from there, 60% of aged out females became pregnant within 4 years of leaving the system (Scannapieco, et. al, 2007).

The Orphan trains sent as many as 250,000 children on trains to be transported to the Midwest in search of families. These trains led to a fast paced starting point for the Child Welfare System; although, it had its own flaws. The families interesting in children were not assessed thoroughly, and with economic times being tough, many adopted children to help with labor and gain the financial benefits (The Children’s Aid Society, n.d.).

The building of foster care did not stop at these trains. CAPTA (Child Abuse Protection and Prevention Act) of 1974 gave federal funding to states to delegate between research, awareness, programs and resources and the individual need of children in the system. (Child Information Gateway, 2009).

Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1984 spoke out and reported that half of those in foster care were teenagers, and that they were not equipped with the measures that it took to be out on your own. The history of this problem shows the amount of children being placed in foster homes or congregate care over the years, and how the numbers have increased. In 1998 there were approximately 302,000 children in foster care, opposed to 556,000 in the year 2000 and 20,000 adolescents a year are aging out. (Scannapieco, M., et al. 2007). Twenty The Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 was an important wake up call. This act spread the news of this at risk population and what they were up against. Ensuring that the adolescents aging out were ready for the transition ahead was the key factor.

Today research shows that since the Foster Care Independence Act in 1999, there has been a 64% increase of the children who have been aged out of the system without proper future plans. Trends in foster care between the years 1998 and today show that there will continue to be an increase in the case load of foster children until society makes changes. If adolescents are not found homes, the numbers of teens entering foster care increases, as does the numbers of troubled emancipated adolescents.

Anyone entering the foster care system is at risk. Not all children are placed in permanent homes, or even given the opportunities to thrive. Those who are tossed from family to family, never learning crucial life skills to maximize their potential, are all affected. With the downfalls of improper education and care, foster care adolescents could spend their lives trying to get out of the exact situation they were taken out of.

Part 2:

Every child in foster care is affected. They long for permanency, relationships, basic needs, etc but many cases conclude saying that foster care has had the ability to inhibit such growth and need. Foster care youth around the ages of 18 and 21 are affected greatly. Once one of these ages (vary by state) are met, then the last option is adulthood. Without proper knowledge and readiness, there is no wonder why so many foster adolescents are homeless, addicted to substances, and falling behind in schools. Lack of education is hindering foster care youth from breaking the mold and the lack of resources are keeping them under or unemployed all together (Freundlich, M., & Avery, R. J. (2006). This population is at a great disadvantage by the mere fact that they live with neither member of the family. Support is an important role of managing transitioning into adulthood, and without proper support the process can make it even more difficult to get one’s self out of a predicament Network on Transitions to Adulthood. (2005)

In regards to social welfare and foster care, all adolescents in the system are at risk. Without permanency, they are all facing the same ultimate fate: aging out of the system. There are, of course cases where a foster family took in a child, and permanency ensued later, and the child is left with no real traumatic experiencing life decisions. Those at risk are those seen as minorities, those with a disability, basically anything but the social “norm.” Forty seven percent of teens in foster care have a debilitating health condition (Scannapieco, M., et al. 2007).

Social justice in social work and foster care promotes equality, and place individual value on everyone. Saying that every one person has their contributions to society, their niche, their personality, is reason why equality and the idea of freedom plays such a large scale in social justice. Social justice also takes a closer look at what is going on with the foster adolescents aging out. Because of this however, oppression is being places on foster care children. Resources are not being given to them, making progress difficult and change at times impossible.

History proves that although there are still many changes to be made in the foster care system, there have always been some who worked for change. The Social Security Act of 1935, the Child Abuse and Treatment Act and the Foster care Independence Act are all examples of taking appropriate steps in the right direction to make resources available for youth who age out of the system.

These actions have done things such as making it mandatory to report child abuse and neglect, offering programs and resources to foster families and children, making permanency a main goal within the system, and realizing with thorough research that adolescents are becoming an out group/discriminatory group based on what is made available to them.

The Social Security Act alone has provided an abundant amount of resources for foster youth. Without laws and regulations, foster homes and foster families would have free reign over those in their custody.

Charles Loaring Brace founded the Children’s Aid Society in 1853. This act goes early enough back to provide prenatal care for mothers, and goes on to provide services in the most crucial time of aging out. Job hunting and college information is given, so each foster child is aware that their goals are just as important and realistic as anyone else’s. This organization was one that began the free lunch system, as well as nursing care and sexual education and pregnancy information. The Orphan trains that were established in 1853 were seen as the first modern step towards foster care in today’s society.

Other steps in social reform can be explained by Jane Addams. She was a social reformer who provided various programs and resources for women and children .She created settlement houses, which provided. Homes for the less fortunate and in poverty, and gave overall opportunity for those in the community (jansson, 2009).

Foster care gives children a chance at a new life that they may not have had with their biological family. Roughly 20,000 foster youth a year are aging out of the system, and simply because of that they are automatically more likely to do worse than others. With research showing explaining an increase in birth rates, substance abuse, physical abuse and neglect and the lifelong consequences that go alone with aging out of the foster care system, society is finally beginning to see that the future’s adults are having limited potential growing up.

References

• Atkinson, M. (2008). Aging Out of Foster Care: Towards a Universal Safety Net for Former
• Foster Care Youth. Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review, 43(1), 183-212. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
• Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2004). Child Welfare/ Foster Care. Retrieved on May 28, 2011 from http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/about.cfm
• Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2004). Child Welfare/ Foster Care Statistics. Retrieved on May 28, 2011 from http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/about.cf
• Freundlich, M., & Avery, R. J. (2006). Transitioning from congregate care: Preparation and outcomes. Journal of Child & Family Studies, 15(4), 503-514. doi:10.1007/s10826-0069023-3
• Guinn, R. P. (2000). Passage of the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999: A Pivotal Step on Behalf of Youth Aging Out of Foster Care and Into a Life of Poverty. Georgetown
• Journal on Poverty Law & Policy, 7(2), 403. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
• Network on Transitions to Adulthood. (2005). Youth Aging out of Foster Care. Retreived May 28, 2011 from http://www.transad.pop.upenn.edu/downloads/courtney–foster%20care.pdf

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