The Negative Impact of the Media on the Society's Perception of the Foster Care System

The Foster Care systems that are in operation today are very minimally funded and provide a very low success rate of the children that come out of the foster child system in most states. The media labels the system as a last resort, that it is almost a punishment, when in reality the children have done nothing wrong. This opportunity should be taken advantage of by the foster care system and these children nurtured to be successful. The system has many flaws and the media exploits those flaws regularly without any action taken by the government or governing bodies that manage the system. Because of flaws and their exploitation in the media, a cloud of negativity engulfs the system and its procedures. Success is also a figure in this battle, fewer children are placed in foster care which deems that society in general is learning and growing from the education that is being provided to them.

Keywords: foster, funding, adoption, success, flaws

Turmoil, trouble, failure, these are all words that people associate negatively and that associating with children should never be an option. But in the foster care system these words signify most people’s thoughts of the children within the system. There are many failing points within the system, some of the more prominent ones include practices that date back to mid-century, lack of funds for the systems, and the media negativity that society sees on a daily basis from various outlets.

“Foster parents open their homes and hearts to children in need of temporary care, a task both rewarding and difficult. Unfortunately, there has been a decrease in the number of foster parents (non-relative) available to care for children over the past 10 years. This results in larger numbers of children remaining in institutional settings” (American Academy of, 2005). This is a statistic that sets the scene for failure, if there is a decrease in the amount of resources that the system needs, then that can only prove to be a detriment to the success, especially with an increasing population around the world and in this country also.

The foster care system procedures and standard operating policies should make the system very stable and efficient, but if this was the case then the media exploitation would be non-existent, instead it is more prominent now than ever. Children who are in the system are here because their parents are unable to care for them, but then the foster care system places them into other “homes” where the caregiver nurtures and stabilizes the child’s environment but in many cases this does not happen for various reasons.. Many times, the system experiences cases where abuse happens within the home of the caregiver, either due to negligence by the caregiver, by another child in the home, or by even the caregiver themselves. The amount of abuse that happens in the homes has grown previously over the years. “At Boston’s Children’s Hospital the number of cases screened rose 20 percent last year. At Seattle Children’s Hospital, a 27 percent increase in confirmed cases. In Beaufort, S.C., a 63 percent increase so far this year.” (Hughes, 2010.) Across the country, the system is experiencing an increase in abuse in the foster homes; this is partly due to the state of the economy but also the lack of screening and training that the caregivers are put through before given a child to care for.

In the movie The Blindside, when Michael and his mother visit the foster child service office, the file for Michael was not accessible at the current time, as visually the office was depicted as very unkempt and also had a lot of clutter. The worker tries to apologize but also puts forth a very disapproving look toward Michael when his “mother” asks about his file, this was due to the fact that there was very little information in his file. Very few records were in his file, but they knew he ran away from various places that he was placed under the foster care. The system needs a level of control on everyone placed in care of others, and be able to account for each and every child and their entire history throughout their journey within the system. Because of the lack of solidarity of the trail of the children, some of them are lost in translation and can actually end up missing within the system of numbers; the number they are assigned when they are entered into the system much like a prison. The children are not kept track of as well as a prison, but the two systems are grossly similar in some of their functions. Because of this lack of cohesion within the different parts of the foster care system, the children in the system often feel neglected and suffer from behavioral and or emotional issues, later on in life and even at the time of placement.

The budget concerns of the foster care system is not current news, this is an ongoing issue since the inception of the foster care system. Across the country states continuously slash the budgets of this system, sometimes up to half or more of the original allotment of funds for that fiscal year. “Several states have proposed or already made cutbacks to programs this year, like the Crisis Nursery in downtown Phoenix, which must now turn away children in families considered to be high risk” (Hughes, 2010). Because of this slash of funds, the care that these children expect to receive is now being cut and their well-being is feeling a great threatening due to the state government’s inability to balance their funds properly. Children who were once stable or the appearance of stability in the system are now not receiving the proper nourishment and healthy, stimulating environment due to funds that the governments are continuously squandering on other programs, some even for personal gain.

Because of this lack of consistency, and the shuffling of the files for each child, the media continually latches onto this flaw within the system and exposes it to society in great numbers. This is generally the basis for any movie or TV show that portrays a foster care system, much like the movie The Blindside. The negative portrayal of the system and how they do lose track of a person within their own system shows the director’s intent on the portrayal of the system in this movie. Michael is a child of the system due to a negligent mother and non-existent father, the system loses track of him and who he is staying with at the current time. When the family that brings him to their home wants to adopt him, the system proves to be a hassle with few consistencies and no answers are given to the mother or even Michael himself. The case worker refers to Michael as a number in the system, and since there were very few records in his file, his case worker seems to brush it off as a normal everyday occurrence rather than a big issue, since this is a human being they are dealing with and not just an inanimate object that is easily replaceable The way the media portrays this situation is eerily accurate unfortunately for many foster children in lower income communities or communities in which the foster care system is extremely lacking in funding. Not only in the movies, but in real life does the media bring out the negative in the system and tries to create large scale hysteria for any issue it can find.

Child abuse in the foster care system is continually becoming a larger issue and needs addressing by governmental agencies, but not in the way that exploits in the way the media in the past continues to portray them. The stories of child abuse in the foster care system sees continual increases in recent years due to the recession, and among other economic situations and struggles across the country. Because of this, the media brings to the surface all of these issues to the attention of the citizens of this country and expect them to rally around to instantly reform the system. It seems like every day there is another story on Facebook, Twitter, or any of the numerous news outlets that is profiling a story that involves child abuse and generally involves a foster child in a situation the system should protect them from, whether it be rape, murder or death.

Reform for the system is in much need, but an overnight reform is a lofty expectation, even for this country and the governmental process would take a significant amount of time for any sort of national reform to happen for the foster care system as a whole. Because media outlets are very prominent in today’s culture, the media immerses the viewers in these stories much more frequently, so they are more likely to remember the media’s portrayal of the system, whether it be positive or negative at that given moment. Because of this, the view of the people can change very rapidly depending on the mood the media outlets are in at that given moment. People change views based on 2 main points, the views of their peers and the morals that they hold within themselves, the media is just a major influence of those points and shows the citizens what their choices are in the situation and gives them the details with the bias of that media outlet.

“Thanks to sizable reductions in several other states, it’s a coast-to-coast phenomenon -the latest federal data, from 2008, recorded 463,000 children in foster care nationally, down more than 11 percent from 523,000 in 2002.” (Crary, 2010.) This is a very positive movement in showing the country that this system can be successful and that the media’s portrayal of the system is generally over exaggerated and very inconsistent with the topics that it emphasizes in order to draw attention to the flaws. Even though there are some successes, generally the system still needs great improvement on monitoring technologies and being able to keep track of the children within the system. “Children in Foster Care on Sept 30 2008- 457,000. Children in Foster Care on Sept 30 2010- 408,000” (CASEY, 2011). This trend continues to prove that success is happening within the system somewhere, because if not, then the numbers would be increasing due to lengthier stays within the system and more institutionalizing of the children who the system doesn’t have foster parents for at the current time.

But a reduction of numbers does not correlate to success as one might think, since there is a decrease in the number of available homes for foster children, reality is the failing system isn’t able to handle how many children are entering in. Out of sight, out of mind seems to be the trend they are promoting with this reduction.

Even though the system shows a numeric improvement, the big picture shows that the system continues to fail. This system should show great success and funding needs to be adequate for the number of cases currently in the system, in the end a failure is evident.

References

1. Hughes, S. (2010, May 11). Child abuse spikes during recession.. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-504103_162-5029133.html
2. Jackson, L. J., O’Brien, K., & Pecora, P. J. (2011). Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Among Foster Care Alumni: The Role of Race, Gender, and Foster Care Context. Child Welfare, 90(5), 71-93
3. Crary, D. (2010, June 5). Budget cuts threaten trend in foster-care placements. The Seattle Times. Retrieved May 1, 2012, from http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2012034424_fostercare06.html
4. Hancock J.L. (Producer/Director). (2009). The Blindside [Motion picture]. United States: Alcon
5. American academy of child and adolescent psychiatry. (2005, May). Retrieved from http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/facts_for_families/foster_care
6. CASEY. (2011, September). Casey family programs. Retrieved from http://www.casey.org/Press/MediaKit/pdf/FosterCareByTheNumbers.pdf

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