Running head: FOSTER CARE: THE RISKS AND IMPACTS ON CHILDREN

Fostering Hope: The Risks and Impacts on Children Tori Plante November 22, 2013

Running head: FOSTER CARE: THE RISKS AND IMPACTS ON CHILDREN Introduction Foster care is a way that a child is taken care of when the biological parent cannot care

for them or in times when the parents no longer want to care for them. It has become an issue for the children who live in such environments due to lack of personal care and attention. The lives of children in foster care are often filled with many moments of chaos, depression and uncertainty. Along with the lack of attention to children, the facilities themselves can also be found in terrible, unkempt conditions. In the article, A Vulnerable Population at Risk, it states that around 542,000 children are in foster care. Through this type of experience, many of the children tend to be exposed to risks. These risks can take place during childhood or even in adulthood. No matter the situations of the environment, these children do face personal impacts. Foster Care Many children are placed into foster care because of the economic standings of their parents. Also, many of the children in foster care were taken away from their families because of problems with parental abuse or neglect, homelessness, exposure to domestic violence, and substance abuse. These homes are not safe or friendly for children. In many cases, parents will leash out their anger on these defenseless, young children. The environmental situations of the homes can be highly poor. There are however, facilities that are built to help these children. Though some facilities are found to have the same poor environmental standings as some homes, there is some that out way the negatives. For example, Fostering Hope is a non-profit organization that provides goods and services to children resting in the foster care system in Horry, Georgetown, Marion and Dillon counties in north eastern South Carolina (Fostering Hope, 2013, page 1). According to the website, over 500 children within these counties are in foster care due to abuse and/or neglect. It is highly upsetting to me to know that many children in

Running head: FOSTER CARE: THE RISKS AND IMPACTS ON CHILDREN our community and neighboring communities are in this type of care from such brutal acts. The faculty and staffs main goal with this organization is to ensure that each of these children is given new or newly clothes, shoes, toys, hygiene items, and a duffle bag upon entering care,

which will do a great deal in leading them to a more secure and loving life style (Fostering Hope, 2013, page 1). Each child or teen is allowed to come back to the Childrens Resource Center every three months at no cost to them or the foster families. Many caseworkers such as those from DSS shop here at no cost to helps those children in need. The facility does allow emergency calls from caseworkers that will provide the child or teen with a suitcase that has the appropriate necessities for that gender and age. Along with the Childrens Resource Center, the Hope Fund was developed for activities such as sports and music club. This fund however, is only for those children in long-term foster care. Fostering hope is also working on a program that will help the children and teens develop and good self-esteem and help them to develop ways to make good decisions. Within this program there is a strong focus on academics, social skills, and careers. The Risks The two major risk behaviors are sexual behaviors and substance use. It is deeply terrible that these two risk behaviors are evident in these young teens/adults. Such actions will, indeed, lead to a terrible life style that many others will frown upon even though they did not actually choose it for themselves. These individuals become affected in such ways that they may not even know right from wrong. When reaching the age of 18, a child has exceeded the age requirement of foster care, however there are some facilities that allow those young adults to stay in care till the age of 21 or still receive some form of assistance. The outcomes of risk behaviors in youth along with the population of foster care have risen. Most of these young adults suffer from poverty and homelessness. The article states that one-third to one-half of former foster care

Running head: FOSTER CARE: THE RISKS AND IMPACTS ON CHILDREN

young adults have been arrested and/or jailed; substance use is reported by about 25% with about 15% having substance abuse or dependence disorders; and between 40% and 60% have been pregnant or been the parent of a child. The percents of these different topics should come as a signal warning to of us. These children are not going off to college and becoming doctors and lawyers. According to these reports, theyre throwing their lives away due to lack of attention, care, and teaching while they were young. There are times where children and teens will be moved about to different facilities. This has been proven to cause emotional and social impacts. This has also caused children and teens to find it harder to gain trust with others. Some of these foster children where moved without much notice causes them to suffer and lose friendship. Being put in isolation, hopelessness, and ambivalence can lead them to also suffer from depression and anxiety. It has been proven that adolescents in foster care seem to use substances at higher rates than their peers (Stott, 2012, page 4) because of the depression and anxiety. To many, including myself, many might wonder why children who are in care programs using and abusing substances more than those who arent. It could simply be a matter of poor environments in the facilities or foster homes. Being put into foster care can affect the development and mental health of children since there can be multiple children if looking at a foster care facility. An example of this could be school where certain students may need one-on-one time with the teacher, but the teacher cannot provide that due to the amount of students in the classroom that also need help. Many believe that foster care is for children who do not have a home. However, foster care is an institution for kids who not only see neglect, abuse, and even sexual abuse but experience it. According to the World Health Organization, 20% of children and adolescents worldwide suffer from some sort of emotional or behavioral problem. The U.S. Surgeon General reports that roughly 1 in 10 American children experience a mental illness severe enough to

Running head: FOSTER CARE: THE RISKS AND IMPACTS ON CHILDREN cause significant impairment. Anywhere from 40% to 85% of kids in foster care have mental health disorders, depending on which report you read, says Stephen Hornberger, director of behavioral health for the Child Welfare League of America. How can foster care be a proper placement of care for children if it only causes them to be prone to diseases? It is absolutely absurd that this type of information is mainly hidden from the public unless research is done. In my opinion, I do not believe that anyone deserves to be put into an environment that can lead to such outcomes. Children kept in foster care seem to almost end up worse off than they were before. This is due to a lack of well-trained providers who can deal specifically with loss issues. Many of the children in foster care were taken away from their families because of problems with parental abuse or neglect, homelessness, and exposure to domestic violence and substance abuse. Many children will experience a disease called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

which is caused from traumatic experience. This experience causes and individual to not be able to correctly respond to this danger. Instead, they may experience fear or stress even when the danger is not even present. Sadly, due to living in a foster home, these children have poor educational standings. A good portion of children move from home to home missing excessive school days as well as not graduating high school and only receiving a GED. This rate of GEDs is six times higher than the rest of adolescent population. When reaching adulthood they experience loss of hope, no social or financial support, and even as far as homelessness. Without institutional change, children in foster care will continue to be shaped within an institution that currently generates young adults who struggle mentally, educationally, and relationally, which will lead to increases in statistics and poor futures. I agree to this statement because without change, foster care will continue to affect every individual who was once apart it leaving them less fortunate

Running head: FOSTER CARE: THE RISKS AND IMPACTS ON CHILDREN than those who were not. In the article it states, every year 287,000 will exit foster care and will struggle to participate in society. That is such a high number that should open the eyes of every individual in the world; not just America. The effects of foster care are great. Their feelings become abandoned and they will begin to fill abnormal around other individuals. The Impacts Those who enter foster have a tendency of experiencing social problems such as teen pregnancy, substance abuse, and arrests (Zlotnick, 2012, page 1) along with health problems. Though this statement is true, I wish it was not. Our children, no matter the country, should not have to be brought to a life as such just because of the actions from their parents. Along with those issues, many go through mental and social problems. When coming out from foster care, many face unemployment and homelessness. Certain situations have different effects and outcomes. If a dramatic event occurs during childhood, it has a greater affect in effecting that child in adulthood, however, that event happening during a later time, it may not have the same effect. It has been proven that adults who have a history in foster care have a higher chance of mental health problems. This is more commonly found in adults past the age of thirty-five. The

article refers to many issues that have led to mental health issues. However, the men and women that were surveyed did not have mental health issues because of those issues, but because of history of foster care. It was also proven that white ethnicity had a higher rate than those of another ethnicity, especially those of male. They would also experience physical problems that prohibit daily function (Zlotnick, 2012, page 3), such as the inability to participate in activities such as working, socializing, and even properly taking care of themselves. Along with mental and physical problems, those of a history in foster care also experience the inability to work, have a higher rate in receiving social security disability insurance, although those who are

Running head: FOSTER CARE: THE RISKS AND IMPACTS ON CHILDREN

married have less of an effect of these, and chronic acute health problems. Adults with a history of foster care were 3 times more likely to miss a year of work than those without histories of it (Zlotnick, 2012, page 5), which could be from issues that relate to the risks and impacts. The lives of these individuals are being ruined through a system that is supposed to help them. Missing work could lead to becoming fired; only causing more complications. There are also such things as, being unmarried, less educated, living in poverty, poorer health status, having hypertension, and being a current smoker (Zlotnick, 2012, 5) that become evident when looking into the lives of these individuals.

Conclusion Though foster care is a way for children to get away from their troubling homes or used as a care for those who do not have parents/parents not wanting to take care of them, there are negatives. Throughout research, it is clearly evident that foster care may be a worse environment than some of the homes that many of them are previously in. The experiences that children may face during foster care and beforehand have caused development of mental illnesses and diseases. The impacts that foster care creates can be life threatening or causes the individual to have an unsuccessful life.

Running head: FOSTER CARE: THE RISKS AND IMPACTS ON CHILDREN Reference Bruskas, D. (2008). Children in Foster Care: A Vulnerable Population at Risk. Journal Of Child& Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing,21(2), 70-77. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6171.2008.00134.x Zlotnick, C., Tarn, T. W., & Soman, L. A. (2012). Life Course Outcomes on Mental and Physical Health: The Impact of Foster Care on Adulthood. American Journal Of Public Health, 102(3), 534-540. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2011.300285 Ghera, M. M., Marshall, P. J., Fox, N. A., Zeanah, C. H., Nelson, C. A., Smyke, A. T., & Guthrie, D. (2009). The effects of foster care intervention on socially deprived institutionalized childrens attention and positive affect: results from the BEIP study. Journal Of Child Psychology & Psychiatry, 50(3), 246-253. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2008.01954.x Jagannathan, R., Camasso, M. J., & McLanahan, S. S. (2005). Welfare Reform and Child Fostering: Pinpointing Affected Child Populations. Social Science Quarterly (WileyBlackwell), 861080-1103. doi:10.1111/j.0038-4941.2005.00337.x Stott, T. (2012). Placement Instability and Risky Behaviors of Youth Aging Out of Foster Care. Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, 29(1), 61-83. doi:10.1007/s10560-011-0247-8 "Fostering Hope." Fosteringhopeinc.com. Netvizion, About Us, 2013. Wed. 01 Oct. 2013. http://fosteringhopeinc.com/about.asp Kretchmar, M. D., Worsham, N. L., & Swenson, N. (2005). Anna's story: A qualitative analysis of an at-risk mother's experience in an attachment-based foster care program. Attachment & Human Development, 7(1), 31-49. doi:10.1080/14616730500048102