To wit, in reviewing the literature relative to the current situation in foster care it is apparent pivotal changes must be forthcoming in order to benefit the children who find themselves in the middle, and at the mercy of a system that is fragile and even failing in many aspects. Review of Literature: Basic Numbers of Canadian Children in Foster Care An investigative scholarly article in the journal Child Welfare (Marquis, et al
Review of Literature: Benefits of Giving Foster Parents Better Training The journal Social Work Research cites research that reflects the benefits of foster parent training; indeed specialized training can lead to "placement permanency" and to improvements in children's "psychological adjustment" and social skills. Moreover, when foster parents receive adequate training, it helps keep children "connected to their biological parents" (Pacifici, et al
Waldcock goes on to raise the issue that foster parents are being asked to go well beyond what would be considered normal parenting. They in fact are being asked to -- even being forced to -- function as "parent therapists" (Waldcock, www
Review of Literature: The Social-Emotional Dynamics of Foster Children An article in the journal Child Welfare posits that children carry over their fears and emotional behavioral issues from their primary families, and it hard for new foster parents to get a grasp on these problems. One problem is that "maltreated infants and toddlers" have a problem "giving accurate cues about their emotional needs" to their foster parents because in the past nobody paid attention to those cues (Wotherspoon, et al
"Caseworkers determine the mixture of direct and contracted services based on their own strengths, workload, availability of services in the community, and availability of funds." (Daro, 1988)
If a court has determined that the parent has committed the following against another child of the parent: murder, voluntary manslaughter; aided or abetted, attempted, conspired or solicited to commit murder or voluntary manslaughter; or felony assault that results in serious bodily injury to the child or another child of the parent; parental rights of the parent to a sibling have been involuntarily terminated." (Sedlak, and Broadhurst, 1996)
Unfortunately, the current foster care system is not working in a way that benefits many of the children. Many of them end up on the street when they are released from foster care at the age of 18, instead of working in gainful employment and building a life of their own, as would be hoped (Bandura, 1965, Barden, 1991)
This is the highest number of any state in the country. many of these children are simply languishing away in foster care, waiting to be adopted, and in Colorado only 37% of children cleared for adoption have actually been adopted (Bartels, 1997)
Many children in foster care suffer from depression and other emotional difficulties, and researchers noted that while children who first come to foster care often receive treatment for these things, children who have been in foster care for some time often are neglected medically an emotionally since they did not receive treatment for a lot of the difficulties that they are facing. Children in foster care are more likely to be suffering from HIV or AIDS than the general population, and often come into foster care when their parents die of the disease (Barton, 1999)
While reasons for this are unclear, it is possible that parents who choose to take in foster children simply do not have the knowledge, training, and skills to notice some of the problems that the child is facing. Because of this, education for foster parents and caregivers who often deal with foster children is extremely important (Carlson, 1996)
Admittedly, the general accounting office had trouble determining whether or not the Act provided any significant benefits to children in foster care, due to discrepancies in the data collection methods between the pre-Act and post-Act information (Homes, 2002). Nevertheless, it is still believed that children who spend less time in foster care fare better in the future that children who spend a significant amount of their lives in a foster care environment (Cicchetti & Carlson, 1989)
When a family is broken up, it is difficult for the siblings who are then parted from each other, especially if they had always been together in foster care. Often they will show their displeasure by acting up and making themselves difficult to live with which sometimes results in them being returned to foster care, and the cycle starts all over again (Coeyman, 2001)
Other children remain in foster care because their emotional or physical problems are too severe for them to live in a family setting. Often children with physical disabilities, especially if they are severe, have a very difficult time getting adopted (Drillien, 1988)
Young children are not able to separate fact from fiction as easily as older children or adults can. Because of this, it is important that children have mentors as well as role models (Flaxman et al
Wealthy Missouri Governor has excepted recognition letters from some of the top people in the states foster care system, as well as appoint others to find problems and fix them, many people feel that he's really not doing enough to help the children. His plan is touted as a cheap fix that is not going to solve anything in the long run (Franck, 2002)
Her research also includes the information that most children who end up in foster care are placed in several different foster care homes before they either reach the age of 18 or are adopted by a family. Because of the unsettled quality of their lives, many of these children are not ready to live on their own when they reach the age of 18 (Kools, 2003)
Parental drug abuse was also a problem for many children who were involved in foster care system. Studies have shown that 50% of infants who had drug addicted mothers were in foster care (Mahony, 1999, Amaro, 1989, Bell, 1995)
She was abused both emotionally and physically by both of her older brothers, and although repeated attempts were made by the neighbors to have the children removed from the home, nothing was ever done. when the foster mother who wrote the account received the child into her home, it was a constant struggle to convince the little girl that nothing evil was going to happen to her in their home (Newman, 1999)
Many children who enter foster care are young, but the percentage of children between 13 and 18 who are entering foster care for the first time is growing. Transferring the children from a bad environment to one that is stable, nurturing, and non-abusive has been associated with better development for these children in the future, as well as better ability to survive on their own and live independently once they become emancipated (O'Hara, 1998)
While this was not always true, it was generally the case. It is also true that many of the atrocities listed in Time magazine happened in large cities such as Atlanta, Georgia and Dallas, Texas (Roche, 2000)