Essay on Child Foster Care and Types of Child Maltreatment

Children maltreated in their families of birth are usually protected from further harm by being taken by the state into foster care. Foster care is a system whereby minors are placed in a private home, group home, or a ward set up by a foster parent certified by the state to be a caregiver to the children. Usually, the process of placement of the minors is done by a social service agency or via the government. The expenses incurred during the caregiving process are compensated. The state stands in loco parentis to the minor with the child protection agency. The state is helped by the family court and is responsible for all legal decisions while the foster parent handles day-to-day care of the minor.

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However, while under this protective custody the minors ironically receive further harm. Foster care placement has been named as arguably one of the most tragic childhood experiences. In most cases, the child is put up for placement because the court rules that he/she is prone to maltreatment as in neglect or abuse (Dozier et al., 2001). Other than potentially harming the children placed under foster care, the program introduces further destabilization of the already chaotic lives of the minors. Although, it is undisputable that the placement program has undoubtedly helped other children. Due to a mixture of maltreatment and destabilization, children placed in the foster care placement program suffer from behavioral problems, suicidal ideation, and elevated rates of mortality among other problems. It is also true to the fact that children in placement services are ten-times more exposed to be diagnosed with bipolar disorder, five times more probable of being diagnosed with depression, and four times more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than other children (Dozier et al., 2001).

In the US, each state is required to report the percentage of children in foster care experiencing maltreatment as directed by the Adoption and Safe Families Act. This study, therefore, pays attention to data provided by various agencies tracking the developments in the foster care institution. This study attempts to find out how minors in foster family units are maltreated. Besides finding out the depth of the problem, the study also focuses on how the abuse occurs, the perpetrators, the types of ill-treatment and tries to give solutions and recommendations.

The study made use of interviewing as a method of acquiring data. In this case, we used a stratified sample of reports. Out of the total of 877 reported cases occurring within 2015-2017 period, 307 cases were drawn. The children were under placement in specialized foster care, non-related family foster care and relative care. After an indication that 6 cases had been expunged, the cases were removed leaving the sample at 301 cases.

The study also utilized retrospective reporting where the interviewee gave an account of events. From the study, there are clear indications of over-reporting of child abuse and maltreatment for minors under the out-of-home care program.

The problems and shortcomings in this program leading to loopholes in the system are also addressed. Various dynamics such as foster child characteristics, economic status of foster care parents or parent training, and agency shortcomings are among the challenges discussed in this study.

The sample for this study was collected from Integrated Database of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. This database contains all reports abuse and neglect probes across the child protective services database in the US.

The Perpetrator

Therefore, this study focuses on identifying the extent to which this dead evil of maltreatment while in foster care has taken root. In the study findings, it was established that sexual abuse was the leading and most prevalent way of ill-treatment; accounting for 68% of the total cases reported of maltreatment. Saddening is the fact that the most dominant perpetrators of this form of abuse are birth parents, making up to 48% of the perpetrators. Substitute parents make up for 19%, the next most frequent offenders (Fanshel, Shinn, & Eugene, 1978).

The cases used for this study indicate that most of the maltreatment occurs while in the proper placement home. Although this was the case, the study gathered that only 16% of the reports were retrospective (George, 2014). As much as the caregiver is the primary source of abuse to the minors, some cases reported are beyond the care-giver's control such as when at school. Some cases of maltreatment reported happened during the supervised or unsupervised visits by the birth parents. It is alarming, however, that the agency approved the visits. On the other hand, it was noted that other children also account for 10% of the source of maltreatment (Dozier et al., 2001).

Types of Child Maltreatment

Sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse is the most common form of child maltreatment; it is best described as any kind of non-consensual contact (Pecora et al., 2003). That sort of abuse is performed by an adult, adolescent or an older child. Sexual assault includes penetrative sex, intentionally performing an act of sex before a child, sexual touching of the childs body whether or not clothed, showing pornography to a minor, encouraging a minor to take part in prostitution, among others (Fanshel, Shinn, & Eugene, 1978).

Physical Child Abuse

This form of maltreatment is the second most common reported form of child abuse. Physical abuse accounts for a quarter of the total reported child abuse cases, it occurs when the child is exposed to the physical injury being inflicted upon them by malicious and cruel intent (George, 2014). Physical pain may be inflicted by punching, shaking, burning, biting, or kicking. The perpetrator may abuse one unintentionally but from a harsh form of punishment. It is however still considered physical abuse.

Emotional Abuse

This form of abuse is also referred to as psychological abuse. It may involve deliberate attempts to scare and humiliate a minor. It may also include ignoring and isolating them. This sort of abuse is usually accompanied by other forms of neglect or ill-treatment, but not always the case (George, 2014). Emotional torture may involve threatening violence, insulting and name-calling, and so forth. Environmental neglect, substantial risks of harm, and lack of supervision are among the other forms of child maltreatment (Fanshel, Shinn, & Eugene, 1978).

Recommendations

Owing to the gravity of the issue of child abuse, it is only appropriate that solutions are reached quick and fast, for the sake of children under foster care facing torturous situations where they instead should be protected. The following are some of the recommendations for adoption by various stakeholders to do away with abuse and neglect of children (Chamberlain et al., 2008).

The United States law provides that foster parents are mandated to undergo parent training. Nearly all the states are in support of the training program. However, there is little knowledge regarding the efficacy of the widely applied Child Welfare System. Meanwhile, some other theoretically based training interventions have been initiated and found to be effective (Chamberlain et al., 2008). Their success can be attributed to developmental basis employed in the system of training. Therefore, the government should emphasize on this sort of training to ensure only those that have passed the tests and cleared to be fit for the task are given the role of taking care of the children (Fanshel, Shinn, & Eugene, 1978).

Regarding the same, there is a challenge of providing relevant and meaningful consultation to foster parents. This sort of consultation will ensure that the foster parent is well equipped to deal with problems concerning mental health and child behavior. According to surveys conducted in the recent past, adoptive parents have withdrawn from providing foster care primarily out of difficulty in understanding (let alone managing) child problem behavior. In the same note, studies show that ineffective parenting practices are associated with externalizing problems (Chamberlain et al., 2008). Thus calls for improved consultation offered to foster parents before taking up the task. The teaching and support should articulate more effective methods of parenting. Specific parenting factors such as risk factors and protective factors have been targeted. Positive mentoring and parental reinforcement are just a few of the protective factors. Foster parents have also been made aware of inadvertently reinforcing coercive behavior as part of risk factors alongside the lack of involvement by the foster parent.

Another effective form of control is the multidimensional treatment foster care approach. This approach is best suited to handle adolescents otherwise ruled for juvenile justice in place of a foster family placement. The multifaceted approach has been proven best adapted to use on children with chronic mental disorders. The method of multidimensional approach is a scientifically proven effective especially for minors with difficulty in externalization.

The child welfare system should also incorporate therapeutic intervention in the placement program in order to obfuscate real factors and facts underneath (Pecora et al., 2003).

In the same note, the agencies should try to maintain the minimum possible number of workers attending to the children at a time. This move will help avoid mixed reactions and different assessment of the situation and divergent views concerning progress.

Conclusion

To conclude, it is the right of every child under foster care to be advocated for by an independent body or individual and help them make complaints or express views. Other than speaking for them, there is the need for an advocate to make contracts with placement transfers or with birth families. These roles are played by the foster agencies that work to their level best to represent the unable children. Although foster care has succeeded in passing values and helping the minors get through personal challenges, it is reported that 80% of foster care alumni are fairing poorly. Damning numbers have been reported showing that minors in foster care have higher probabilities of depression, high rate of post traumatic disorder, developmental challenges, and deficit in executive functioning, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. As discussed earlier, some of these placement programs are by far worse than staying with families of birth. As stated before, the children under placement rarely make it in the outside world even academically.

References

Chamberlain, P., Price, J., Leve, L. D., Laurent, H., Landsverk, J. A., & Reid, J. B. (2008). Prevention of Behavior Problems for Children in Foster Care: Outcomes and Mediation Effects. Prevention Science, 9(1), 17-27.

Dozier, M., Stoval, K. C., Albus, K. E., & Bates, B. (2001). Attachment for Infants in Foster Care: The role of caregiver state of mind. Child development, 72(5), 1467-1477.

Fanshel, D., Shinn, E. B., & Eugene, B. S. (1978). Children in Foster Care: A Longitudinal Investigation (No. 316.6 (73)). Columbia University Press.

George, V. (2014). Foster Care: Theory & Practice (ILS 130). Routledge.

Pecora, P., Williams, J., Kessler, R., Downs, C. A., O'Brien, K., & Hiripi, E. (2014). Assessing the Effects of Foster Care: Early Results from the Casey National Alumni Study. 2003.