Foster Care: Temporary Placement for Children Who Cannot Live With Families - Research Paper

Introduction

Foster care is also referred to as out-of-home care and is usually a temporary service which is offered by the States for children who do not have the ability to live with their families. In foster care, the children may live with either a relative or a foster parent that they are not related with.

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In some cases, foster care may be used to refer to the placement settings such as supervised independent living, group homes and emergency shelters (Beyerlein, Brittany, and Ellin 17). The main role of a foster care system is that it is meant to protect the children especially when they are not receiving that protection from their family members. The child is removed from his or her familial home and taken to a temporary home from where they are taken care of until they are mature enough to return to their familial homes. The foster care system seeks to reunite the child with the family after the care, but in the case where reunification is not possible, then adoption of the child is considered. This ensures that the child gets a peaceful and conducive life whether in the family or outside the family. The foster care system in the United States should be improved because it continues to expand every day, does not prepare the children adequately for future life, lacks enough resources and operates under very weak laws and policies exposing it to abuse.

Foster care systems do not provide an exit strategy for the child. Once, taken to the foster cares system, a child should be prepared well so that when he or she gets out of the system, he or she should be able to take care of themselves. In many cases, reunification is not possible for many children and the child has to remain in the foster care system without being adopted. The purpose of a foster care system is not to stay with the child forever, but to raise him or her, educate them to the age bracket of 18 to 24 and then reunite the child with their families (Griffiths, Murphy, and Harper 72). The age at which a child is considered to have "aged out" in the foster care system is dependent on the needs as well as the possible disabilities of the child. The children in the foster care system are offered with the resources that they require as well as any assistance that they might require. This assistance extends from emotional assistance to physical assistance. In many cases, the children are given tuition reimbursements, support group systems as well as scholarship opportunities when they are available.

A large number of children from the foster care system are pushed back to the society without the necessary knowledge and skills to cope up with the harsh life. The aging out period is 18-24 years, and many foster care systems are quick to release those who have "aged out" to the society even without preparing them adequately for the harsh life outside (Argys, and Duncan 946). Although there are some children who receive high school diplomas and college degrees, the biggest number is the one that does not receive these privileges. Besides, many of these individuals are not prepared on how to search for a job or even maintain one. Once they are released, these individuals are left to feed themselves without any financial aid from the government or any organization. Due to this unpreparedness, many foster children not become of great assistance to society. Thus, they become more harmful than helpful. Since they have no money, no job and no family, they become very likely to commit crimes.

The number of children in the foster care system continues to rise day by day. For example, by July 2015, the number of children in the foster care system in the United States was 425,129 children. Of these children, 22,392 were not adopted while 107,918 were waiting to be adopted (Griffiths, Murphy, and Harper 72). The children who are not adopted means that they are set out into the world without having someone to take care of them, and provide the familial comfort. Of those who do not get adopted, many of them experience harsh lives outside the foster care system. Some of the challenges that they encounter include lacking adequate food to eat and spending time homeless. As a result, many of them end up engaging in vices such as drug abuse, stealing and other types of crime. For the girls, many of them get impregnated at very early ages, and others engage in prostitution.

Although placing children in foster care may be facilitated by some natural challenges within the homestead, there some of them which are caused by some preventable occasions. One of the greatest causes why children are taken to the foster care system is because of the irresponsibility of the parents. In the US today, many of the people do not trouble themselves with issues that require great attention. Such include the issues that deal with taking care of children. Many of the parents have given out their children to foster care to avoid the responsibility of having to take care of them every day. People are comfortable because they do not see how this will affect them in the future. However, unknown to them is that the way a child is brought up has a great influence on how that child grows up. It is estimated that about 800,000 children are placed in the foster care system every year (Brehm 322). Releasing children into the foster care system should be the last resort. Children need to grow well under the warmth of their families. The familial warmth, love, and care mold them into responsible parents who can to take care, and provide for their families. Thus, it is necessary that foster care system be left only for those children who really need it. Parents must become responsible and be able to bring up their children in the most responsible manner possible. It is not always a good idea to have your children brought up by another family or system outside the familial setting.

Currently, the foster care system does not provide adequate number of foster parents to cater for the rising number of foster children. There are not as many people volunteering to become foster parents as the number of children requiring the services. There is a dire need for stable homes to embrace the act of fostering children so that the large number of children in need of this essential service can have access to it. There is a great need for a stable home for foster children. Such homes, and organizations need to provide enough care to children. They also need to have special units and care for children with special needs so that such children do not feel isolated or rejected. Some of the children absorbed in the foster care system have needs such as psychiatric and developmental disorders. Some of the children develop these challenges due to the problems that they encounter as young children. Thus, the foster care system needs to be wary of such cases which require special attention.

Foster care system is inhibited by various injustices due to lack of adequate government regulation. There exists subtle laws and regulation to control the operations of foster care. When a child is placed in foster care system, it means that he or she has not been adopted yet but they will remain in that homestead for a very long time. This time could be up to more than twenty years. There have been reports that some of the care providers in the foster homes abuse the children both emotionally and physically. Although there is a need for the child to obtain justice in such cases, there lacks someone to pursue this justice on behalf of the child. This may be due to the fact that some of the abusers are foster parents who are supported to ensure a safe custody of the child. The second thing is that there does not exist distinct laws and regulation that protect the child from abuse.

Despite the negative points which come with the foster care system, it must be mentioned that these systems des a lot in raising the standards of the children. It is satiable to recognize that as family structure changes, the children are the one that carries the worst part of it. They pay the biggest price for broken homes and disintegrated family structure. The children may lose the luxury of attending good schools or growing up in a stable home that they may call theirs. The kinds of experiences that children encounter are usually bitter, and hurting. While this issue is growing day by day, the society continues to ignore it. The government also has little concern for these children. Many of them feel that they have been neglected and thus lead hopeless lives (Tyre 236). However, the emergence of the foster care system comes to the resource of such children. While in the foster care system, the children are provided with parents that can take care of them and offer them the parental love and care that they have been missing for long. Once again, the children feel that they have a reason to live. Therefore, the foster care system ought to be supported by all means possible to ensure that it is able to absorb as many children as possible.

Foster homes not only save a child but a generation. Foster care has a great impact on the lives of humans. They are advantageous to both the child and the parent. Children from foster care become determined, resilient and determined as they grow up (Johnson et al. 13). When they compare their former live and the one they experience at the foster home, then they realize how important it is to help those who are in need. When they come to learn that the person helping them is a total stranger, then they learn to appreciate the art of humanity. When they grow up, they become responsible people who are able to help other people within the community. This leads to the change of an entire generation. The foster children also seek to become better day by day since they do not want to disappoint the people who are helping them. Therefore, they become responsible, self-driven and respectful to others. Since these children are taught the art of being responsible, these children embrace the virtue of being self-reliant and become creative individuals in future. As they grow, they are able to realized their strengths and weaknesses and work on improving to better themselves. Especially in school, many of them realize their strengths and work on them thus improving academically. Although some of them are affected emotionally by the experiences they faced as young children which could affect their results, many of them strive hard and improve academically.

Ostentatiously, the number of minors in the foster care system in the United States is increasing on a daily basis. The problem is becoming bigger than in the previous years. An increase in the number of minors in the foster care means that the social structure of society is disintegrating. Besides, it could mean that the number of orphans is increasing raising questions about the high mortality rate of the people in marriages. Several organizations have been formed with the intention of reducing or completely eliminating the number of children in the foster care system. However, the results of these organizations are yet to be witnessed. The number continues to increase. Actual foster cares have not been sufficient perhaps due to their low standards. It is evident that not many inhabitants of the US are aware that this could be a great problem and that is why efforts to solve it have been very low (Mangold 580). However, it is possible to solve this problem with the support of willing organizations and the government. Were these to work together, then the number of minors in the foster care system could greatly reduce. There could also be the establishment of governmental non-profit organizations to help alleviate this problem. However, as this is done, it is important to give those who are in need safe homes and families to help them grow responsibly.

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