Foster Care is a Failing System
The points that he touches on, and there are many, are fantastic. I was disappointed to see that it didn't garner more attention. Articles like these could make a real impact on how we regard foster care and what goes on in/after care.
He doesn't address the issues that occur IN care, which I found somewhat disappointing, however, he covers the vast problems that children face when they age out of this 'government parented' system with no safety net and nowhere to go. If you don't have a real family to help you through your late teens, who do you have left to turn to?
Foster care was supposed to provide stability and help for children who could no longer live in their homes for one reason or another. Unfortunately, it has failed to do a decent job in this department, and we end up paying for these children in myriad ways.
The fact is, when children enter foster care, they become the responsibility of each person in this country who pays taxes and/or votes. It is our money that pays for the care that children in foster care receive, and the foster child's chance at a future. It is the politicians that we elect that have written the laws that brought these children into foster care. There isn't any escaping it...these children are our responsibility.
The problem is that foster care is failing children. As Lawrence Adams outlines in his article, children who are emancipated from foster care do not have the resources that one would expect children to have. They have no family, no real sense if identity or belonging. They struggle against a harsh world that they may have known was harsh in the past...but now they're facing it with nothing to fall back on.
Many of these children don't develop the coping skills necessary to lead a productive and fulfilling life. Not only do we need to address that, but we need to ask ourselves why.
If foster children are spending their formative years learning something, why isn't it life skills that they will need in the real world?
There is a plethora of causes...from the rupture of their sense of safety and security due to the conditions that led to these children being in foster care, to the experiences that they have in foster care itself. Abuse and neglect of children is rampant in the foster care system in comparison with the general population. The constant rotation of children through foster and/or group homes does little to give hem a sense of stability.
We've done quite a bit to change that aspect, but somehow we're still failing children.
When it comes to foster care these days, people like to throw around the term 'forever family' in regards to adoption of children out of foster care, but is it really a 'forever family' that we're providing for these children? So far the answer is a glaringly obvious "No".
In many cases, we're taking children from abuse or neglect with a family that is at the least bound to them by genetic heritage and throwing them into the same situation without the safety net that genetic (or "blood") heritage does provide.
It would be folly to assume that somehow, genetic heritage doesn't make a difference, and I feel I must address this issue because adoptive parents feel hurt when we talk about the biological family unit. However, there typically is a protection provided by blood relations, and while it can be duplicated in the adoptive environment, and sometimes with great success, it is not a given.
In fact, it is dangerous to assume that we can mimic the family unit, that we've somehow perfected it so that foster care isn't a danger to children. The facts don't lie. As Mr. Adams outlines in his article, foster care isn't providing our children opportunities as young adults. It is also stifling those opportunities in childhood, which is how we end up with the cascading effect into young adulthood. With the catalyst being emancipation (or aging out of the system), we can see that something is continuing to go wrong.
Children failing to graduate, or getting their GED's at several times the rate of the general population, means that somehow these children aren't getting the opportunities they need for a proper education before they age out of the system. This is a failing while the foster children are still in what is really "our" care, since we're the ones who felt that we needed the laws to protect these children in the first place.
No one has determined what the "perfect" way is to raise a child. That's part of the reason that the state can't advocate for one type of parenting or another. Atop that, every single child is different and what works for one won't necessarily work for 10 others. Foster care is a blanket system that works within a confined set of rules. Those rules aren't working for a large portion of our foster care population, and we need to take a good, hard look at where we're going wrong because ultimately...we ARE responsible. When we hurt our children, deny them opportunity, fail to give them the life skills that they need to make an impact in this world, we are failing our next generation. If blood relations aren't the issue, then how come we're not out there doing something for the children that are ours, be they related or not?
So many people talk about solutions, but I think for the most part we drown ourselves out. If we know what the problems are, then perhaps we, as adults, can try to come up with some real solutions for these children who are slipping through the cracks. It isn't a job for some people. It's an obligation for all of us.
Published by Liz Copeland
I'm a freelance writer, DMC mentor, and artisan-level embroiderer. I knit, crochet, sew, quilt, and spin my own yarn as well. I'm an instructor for embroidery and other fiber and textile related crafts. View profile
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- These children are our responsibility.
- Foster care is a failing system.
16 Comments
Post a CommentLawrence ~ no problem. The system desperately needs reform but they're consistently going in the wrong direction with legislation. They need to stop relying on the advice of people who have a vested interest in keeping the system going as it is and really do their research and think outside the box instead of trying to protect political careers and do things 'for the children.' If children are our future, and foster care is ruining their lives, and foster care is growing, we're screwing ourselves.
Liz~
Thank you for this article and for referring to my article. SO much is wrong with the system while youth are in it and it continues for the youth when they age out.
Addendum: I hope you'll check the NCCPR blog for more information on what problems with the system are. The blog is located here: http://www.nccpr.blogspot.com/ NCCPR is the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform.
Anova, I understand your position, but in more and more cases, the stance that the state only terminates in instances where it was absolutely necessary is a falsehood. Many children are taken (and terminated) due to 'neglect', which is up to interpretation. In many instances, poverty is confused for neglect. It is also a very damaging falsehood to believe that parents don't want to/won't/can't get their act together, and that is what allows CPS to keep violating the rights of parents and children without public interference. In fact, in instances where they are getting in trouble for rampant removals and terminations, society pays almost no mind and when they do...they pay no mind at all to what the parents went through, just the children.
For the record, I am not an adoptive parent, and therefore am not writing this out of anger; however, I agree with WMorales. Revoking a parent's rights is a big deal, and the State treats it as serious. They do not just do it on a whim; the most common reason for relinquishing a parent's rights are because of the parents seriously abusing drugs, an abusive home, and neglecting to provide the most basic needs.
I have heard of children that have been in-and-out of the system time and again, because their parent(s) just cannot get their acts together. Do you think if blood-bonds are so strong, the threat of having their kids taken away from them would be a wake up call? Where I am from, when a child is placed into foster care, the parent has upwards to two years to find a stable living to provide for a child, which in my opinion is a bloody long time. While I agree that we should be helping to re-build families and provide services, in hopes of keeping children out of the system, I do
Raising my 15 year old nephew who did a few things wrong to get himself kicked out of school, I was clear from the get go -- that he will graduate high school. Foster parents need to have goals for their kid. I like the article on teaching them social skills and teaching the kid right from wrong (and its consequences) by being strict, but being there and honest and listening to what the kid has to say. It is the responsibility of the FOSTER parent to learn to be better parent, to stop the abuse. And yes, when you do scream at a kid, it is bad, because it feels bad. You are then responsible to say I am sorry, and become a good role model and never scream again. This is what I learned. I did not mean to be a bad parent, but I was. Now I know if it feels bad, it is bad to do. Don't do it. Don't become a parent unless you know how to control yourself.
I completely agree with your article, and I want to say thank you for writing it.
There are a lot of good points in it, I am now 33 years old, but i was one of the kids that the system failed, I have been in several homes, and was supposed to be addopted by one of them but because the state of Michigan waited to long before they took my fathers rights away, I out grew the system. if you want to read more about the story of my life as a foster child please feel free to stop by.
I agree with this aricle as well as with Lawrence Adams. I was fired from a residential facility for being an awesome worker. As crazy as it may sound, it is true. I've been working with infants, toddlers, children, and teenagers for as long as I can remember. The system has failed and will continue to fail the children because of the lack of concern. The residential facility that I worked for should not be in operation. The owner does not have a love for what he does, but has a love for the money that comes in with the children. He gets most of his children because of his slick, cunning, and bribery with the Foster Care Social Workers and FAPT team. The courts send these children into these facilities going on what they think instead of what they know. They are so desperate to place them instead of taking the necessary steps to place children in homes or facilities with a reputive background. This one facility did everything in its power to prevent one child from going to a foster hom
I read your comments with all the problems of foster care but no alternatives. I agree that we should put in place a safety net for those kids that age out but there should be one for all those young people who were never in foster care that live on the streets, have no job and dropped out of school. Oh by the way there is new research that shows that the rate of finishing high school is right at the same amount. What do you propose to do with these children if they are not placed with foster homes?
hi i like the foster care system because i know a lot about foster care because i am in it and i live i paris and i have bin in it for 12 years and i am happy for the people that made it up and all i have to say is Thank you lot for telling me more thinks about foster care and i wish you can keep up the good work and my name is not fred i can not tell you me name because i do not now my mom so i am going to keep it to my self and i hope you under stand. and the resson is because my dad was abuse of and i do wish to tell you that i would tell you more but that stuff i have to keep to my self .