...Our Foster System Children are the backbone of any society. They represent what will come of that future society. Unfortunately, not all children are cared for, this can be a problem when we look at how children in the foster care system will grow up. When looking at the present time, there is major flaws in the current foster care system. The children today are not being properly taken care of. There are many reasons including: Poor funding, lack of homes, and settling issues. Overall, the flaws are making an unstable households and the issue must be fixed. The foster system of today is broken, the child inside are struggling mentally and physically; the system needs to be improved, the opposing view would be that foster care is successful...
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...For my Political Advocacy Project I worked with Uplift Family Services. They are an organization that helps foster children find parents. The topic I was concerned about and that made me choose to work for this organization is why there are more foster children then foster families willing to take them in. This is most likely due to the negative connotation foster children recieve in the media, and the long list of requirements that are needed for someone to become a foster parent. According to the the website findlaw.com some of the requirements needed are that a person has to be over 21, they need to have sufficient housing arrangements and sufficient income. They must attend all foster care parent training sessions...
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...that provide different needs to families and individuals within the community. The Department of Human Services serves El Paso County with adoption, child and adult protective services, substance abuse, and mental health services through referrals within community resources. Resources that are more accessible and available in the community deal with child welfare issues such as abuse and neglect. Child Protective Services goes through a process after an individual reports any abuse or neglect. Child Protective Services can get referrals from doctors, hospitals, police, and schools in regards to abuse and neglect which then the intake unit at the department checks into each report. The adoption unit strives in helping children without a home find permanent placing within a foster family. The unit also works closely with foster care agencies in the community to match and place children in the right adoptive family and provide resources for foster families as they transition with these children. A Kidz Hope Homes assists children from birth until the age of 21 years’ old towards stability and family support when they don’t have any. Bethany Christian Services...
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...the babies born in Arkansas each year and for the care of 69 percent of the state’s nursing home patients. Additionally, DHS protects children and the elderly who have been abused or neglected; finds adoptive homes for foster children; funds services for the elderly such as congregate and home-delivered meals and regulate nursing homes. While regulating childcare facilities, they also support high-quality early childhood education; treat and serve youth in the juvenile justice system; oversee services for blind Arkansans; runs residential facilities for people with developmental disabilities; manages the Arkansas State Hospital and Arkansas Health Center for those with acute behavioral health issues; and supports nonprofit, community and faith-based organizations that depend on volunteers to continue programs vital to our communities. The agency also partners with community mental health care centers to provide mental health services to almost 74,000 people each year. Over all, DHS serves more than 1.2 million Arkansans every single year. To manage these services and programs efficiently, DHS has 10 divisions and five support offices headquartered in Little Rock in addition to the 85 county offices. Among those 10 divisions is the Division of Children and Family...
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...Foster Care in the United States Sue King Liberty University Abstract The history of foster care in the United States started with orphan trains and the Children’s Aid Society founded by Charles Loring Brace. Recent research describes the child welfare system as an organization that provides service to helpless children in need. This paper will discuss foster care as it is relates to safety, permanency, and wellbeing of children in need The role of a foster parent and the process of loss, and grief after a child leave their biological parents will be discussed. Research suggests that Courts has the final decision whether a child will stay in foster care or return home. This paper will describe the developmental impact that foster care has on children after losing their biological family. There are several risk factors associated with poverty. This paper will discuss the significance of children reuniting with their biological parents and/or being adopted for permanency. Empirical evidence from recent research confirmed that hard times during childhood was related to health problems later in life. Foster care reform, educational outcomes, economic incentives for adoption, mentors and home visitation programs should be implemented to improve the foster care system. Keywords: foster care, developmental, health problems, orphan trains Foster Care in the United States The prevalence rate is high for foster care in the United States. The history...
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...Everybody needs a family, even older children in foster care waiting for adoption. Teenagers are less likely than young children to get fostered or adopted, because everyone wants the perfect young child. More people should foster and adopt older children and teenagers, because it positively impacts the lives of the youth, family, and society. Children in foster care go through harsh things in life and need the love and support from a foster or adoptive parent. Not only does fostering or adopting older children change their lives, but it also impacts the lives of the people parenting them. Society is positively impacted by teenagers being fostered or adopted. More people should consider fostering and adopting older children and teenagers,...
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...What affect does foster care have on children? Is it a stable and supportive environment? Foster care allows kids to have a chance to live a somewhat normal life. There are advantages and disadvantages for kids living in foster homes, but questions arise when there are foster parents that do not provide a stable environment. When we are not aware of these situations of unstable foster homes the kids placed in those foster homes will not have a good survival rate for success. Although there are parents out there that provide security for their foster children, we still need to be aware of the circumstances of kids placed in foster homes that are not safe and secure. Foster care is a great system to provide kids with families who do not...
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...meant to help individuals and families with temporary services in their time of need. The mission statement is: “Improving the quality of life in Michigan by providing services to vulnerable children and adults that will strengthen the community and enable families and individuals to move toward independence.” (Michigan.gov) DHS provides an array of services to individuals and families, these include: food assistance, cash assistance, health care assistance, children services, adult services, and many more. Since there are so many services under the umbrella of DHS, I will focus on a part of the organization that I am familiar with, Foster care services. Approximately 14,000 Michigan children are in foster care at any given time (Michigan.gov). Foster cares mission statement is “Families first”, meaning the goal is for children to have reunification with their families. So when children cannot be returned to their homes, relatives or foster parents are often asked to provide permanent homes. Foster families provide children in this situation with the consistency and support they need to successfully transition to adulthood (Michigan.gov). In terms of operative goals, there are seven that encompass DHS and represent what the organizations day-to day goals are. The operative goals include: Safety, children’s needs, family’s needs, communities, placement, reunification and permanence, and services. Let me expand on each of these goals. Foster cares first priority is to...
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...care. Contact the school There is many ways to get help, if Tina is concerned about their behaviour then she can always contact the school and enquiry about their behaviour and the progress of the education. There has to be a planned meeting that needs to take place in order to give the children additional help if they’re struggling. The school can give mentor support in order for the children to have someone to communicate with. GP Tina can go to the GP and ask for some kind of therapy for her children, even family therapy in order to solve the problem with the children’s father. They can have a family therapy where the children having supervised contact with their father. Social workers Social workers can be involved as they can support the family if situations with the partner gets any worse. Trained and qualified social workers can support families with children who face problems and difficulties in different areas. The social workers often work in teams to provide support framework. If Tina doesn’t want the partner to know, then the place she’s staying can be kept confidential. The social services could also help Tina to apply for all the benefits such as housing and children tax credit. Foster Care Foster care is an arrangement used to provide quality care for looked after children and young...
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...with many diverse children and families, who all have different and special needs. Working with children from ages 0-18 years of age and sometimes young adults up to the age of 21 should there be special circumstances. KRNCS works to reunify children in a safe and stable family environment. Should a child be unable to return to their biological family, KRNCS helps to locate and finalize a permanent placement. In addition to foster/adoptive success, the site also provides a wide variety of community services such as: CFI/mediation, therapy (individual, family, couples), home studies, contractual adoptive services inner and out of state, family preservation, supervised parenting time, classes such as CPR, first aid, and parenting classes, parent child interactional, and life skills. Rashida Gordon is a case worker for the Kids Resource Network of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Rashida is a therapist, who uses client centered therapy as her approach. She believes in order to assist in behavioral changes; one must have emphasis in that one person to focus. KRNCS main population is foster kids ages 0-18 years of age and biological parents of all ages Majority of KRNCS clients are Caucasian females with barely a high school education, income below poverty or on welfare and alcohol or drug dependency. Usually there are not very men if any since most of the males abandon their children or do not comply with court orders. The biological parents of the foster...
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...April 2010 Flaws in the System The requirements for foster parents are not adequate enough to ensure that the children are in good hands. Foster care is when a child is provided with a temporary family life. Children that are placed in foster care are neglected, abused, or removed due to extreme circumstances that occur in the household. Social services play an important role on selecting the right foster parents for the children. To become a foster parent there are many requirements and regulations necessary to place the child in the right temporary custody. Some minimum requirements to become a foster parent include that you have to be at least twenty-one years old, be free of communicable diseases, be financially self supporting, and complete and pay for a criminal history check. Also the applicant can’t have over six children under the age of eighteen, including their own biological children (Taneika Goldman). Do these guidelines work? The guidelines need to go into more detail to increase the safety of the foster children. Are foster parents taking in children just to benefit themselves? The guidelines that are in place now could be better. The minimum requirements to become a foster parent need to be revised in order to see maximum success. Foster care is a system in which a minor is taken from their biological parent voluntarily or involuntarily and is placed in temporary custody of a certified foster parent. Children are taken from their homes due to varioss...
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...As previously mentioned, for foster youth, having access to programs and supportive adults who impart and teach the skills necessary for adulthood is crucial in a successful transition from childhood to adulthood. Studies show that one of the prevailing factors associated with a successful transition from foster care to adulthood are the youth's acquisition of independent living skills while the youth is still in foster care (Lemon, Hines & Merdinger, 2005; Casey Family Programs, 2001; Pecora, Williams, Kessler, Downs, O'Brien, Hiripi, & Morello, 2003; Georgiades, 2005). Youth who participate in programs that assist with learning skills such as how to find housing, how to balance a checkbook or open a bank account, and how to obtain and keep employment, have higher success...
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...The Impact of Foster Care on Child Development Demeka F. Gaddy Liberty University Abstract The foster care system was designed to provide a safe temporary placement for children who can no longer stay in the care of their parents or guardian. The overall goal of foster care is for the children to return home to their caregiver. If the caregiver fails to regain custody the child is placed in other living arrangements, to include foster homes. However there is a controversy over the effectiveness of the foster care system in regards to child development. Foster care has been linked to negative impacts in child development to include; physical and sexual abuse, attachment disorders, and behavioral problems that eventually lead to children being placed in multiple placements and in some cases the juvenile justice system,. Children who are in foster care are a vulnerable group due to the being removed from their home, in some cases abruptly. It has been proven that the longer children living in foster care are subject to negative development more than children who do not live in foster care. Based on these factors the foster care system needs to focus more on the needs of the child so that positive development can occur. Keywords: child welfare, abuse, child development The Negative Impacts of Foster Care on Child Development The foster care system was designed to provide a safety net for children and families and to reunite children with their biological parents if possible...
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...com/locate/childyouth The well-being of children in foster care: Exploring physical and mental health needs Dana J. Sullivan ⁎, Michiel A. van Zyl 1 University of Louisville, Kent School of Social Work, Louisville, KY 40292, United States Received 20 June 2007; received in revised form 22 July 2007; accepted 9 December 2007 Available online 17 December 2007 Abstract A census of children in foster care provided valuable insight into the well-being of children in one state. CHAID analysis on differences related to physical and mental health needs among various groups of children in foster care revealed a number of significant differences that are often overlooked in other types of analyses. Children's medical needs differ significantly by length of stay and emotional needs were more profound among children of certain ages. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Keywords: Foster care; Well-being; Mental health; Physical health; CHAID 1. Introduction Historically, social workers in child welfare have focused primarily on keeping children safe from abuse and neglect, and helping them return home safely or find new adoptive homes. However, Altshuler and Gleeson (1999) described the emphasis on safety and permanency, to the exclusion of well-being, as a triangle that can only be completed when well-being becomes a focus of child welfare services. In response to this emerging professional perspective, the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) of 1997 mandated three goals for public child...
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...Foster Care It was close to midnight, only a few days before Thanksgiving. There was a certain calming silence as my mother was preparing to go out to Lounge 46 with her friends. I was studying for the SAT which, at the time, I believed to be the most important exam of my life. I received an unexpected call from my grandmother, I could barely understand her. She was unable to stop sobbing long enough to tell me what happened. After she calmed down, she told me that three of her grandchildren, my cousins, were taken away by Child Protective Services. She explained that if my mom and I do not take them, they will be sent to live in a foster home. According to the Department of Children and Families of New Jersey, Child Protective Services...
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