Foster Care
Community Assessment: Foster Care Youth Needs
What is a community assessment? A community assessment is a process by which a collaborative partnership gathers information on the current strengths, concerns, needs, and conditions of children, families, and the community. The information comes from many sources -- especially parents and family members -- and is elicited by many techniques, including interviews, focus groups, and scanning demographic data collected by local agencies. Because many types of partners participate in a community assessment -- strategic planners, program staff, administrators, teachers, parents, and other community members -- the resulting information is broad, accurate, and useful (North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, n.d.). Chiefly, such assessments focus on local assets, resources, and activities as well as gaps, barriers, or emerging needs. The process of identifying and appraising this information will help a collaborative partnership with addressing a social problem, such as foster care youth in the AZ state system.
Target Population
Due to a lack of support and resources, our foster care youth are inadvertently disadvantaged before their lives truly have an opportunity to begin. Shockingly, over 500,000 youth are in foster care in the U.S. (Williams, 2011). Each state has a social service agency, Department of Economic Security (DES) that is legally responsible to care for abused, neglected, and abandoned children who enter foster care because they cannot remain with their parents or other family members. Unless these children can be returned to the custody of their parents, placed in an adoptive home or with a permanent guardian, they remain in the care and custody of DES until they reach the age of 18.
In comparison to other young adults, youth with a foster care history are at greater risk of low educational attainment, homelessness, non-marital pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections, joblessness, poverty, physical and mental illness, and engaging in or being victims of crimes (Williams, 2011). Foster youth who are also involved in the juvenile justice system are at even greater risk. These youth very often are released from the juvenile justice system on their 18th birthday with little or no family support, no home to return to, and few, if any, services to help them live successfully on their own.
AZ foster care youth need a great deal of support while in foster homes, as well as transitioning into adulthood. The lack of support can have long-term implications and negative effects physically, mentally, and emotionally. By providing tools to help develop self-efficacy and self-sufficiency, foster care youth may persevere and become contributing members of society. The goal is to empower them to rise above their situation and to enrich life's experiences and choices.
The Office of Adolescent Health under the Department of Health and Human Services has compiled information regarding adolescent health disparities that spans many areas, from mental, physical, and reproductive health to substance abuse to relationships. For example, in 2008, Arizona was ranked 45 out of 50 states on teen birth rates among mothers ages 15 to 19 (Hope and A Future, 2010). The choices made and behaviors adopted during these years affect adolescents' overall well-being and, potentially, their health throughout their lives. Foster care youth demonstrate a greater risk of low educational attainment, homelessness, non-marital pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, joblessness, poverty, physical and mental illness, and engaging in or being victims of crimes. Without the proper support and resources available, foster care youth are at a disadvantaged compared to youth not in foster care. By identifying foster care youth, empowering foster care youth with support and information through peer group workshops, and increasing accountability and responsibility through resource referrals, this will help bridge the gap of health disparities among foster care youth.
Community Characteristics
Needs Assessments also provide an opportunity for communities to be empowered in the mitigation of their unique social problems. Additionally, such assessments are a form of community-based research, which is collaborative inquiry that is dedicated primarily to serving the research or information needs of community organizations (Norris & Schwartz, 2009). Therefore, a Needs Assessment of foster care youth, between 12-18 years old, reveal the necessity of tools for successfully transitioning into adulthood.
NATIONAL STATISTICS (Hope & A Future, 2010)
3,000,000 reports of child abuse or neglect are made every year in the United States.
Children who experience child abuse and neglect are 59% more likely to be arrested as a juvenile, 28% more likely to be arrested as an adult, and 30% more likely to commit a violent crime.
Annually 600 teenage foster children turn 18 & "age-out" of foster care with limited support.
40% of foster children...
2). Barber and Delfabbro report that research has determined that children with physical and mental disabilities fare better in institutional settings, where the continuity in care-to-need structure is in place and the consistency in structured routine seems to better serve the individual (p. 7). Thus, best practice in foster care should begin with a careful assessment of each child's suitability for placement. Where the child suffers from serious emotional or behavioural
(2006). Children and Youth Services Review, Vol. 28, 1459-1481. The study in this research piece evaluated the adult education, employment and financial successes (or failures) of 659 adults (20 to 33 years of age) who had gone through intermediate and long-term foster care stays in their youth. These kinds of studies are important for present and future agencies because a fuller understanding of shortcomings -- and strengths -- in policy
Foster care is a harsh reality for many children in our society. After reading Chapter 15, answer the following questions: How is the effectiveness of Foster Care often inhibited? At Coachella Valley California, three factors prohibit the effectiveness of foster care: communities, children, and families. Communities: the families of children placed in foster care live in an environment characterized by structural deficiencies and poverty, or basic needs believed to characterize stable communities. Often,
COMMUNITY CHILD CARE SERVICES HAVE COME a LONG WAY IN THE FIELD OF DISABILITY SERVICES. BY USING RELATED LITERATURE FROM THE INTERNATIONAL ARENA CRITICALLY DISCUSS HOW THESE SERVICES IN THE COMMUNITY ARE REACHING OUT FOR THE HOLISTIC NEEDS OF THESE DISABLED CHILDREN AND HOW THESE CAN ACTUALLY BE IMPROVED. Community child care services for children with disabilities Community child care services have experienced much progress during recent years, as studies and an
Without seeming to delve into "politics," it is clear to anyone paying attention - who cares about schools and children - that the current administration in Washington has recently asked Congress for an additional $80 billion to continue the occupation of Iraq and the fight in Afghanistan, and in the same week has indicated that the new budget eliminates programs designed to keep children in school, and to help
Foster Children/Foster Care Issues of a Foster Child Child Abuse Families and Children Served through Foster Care The Policy Framework This thesis reviews foster care in the United States: the reasons why children fall into the category of children who need to be taken out of their families and placed in care, the numerous emotional and psychological responses of children in foster care, and the psychological and emotional care that is given to children that
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now