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, these families lack basic needs such as employment opportunities, adequate housing and job skills and the means to offer sufficient clothing, food, and medical care. Dangerous surroundings, housing inadequacy and economic deprivation pose the greatest obstacle to a successful foster care. Abandonment is the prime reason for placing children under foster care: inadequate housing is the key element tied to it (Berrick, 2009). Families living in these challenging financial straits demonstrate concrete needs like sufficient food. Even while serving households…...
mlaReferences
Berrick, J.D. (2009). Take me home: Protecting America's vulnerable children and families. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Pers, J.S. (2010). Government as a parent: Administering foster care in California. Berkeley: Institute of Governmental Studies, University of California.
Lindsey, D. (2013). The Welfare of Children. New York: Oxford University Press.
Curtis, P.A., Dale, G., & Kendall, J.C. (2009). The foster care crisis: Translating research into policy and practice. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press in association with the Child Welfare League of America.
Foster Care
eview scenario: •A recent policy implemented Anytown's Department Job Family Services issue child endangerment. Any household documented offense domestic violence, child abuse, drug alcohol related offenses committed mother, father, guardian, / caregiver, result removal child children home
Anytown's Department Job Family Services
On the surface, a 'zero tolerance' policy regarding domestic abuse and drug abuse for children might seem warranted. After all, it is better to be 'safe than sorry' regarding the welfare of a child. Additionally, there have been many highly-publicized cases of child abuse over the years in which protective services did not follow up on cases where abuse was going on in the home. Theoretically, having a zero-tolerance policy would protect the department's reputation as well as children. However, removing children from foster care is a serious decision and cannot be regarded as a precautionary measure. Only severe, legally-classified actions of abuse can justify the traumatic action of…...
mlaReferences
Foster care. (2005). American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychology. Retrieved:
http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/facts_for_families/foster_care
Foster care. (2012). Children's Law Center. Retrieved:
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. here the child suffers from serious emotional or behavioural problems, regular foster care services are unlikely to be sufficient. Such children are likely to need either supervised group care or one of the forms of intensive, therapeutic foster care described in the literature (see Hudson, Natter and Galaway 1994, for a review) (Barber and Delfabbro, 2003, pp. 7-8)."
Adam Pertman (2000) says that America has become an "adoption nation," and that this has been a good thing for children who would otherwise be long-term placements in less desirable foster-care settings…...
mlaWorks Cited
http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=104246710
Barber, James G., and Paul H. Delfabbro. Children in Foster Care. New York: Routledge, 2003. Questia. 8 Mar. 2008 http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=104246712 .
A www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=102653511
Brittain, Charmaine, and Deborah Esquibel Hunt, eds. Helping in Child Protective Services: A Competency-Based Casework Handbook / . New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. Questia. 8 Mar. 2008 http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=102653512 .
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 egional 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…...
mlaReferences
Collins, M., Spencer, R., & Ward, R. (2010). Supporting youth in the transition from foster care: formal and informal connections. Child Welfare, 89(1), 125-143
Hope and A Future, Inc. (2010). Foster care statistics. Retrieved from http://azhope.com/about/foster-care-statistics.php
Krinsky, M. (2010). A not so happy birthday: The foster youth transition from adolescence into adulthood. Family Court Review, 48(2), 250-254. doi:10.1111/j.1744-1617.2010.01306.x
Norris, D.S., & Schwartz, C.L. (2009). Needs Assessments: An Integrated Assignment in Civic Service. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 29(4), 373-382. doi:10.1080/08841230903022027
(2006). Cildren and Yout Services Review, Vol. 28, 1459-1481.
Te study in tis researc piece evaluated te adult education, employment and financial successes (or failures) of 659 adults (20 to 33 years of age) wo ad gone troug intermediate and long-term foster care stays in teir yout. Tese kinds of studies are important for present and future agencies because a fuller understanding of sortcomings -- and strengts -- in policy and judgment can lead to better care and more productive lives for alumni of foster care. Wen visited and surveyed, many of te 659 individuals (alumni) ad completed ig scool not in formal education but via a GED; ence one-tird of te 659 ad incomes at or below te poverty level and "more tan one in five" ad been omeless following foster care (Pecora, et al., 2006, p. 1459). Te Nortwest Foster Care Alumni Study investigated te lives of alumni…...
mlahome care. Child Welfare, 87(6), 71-91.
This study leads with the assertion that multiple foster care placements are detrimental to "brain growth, psychological adjustment, and mental development" (which the American Academy of Pediatrics reported in 2000) (Eggertsen, p. 71). Eggertsen's research also claims multiple foster care placements contribute to an individual's "instability… [and] behavioral disturbances" and leads to "impaired school functioning." The question most apt in this context is, how can an adult -- who has been placed in multiple family settings during an unstable childhood and adolescence -- be expected to succeed in educational and career pursuits? Brain growth is a vital part of psychological and physiological development, but when the brain is not fully mature and functioning normally the child may be headed for a troubled adulthood, according to the literature.
This study involved 6,432 children (3,183 females; 3,140 males) who had been placed in foster care homes during the years 2000, 2001, and 2002 in Utah. The average age of participants was 8.17 but they ranged up to 20 years of age (p. 72). Of the 6,432 children, 4,917 had been removed from urban areas and placed in rural areas, and 1,426 had been removed from rural areas and transplanted to urban environments. As to the health issues, "Participants with major health problems were more than 60% more likely" to have been placed in multiple foster homes. Unhealthy bodies certainly are less apt to have success in school and in later life -- hence one of the results of this study aid in understanding poor performance in school. The existence of mental health problems "…more than doubled the likelihood" that an individual had experienced 3 or more placements (p. 73). The theoretical framework for this research is that multiple placement experiences for foster youth lead to stunted intellectual and emotional growth -- and those factors in many cases prevent an individual from solid education and training experiences.
The authors examined the outcomes of children who were kept with their siblings and those who were separated from their siblings and compared those with a stable arrangement from ones who were initially placed together and later separated. Partial support was found for the policy of keeping siblings together in foster care; the results suggest that the policy is positive for a unique subset of siblings, or those who initially show a low level of behavior problems. ompared to siblings in continuous placement, either together or apart, siblings in disrupted placement with high initial behavior problems had fewer problems, while siblings in disrupted placement with low initial behavior problems had more problems. These findings stress the importance of examining the relationships between siblings and the potential risk of separation and placement shifts before early placement decisions are made.
Marzick, a.B. (2007) the foster care ombudsman: applying an international concept to…...
mlaChildren today are often abused while in foster care, opposing the goal to create a temporary, safe, homelike setting to protect and nurture children who are unable to live with their biological parents due to reasons such as abuse, neglect, or abandonment. This abuse is frequently worse than the reasons they were initially removed from their parents' care. There is now an internationally based innovative concept called the foster care ombudsman that may be a part of the solution. Child welfare ombudsman offices in California, Rhode Island, and New Jersey, as well as international locations are described in this report. The author also emphasized how a foster care ombudsman can complement class action litigation of foster care abuse claims. "When strongly statutorily defined, properly funded, and well-staffed, foster care ombudsman offices can serve as a complement to class action litigation and, more importantly, as a source of child welfare reform and protection for foster children," concluded Marzick.
McGuinness, T.M, & Schneider, K. (2007) Poverty, child maltreatment, and foster care. Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association 13(5): 296-303.
In general, children are maltreated at considerably higher rates when they are living in poverty. Child welfare officials normally hear of children in foster care because they are neglected by parents who are struggling with poverty effects, such as homelessness, incarceration, HIV, and substance abuse. The authors reviewed the disadvantages experienced by young children in foster care, 36 months and younger. They found the common risks to include low birth weight, prenatal substance exposure, and prematurity. Substance abuse, for example, showed to be a major negative effect. Those children with prenatal substance exposure may be at high risk for a number of problems, including motor control and perceptual defects, even when they are raised with adequate care after birth. In addition, the child welfare agency had only an 11% screening for early intervention, despite the multiple risks as well as established mandates for screening. The system that is to protect and care for maltreated children lags behind in improving the well-being of its children. There appears to be a need for a middleperson who can be specifically in charge of this need. One example in California is a federally and state funded program that employs nurses to coordinate healthcare between the child welfare system and healthcare providers. This foster care nurse role evolved due to the growing recognition of the many health and developmental issues seen in child welfare and the lack of timeliness in addressing these problems.
2). Parents can also use DVDs for training in the home; by using a DVD as a means of providing in-service training to foster parents at home, the research showed that they "gained confidence in their ability to understand and handle their child's anger outbursts" and moreover, this was "notable" because it is not easy for parents to "look past the stresses caused by a child with explosive anger" (Pacifici, p. 7).
Review of Literature: Professionalizing Foster Care
Dr. Thomas aldcock, a university instructor at Trent and Nipissing Universities and a foster parent himself, writes that making foster care more professional is "a long overdue reform in child welfare." riting in Canada Online (www.ica.net) aldcock insists that the first priority should be to recognize the "changing problems of the children coming into care," and the importance of providing those children with the "best possible quality of care." Secondly as far as…...
mlaWorks Cited
Chipungu, Sandra Stukes; and Bent-Goodley, Tricia B. (2004). Meeting the Challenges
Of Contemporary Foster Care. The Future of Children.
Connolly, Marie. (2003). Kinship Care: A Selected Literature Review. Submitted to The Department of Child, Youth and Family, New Zealand.
Marquis, Robyn A., Leschied, Alan W., Chiodo, Debbie, and O'Neill, Arlene. (2008).
A large number of these youth are not prepared to be independent, regardless of their maturity level; they do not have the skills and services in place to do so. Having to live on one's own maximizes the stresses and personal challenges and requires skills that are even difficult for those who have never been in foster care. Not only are these young adults moving to independence without positive support, they have rarely been given the safety net needed. Nor has it ever been clearly recognized and resolved that these youths are facing the trauma of losing a family twice in their short lives -- both times forcefully. This is a syndrome now given the term called "remourn," since so many foster youths experience this second loss of family support and care.
The Chafee Act is a start in the right direction, but it is not enough given the number of…...
mlaReferences Cited
Browne, D. (2002) Health care needs of children in the foster care system. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. 31(1), 57-66.
Casey Family Programs. (2003) the Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study Improving Family Foster Care: Findings from the Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study. Retrieved March 10, 2010 from http://www.casey.org /Resources/Publications/NorthwestAlumniStudy.htm
Child Welfare League of America (Nd) Programs and Resources for Youth Aging Out of Foster Care. Retrieved March 2, 2010 from http://www.cwla.org/programs/fostercare/agingoutresources.htm
Chipungu, S.S. & Bent-Goodley, T. (2004) Meeting the Challenges of Contemporary Foster Care. The Future of Children 14(1). 75-94
From being exposed to such an unhealthy environment at an impressionable age, many negative effects occur (Weldon, 2001). This is because since more children are entering foster care in the early years of life when brain growth and development are most active. The younger a child may be, psychological effects become even more profound, and during the first 3 to 4 years of life, many traits are established, strengthened, and made permanent (Weldon, 2001). These traits include personality, leaning processes, and coping with stress and emotions. When a child is exposed to negative environmental conditions during the development of the brain and nervous system, serious effects will occur (Weldon, 2001). Finally, a child having no dominating parental figure during the early years of development may lead to a child never being able to receive nurture from any other person. This effect is the most devastating effect that foster care…...
mlaBibliography
Albers, E., Reilly, T., & Rittner, B. (1993). Children in foster care: Possible factors affecting permanency planning. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal 10: 329-
Pecora, P., Williams, J., Kessler, R., Downs, C., O'Brien, K. & Morello, S. (2003). Assessing the Effects of Foster Care. Retrieved July 22, 2007, at http://www.casey.org .
Katz, L. (1987). An Overview of Current Clinical Issues in Separation and Placement. Child and Adolescent Social Work 4: 209-225.
National Adoption and Foster Care Statistics. (2004). Administration for Families and Children.
foster children face, especially when they become emancipated and begin to live life on their own. It has often been suggested that many more African-American children are in foster care than are children of other races. In order to understand whether or not this is accurate, a thorough review of available literature on the topic is necessary. Literature on this topic will include statistics, gender differences, and cultural diversity.
The problem statement concerns the disproportionate number of African-American children who are represented in the child welfare system, and who are not adequately prepared to leave foster care through emancipation. The logical assumption would be that something is lacking in the foster care environment that causes great difficulty for children once they begin to live on their own. It is the intent of the literature review to show whether or not is accurate, and what may be lacking in the foster…...
mlaWorks Cited
Amaro, H., Fried, L.E., Cabral, H., & Zuckerman, B. (1990). Violence during pregnancy and substance use. American Journal of Public Health. 80(5), 575-579.
Bandura, A. (1965). Influences of models' reinforcement contingencies on the acquisition of imitative responses. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1, 589-595.
Barden, J. (January 6, 1991). After release from foster care, many turn to lives on the streets. New York Times. 1.
Bartels, L. (August 8, 1997). Foster care rate high state second nationally for percentage of kids not living with parents. Denver Rocky Amount News. 16A.
I like this approach to dealing with kids in foster care. The ultimate goal should be to have a little contact with the system as possible. The foster families and the birth families should work together to make sure that the child has the safest and most healthy environment possible that includes the birth family. The goal in the end is to help the families with whatever issues they are having so that they are able to care for their children once again. This approach will probably not work for every child and every family but it should be used as much as it possible.
Challenges to Working in a Bureaucracy
Working within a bureaucracy can be a very challenging thing to do. Bureaucracies are often laden with rules and regulations that have to be overcome in order to get things accomplished. A lot of times these rules and regulations have…...
mlaReferences
Concurrent Planning. (2012). Retrieved from http://glossary.adoption.com/concurrent-planning.html
DePanfilis, D. & Salus, M.K. (2003). Child Protective Services: A Guide for Caseworkers.
Retreived from http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/usermanuals/cps/cps.pdf
The Therapeutic Alliance. (n.d.). Retreived from http://amhd.org/About/ClinicalOperations/MISA/Training/Therapeutic%20Alliance%
Does Foster Care Have an Effect in Children Physically, Mentally, Emotionally and Socially? Today, there are almost 438,000 children placed in foster care in the United States and more than 687,000 children were assigned to foster care during 2016 (Foster care, 2016). The research to date also indicates that children in the United States remain in foster care on average almost 2 years and at least 6% have been in foster care for 5 years or more (Foster care, 2018). Although there is a near consensus that foster care provides a superior environment for young people compared to institutionalization, a growing body of scholarship cites the adverse effect that the experience can have on children’s physical, mental, emotional and social growth. The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the relevant literature concerning these issues, followed by what can be done to help these young people avoid these…...
mlaReferences
Almas, A. N., Degnan, K. A., Walker, O. G. et al. (2015, May). The effects of early institutionalization and foster care intervention on children’s social behaviors at the age of eight. Social Development, 24(2), 225–239.Clausen, J. M., Landeverk, J., Ganger, W. et al. (1998). Mental health problems of foster children. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 7(3), 283-329.Foster care. (2018). Children’s Rights. Retrieved from room/fact-sheets/foster-care/Ghera, M. M., Marshall, P. J., Fox, N. A. et al. (2009). The effects of foster care intervention on socially deprived institutionalized children’s attention and positive affect: results from the BEIP study. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 50(3), 246-253.Stott, T. (2012). Placement instability and risky behaviors of youth: Aging out of foster care. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 29, 61–83.Windsor, J., Benigno, J. P., Wing, C. A. et al. (2011, July/August). Effect of foster care on young children’s language learning. Child Development, 82(4), 1040–1046.http://www.childrensrights.org/news
Financial Literacy
One of the objectives of foster care should be to provide as any parent or guardian should provide, which means getting foster care youth ready for the adult world. When a youth graduates from the foster care program, ideally that youth will have all of the skills and tools needed to survive on his or her own.
eilly (2003) identified some of the issues that foster care youth face when they exit foster care. They are generally thrown into the real world without a lot of training, but forced to fend for themselves without adult guidance. The result, eilly notes, is a series of negative outcomes that seem commonplace to foster care youth. Among other issues, they are often unable to meet basic living expenses, and struggled to earn enough money to do so, or to obtain health care. One of the key issues that eilly notes is that while…...
mlaReferences
Cook, R. (1994). Are we helping foster care youth prepare for their future? Children and Youth Services Review. Vol. 6 (3-4) 213-229.
Courtney, M. & Heuring, D. (2005). The transition to adulthood for youth "aging out" of the foster care system. In On your own without a net, ed. D. Osgood. University of Chicago Press: Chicago.
Federal Reserve. (2002). Financial literacy: An overview of practice, research and policy. Federal Reserve Bulletin. Vol. 88 (445).
Lusardi, A. (2008). Household saving behavior: The role of financial literacy, information and financial education programs. Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. Retrieved November 17, 2014 from http://www.clevelandfed.org/our_region/community_development/events/seminars/20080425_fin_lit/lusardi_paper.pdf
Domestic Issues With Student Affairs
There are numerous ethical issues to consider when a resident hall director speculates about taking home over semester break a foster care student who has nowhere else to go. The vast majority of these ethical issues pertain to concepts of propriety and the fair, equitable treatment of that student. Additionally, these ethical issues also pertain to the resident hall director and his or her ability to maintain his or her job.
One of the more eminent ethical issues that the aforementioned resident hall director would have to consider in such a scenario pertains to the welfare of the student. In fact, the welfare of such students should always take priority for any resident hall director. Caring for students is designed so that caretakers "provide safe, healthy, and discrimination free environments for teaching, learning, and scholarship for students, employees, and visitors" (University of Hawaii, 2015). The ethical…...
mlaReferences
Schuh, J.H., Jones, S.R., Harper, S.R., and Associates. (2011). Student services: A Handbook for the profession. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
University of Hawaii. (2015). Strategic directions. / Retrieved from http://blog.hawaii.edu
exiting out of the foster care system and consistent research points to the value of a support network in helping them do so.
Law necessitates that foster children exit the foster care system between the ages of 16-18. However, study after study shows the difficulties that these individuals face upon release. Many of them are unable to throw themselves into independence and very few are able to grapple with the struggles of life. tudies and analysis (* e.g.) show that most of these individuals are unemployed,50% leave foster care without a high school diploma, 7% were incarcerated in a state prison, 2% reported experiencing homelessness, 30% experience health problems, 32% need health care, and 55% have no type of health insurance. Further studies (*e.g.) show that youths with more foster care placements are more likely to have encountered violence in their dating relationships, were more likely to have spent time…...
mlaSources
Hycner, RH (1985) Some guidelines for the phenomenological analysis of interview data, Human Studies 8, 279-303
We are not sure if you are having a hard time deciding how to start your essay in terms of figuring out the introductory paragraph or if you are having a hard time deciding where to start your essay on abuse in the foster care system and how to organize the material. We are going to address both issues in our answer.
If you have gathered all of your information and facts and organized the rest of your essay, but are wondering how to actually begin the essay, what you are looking for is a powerful hook. A....
Effectively Implementing Indigenous Social Policy: Addressing Unique Community Needs
Indigenous communities face a complex array of social challenges, including poverty, health disparities, and educational inequality. Effectively addressing these issues requires an approach that acknowledges the distinct histories, cultures, and needs of indigenous communities. Indigenous social policy provides a framework for developing and implementing policies that are tailored to these specific needs.
Principles of Indigenous Social Policy
Self-determination: Indigenous communities should have the right to determine their own social and economic development policies.
Cultural competence: Policies should be designed with sensitivity to indigenous cultures, values, and traditions.
Community engagement: Indigenous communities should be....
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