scholarly journals The Foster Care Systems are Failing Foster Children: The Implications and Practical Solutions for Better Outcomes of Youth in Care

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Ramsay-Irving
Keyword(s):  
Foster Care ◽  
North America ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Attachment Theory ◽  
Foster Children ◽  
Foster Care System ◽  
Youth In Care ◽  
Care Systems ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Behavioural And Emotional Problems

Although the foster care systems in North America are set up with good intentions for best practices for foster children, in reality these systems are failing youth in care. Many foster children experience more psychological, social, educational, behavioural, and emotional problems as compared to children who are not in foster care, and this can continue into adulthood. Attachment theory can help to explain why some children experience these problems. Professionals who work with this population need to have a good understanding of foster children’s unique experiences in order to help them as much as possible. Literature has addressed the problems that foster children have faced for decades, but there seems to be little change that happens to address and prevent these problems. There is no doubt that there is a great need for change in the current foster care systems in North America because current outcomes for many foster children are negative. This paper reviews the literature on foster care and explains the issues that foster children experience. It also addresses why the foster care system is failing youth, and gives practical suggestions for solutions.

The Hard-to-Place Child

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine E. Rymph
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Foster Care ◽  
Attachment Theory ◽  
New Deal ◽  
Foster Children ◽  
Foster Parents ◽  
Conventional Wisdom ◽  
Child Placement ◽  
American Children ◽  
Post War

This chapter examines the notion of the “hard-to-place child” and the post-war emergence of the idea that foster children were inherently damaged. This idea derived from the rise of “attachment theory” and the conventional wisdom that New Deal family security programs had effectively eliminated poverty as a reason for child placement, thereby meaning that those children still in need of foster care came from pathological families. The chapter looks at various qualities that made a child “hard-to-place,” including, age, disability, behavioural problems, and race. It looks specifically at the use of board rates as a strategy to recruit foster parents and at efforts to recruit African American foster homes to serve African American children.

The Benefits of Extending State Care to Young Adults

2019 ◽  
pp. 131-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark E. Courtney
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Foster Care ◽  
Transition To Adulthood ◽  
The United States ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Foster Care System ◽  
Care Systems ◽  
Potential Benefits

This chapter summarizes recent research in the United States providing evidence of the benefits of allowing youth in foster care to remain in care through their 21st birthdays. The chapter provides relevant background information about the foster care system in the United States, describes two studies that have considered the relationship between extended foster care and young people’s transition to adulthood, summarizes the findings of those studies regarding the potential benefits of extended care, and discusses the implications of the studies’ findings for policy and practice. As child welfare systems around the world increasingly continue to support young people in care into adulthood, research will be needed to ensure that these new care systems meet the needs of the young adults they serve.

Predictors of Adoption and Guardianship Dissolution: The Role of Race, Age, and Gender Among Children in Foster Care

2020 ◽  
pp. 107755952095217
Author(s):  
Kierra M. P. Sattler ◽  
Sarah A. Font
Keyword(s):  
Foster Care ◽  
Foster Children ◽  
Cognitive Disability ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Foster Care System ◽  
Children In Foster Care ◽  
Disability Status ◽  
Entry Cohort ◽  
And Gender

Adoption and guardianship are meant to provide permanency to foster children when reunification is not a viable option. Unfortunately, sometimes adoption and guardianship placements dissolve resulting in children returning to care. Currently, there is limited research on the prevalence and predictors of adoption and guardianship dissolutions. This study investigated rates of guardianship and adoption dissolution using a complete entry cohort from a large state foster care system and the associations between child characteristics and risk factors with dissolution. Drawing on a complete entry cohort of foster children in Texas that exited to either adoption or guardianship placements, results demonstrated that over 2% of adoptive placements and 7% of guardianship placements were dissolved. Compared with White and Hispanic children, Black children had a higher risk of guardianship, but not adoption, dissolution. Older age was associated with a higher risk of adoption dissolution, and females had a higher risk of guardianship dissolution than males. Behavior problems, cognitive disability status, and mental health issues were all associated with a higher risk of dissolution. These findings have important implications for caseworkers and policymakers on permanency for children in adoptive or guardianship placements.

scholarly journals IS FOSTER CARE THE SAFE PLACE WE BELIEVE IT TO BE? IF NOT, WHY NOT?

2021 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 499-515
Author(s):  
Rankwe Reuben Masha ◽  
Petro Botha
Keyword(s):  
Foster Care ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Foster Children ◽  
Foster Parents ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Foster Care System ◽  
Safe Place ◽  
Children In Foster Care ◽  
Abuse And Neglect

Foster care is an important part of the child protection system; however, it seems that some foster children are not protected – they are abused and neglected. The aims of this article are to confirm on a small scale whether children in foster care are indeed being abused and neglected and to develop an understanding of factors contributing to the abuse and neglect of these foster children. A qualitative research approach was applied. Findings confirmed the occurrence of abuse and/or neglect and provided information on factors relating to foster parents and the foster care system itself contributing to this phenomenon.

Foster Care Children

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1983 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-138
Author(s):  
HOWARD B. DEMB
Keyword(s):  
Foster Care ◽  
Health Status ◽  
Foster Children ◽  
Foster Care System ◽  
High Incidence ◽  
Care System

To the Editor.— After reading Schor's article "The Foster Care System and Health Status of Foster Children" (Pediatrics 1982;69:521) I wished that there was one point he would have made more clearly. Namely, that the population of children coming into foster care has a high incidence of psychopathology, much of it rather severe. A corollary point should also be made, ie, that the quantity and quality of psychopathology produced by the fact of entering foster care is minimal by comparison to the nature and extent of the psychopathology already present in these children when they come into foster care.

scholarly journals Do prescribers deprescribe psychotropic medication for children in foster care?

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Conor O’Brien ◽  
John T. Rapp ◽  
Erica D. Kierce
Keyword(s):  
Foster Care ◽  
Psychotropic Medication ◽  
Foster Children ◽  
Descriptive Study ◽  
Psychotropic Medications ◽  
Prescribing Patterns ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Foster Care System ◽  
Children In Foster Care ◽  
The Mean

Approximately one third of children in foster care in the U.S. receive psychotropic medication; however, few studies have evaluated the extent to which either the number or dosage of drugs changes across time. We conducted a retrospective descriptive study of Medicaid files for 30 individuals placed in a foster care system that included an analysis of 10 consecutive visits with a prescribing practitioner spanning 8–14 months. Specifically, we evaluated the data for evidence of deprescribing. Results indicate practitioners changed psychotropic medication during 70% of visits and most changes involved removing and adding psychotropic medication within the same class. Results also show 60% of visits across participants involved prescriptions for four or more psychotropic medications, whereas only 0.33% of trials involved no psychotropic medication. Furthermore, results show the mean number of psychotropic medications per foster child at the end of the study ( M = 3.97) did not decrease in comparison to the start of the study ( M = 3.53). Taken together, these results indicate that prescribers do not regularly engage in a clear deprescribing process for psychotropic medication when serving foster youth. We discuss some limitations to the current study and directions for future research on prescribing patterns with foster children.

Foster Care Children

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1983 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 138-138
Author(s):  
JOHN D. MADDEN
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Foster Care ◽  
Health Status ◽  
Foster Children ◽  
Foster Child ◽  
Foster Care System ◽  
Children In Foster Care ◽  
Social Pediatrics ◽  
The Family ◽  
Care System

To the Editor.— Schor's article, "The Foster Care System and Health Status of Foster Children" (Pediatrics 1982;69:521) may well prove to be a landmark paper in social pediatrics. The related editorial by Sokoloff (Pediatrics 1982;69:649) provided invaluable advice as to how we, as pediatricians, can better serve children in foster care. One point in Sokoloff's editorial particularly caught my attention. He expressed the hope that pediatricians providing health care to the natural children within the family would also be willing to attend the needs of the foster child and that the fact that in some states Medicaid is responsible financially for these children would not deter the physician from doing so.

OVERPROTECTED FOSTER CHILDREN?

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 93 (4) ◽  
pp. A32-A32
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Clinical Trials ◽  
New York City ◽  
Foster Care ◽  
York City ◽  
Foster Children ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Children In Foster Care ◽  
Set Up

...about one-third of HIV-infected children in New York City... end up in foster care...It is ironic that the protections that were set up to protect disadvantaged and vulnerable groups like prisoners and children, particularly children in foster care, are actually limiting their options and their access to treatments [in clinical trials] that other people may be able to get. This is not just a problem in New York—this is a national problem. Most states do not have a policy that specifically permits children in foster care to participate in research.

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