Foster Care System

Foster care is not a perfect system. Many children that are put into the foster care system are separated from their siblings and put into harmful environments. These environments are supposed to be safe and give the child a chance at a better life. However, children living in group homes are not able to develop secure attachment to the people who are supposed to take care of them. Children bounce back and forth from house to house, family to family, causing them to live in an unstable environment through most (if not all of) their child hood. According to childrensrights.org, Children will be “further abused in systems that are supposed to protect them” (Newsroom/fact sheet). Some children end up back into that abusive or unsafe environment

Protecting the child and provide an opportunity in which they will live a close to normal life is the goal. But with so many children in foster care and so little workers, children can be over looked. How can a child live in foster care their whole life? “It has been long stated and strongly held belief that foster care must not be a way of life for children, but rather that it is intended as a short-term treatment measure which, for the children’s welfare, must eventuate in their return to their parents or in legal adoption” (Kline,1972,p.51). Children eventually need to be put into long term, permanent homes. In the hopes that they will grow up and know unconditionally

I did know that although children are taken out of abusive homes, that the foster care is flawed and children can be/ are emotionally abused and damaged. However, I did not know that the number one reason that children are put into foster care is poverty. It definitely makes sense, poverty is huge here in America. Teenagers get pregnant and put their children up in the foster care system, people have children and lose jobs. Social workers play a huge role in foster care and child abuse. Now the problem is can social workers solve the issue of children being mentally damaged and abused in foster care. Social workers do sit down and try to take a child from a dysfunctional environment and put them into (what is supposed to be a structured) environment, but does this work for every child? Clearly not because of how many foster care children are getting pregnant, running away from their foster parent, getting arrested. It just is not working. Now finding a set answer to solve the issues that foster children face would be a