There is a certain group of people that most of us tend to forget about, or at least look aside and ignore. The children taken by CPS are often not on our minds but they should be. The foster care system in the United States is failing. Your question may be “failing at what?” but it should be “failing who?” This is because the 391,000 children currently in the foster care system are not getting their needs met. This Policy Circle quote informs us on the original governmental purpose for foster care saying, “The U.S. Constitution declares it is the role of the government to promote the general welfare, ensuring the well-being of citizens, including children.” (www.thepolicycircle.org) Therefore, the foster care system was created for the general welfare of children. This idea is at the center of the foster care system but the good intentions are being covered up by the constant mistakes made.
A Children’s Home is a place where young ones, hurt and lost, gather in hope to return to their family or to get placed with a new family who cares for them and loves them. That’s what any child would want and that’s what every child deserves. “Around 38,700 young people across the United States live in non-family foster placements such as group homes and residential facilities, known as congregate settings. Congregate environments have long been a source of concern due to their hazardous and carceral nature. Despite mounting evidence that these placements do more harm than good, the practice persists, including in New York State.” (www.childrensrights.org) The Children’s Rights Program had written this on New York State’s foster care issues. These group homes, although with good intentions, just provide a lot of instability for the kids. people move in and out, including the children and adults. Often, these children feel overlooked as if they are a part of a sea of children moving around. That is at least how my adopted sister described her personal experience with spending time in the foster care system. She also used this “sea” metaphor to describe the instability of her life while in the system.
Instability is seen everywhere in the foster care system but especially with home placements. On average a foster child is placed in about three different homes a year. Why is this? I sure don’t know. Bouncing from home to home would cause serious mental health issues in a child It is no wonder that behavioral problems are often seen in these children. It seems almost like the foster care system wasn’t made to create well adjusted happy children. As soon as a child becomes happy or comfortable in a home, they are ripped out and moved. This is one of the biggest issues in the system today. The National Library of Medicine says “Children in foster care experience placement instability unrelated to their baseline problems, and this instability has a significant impact on their behavioral well-being. This finding presents an opportunity for intervention to improve both placement stability and outcomes among youth entering care.” (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) In this quote, David Rubin mentions a possible place of improvement for the foster care system and I believe this is possible as well but it would take action and change by the people in charge. The system should strive to place the children back with their parents unless they are seen unfit and in that case the parents should have their rights terminated, which happens often. The child should then be placed with a family ready to adopt. The constant changing and passing around of the children from home to home before and after the parents’ rights are terminated seems unnecessary. What may be even worse is that the system doesn’t provide much mental help for these traumatized and usually poorly behaved children. Behavioral issues are commonly seen in these children because of all the trauma, lack of love, and instability they have experienced. Mental help should be easily accessible and a primary focus for the system. It’s what the children need from a young age to even children aged out of the system.
Aging out of the foster care system is a whole other fear that a lot of these children have. About 23,000 kids age out of the foster care system each year according to the America First Policy Institute. This means they turn 18 while being under the responsibility of the state and since they are adults now, and not returned to their parents or adopted by another family, they are sent out into the world on their own. As you can imagine, it is extremely hard for these kids to set up a life on their own with no support or a proper childhood. About 20% of children aged out of the foster care system are immediately homeless, 70% become pregnant before the age of 21, and 25% struggle from post traumatic stress disorders. “Not only are these young adults more likely to experience homelessness, early parenthood, and mental health issues, but they are also prone to physical health problems, employment and academic difficulties, incarceration, and other potentially lifelong adversities” (americafirstpolicy.com) says Doctor Laurie Todd-Smith who is the Director for Education Opportunities and Director for American Children at America First Policy Institute. The system doesn’t do enough to aid these children as they leave on their own and that is wrong. While these young adults are often given free health insurance and paid college in certain states, some lack common knowledge and need more help than some money will get them. There should be programs set up to help these children, mentally and financially, as they go on their own. I’m sure there are some programs but not enough, as reflected in the statistics shared previously. There should also be adult classes as these children likely didn’t get a lot of education and experience on how to be an adult from their parents or while in the system. Lots of things should be set in place for the betterment of these children.
Overall the foster care system was set up for a good purpose and does mostly good helping remove children from unsafe homes but the people in charge need to work on bettering the lives of the children once removed from the homes. Children’s homes, inconsistent foster placements, mental help accessibility, and children aged out of the system are just some areas that need to be improved in this wrecked system. This is because currently the foster care system is failing these children after their own parents have already failed them. Children deserve love and security and my hope is if the parents can’t provide that, then the rescuers can.
