Foster Care: A Case Study

In 2005, the number of children in foster care was 513,000, but as of September 30, 2014, the number of children in foster care dropped to 415,129. Although it is promising that there appears to be a downward trend in the number of children who needed to be removed from their birth home, either permanently or temporarily, the number of children waiting to be adopted has not dropped by as large a percentage. In 2005, 22% of the children in foster care, about 114,000 were waiting to be adopted, yet in 2014 the total was 107, 918. The majority of children in foster care are not on a path for adoption and for most children it is a temporary place until their birth parents are better able to care for them. However, there are times when the …show more content…
Generally the foster child will feel the loss of not being raised by their birth family. The main goal of the state agencies is to keep the child with his/her birth parents, so they work very hard for reunification. During this time the child is going through a myriad of emotional feelings. He/she knows there is a possibility of going back to the birth family, but at the same time he/she is being prepared for an alternative plan. If reunification is not possible, then the child needs to understand that the next step is adoption. It is at this time that the child will go through a grieving process for the loss of the parenting relationship, which will remain with the child even after they are adopted (Singer, Krebs 2008). This loss is profound and usually the child will not be able to articulate his/her feelings, carrying the burden of this emotion by him/herself. There are also many cases were the foster child is moved from foster home to foster home. When this happens, the child loses not only the foster parents, but also any friends, teachers, and possibly whatever possessions they might have. In general children in foster care and subsequently adopted children have less security attachment than non-adopted children and the older a child is at placement, the more at risk these children are. Another factor to consider is the trauma the child might have experienced before he/she was removed from their birth home. This trauma could be the result of neglect, physical, sexual and/or emotional abuse as well as the witnessing of violence in the household. All of these things contribute to children feeling like they have lost control over their life which in turn decreases their ability to trust others and can lead to feelings of low self-esteem, incompetence, and feeling unsafe. If the child is unable to communicate his/her need for