Foster Care System Failures Foster care is defined as the supervision or care of neglected children in an institution or alternate home. There are “Around 500,000 children in the U.S currently reside in some form of foster care” (Statistics and Research). These homes, or placements as they are called, could be with a relative, in a group home or a foster parents’ home. As a community, nation and globe, people are often unaware of the incredibly vulgar and inhumane events that take place in the foster care system as a whole. Most children who go through the foster care system have a poor quality of life when they finally get out of the system. This system needs reform and to be treated with more urgency and care. The foster care system constantly
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It happens in all socioeconomic environments. Neglected children are 30 percent more likely to commit a violent crime (National Child Abuse Statistics). Neglect is the reason children are put into foster care, but that neglect can be continued. Foster parents receive a Check each month that is supposed to go to the child for covering food, clothing and medical care, although some foster parents abuse that and pocket the money and use it for their own personal gain. (Gariepy, 2004). This is another way the government fails. They take the child away from their abusive or neglect-prone families only to put them with a stranger who does the same thing. Other forms of neglect in the foster care system can include other forms of abuse, such as sexual assault, physical, or verbal abuse. The government doesn’t ever really hear about these abuse cases because of these confidentiality acts that have been put in place that protects foster parents from getting in trouble for abuse. (Shields & Behrmen). In rare cases, like the story of Logan Marr, the abuse was so bad that the victim died from such neglect. Logan was a 5-year-old who had been taken in by a formal social worker, Sally Schoefield who lives in Maine. Logan and her sister came to Sally when Logan’s mother became unable to care for her and her sister. After a while of being with Sally, Logan started to act out because she was confused …show more content…
Each child has a case worker who knows their case and is responsible for their placement. Sean Ries, A social worker in Mount Vernon, Ohio took the time to be interviewed and explain the foster care system in depth. “They [the case workers] have a once a month requirement to visit the child in their placement homes.” (Sean Ries, Interview). They have to obtain all their immunization records, social security card, and birth certificate. The failure in this is that they, as case workers aren’t required to meet with a child’s counselor or the foster parent to get an update of their actions and behaviors. Mr. Ries also said that they have to establish a case plan of what their treatment is to be. When asked how many child cases one of his colleagues has his response was 16. (Interview). They are only required to have meetings twice a year to review each individual case with the child’s counselor and legal guardian or family that is approved through the court system to care for the child. (Interview). This is a big problem because if they are only meeting twice a year, how are the case workers supposed to make sure everything is going well in one specific child’s life? The answer is they cannot. Case workers are so over loaded with cases because social work is not a high paying career. No person wants to go into social work because of the big pay out. People go into social work for the children, they want to help in any
It happens in all socioeconomic environments. Neglected children are 30 percent more likely to commit a violent crime (National Child Abuse Statistics). Neglect is the reason children are put into foster care, but that neglect can be continued. Foster parents receive a Check each month that is supposed to go to the child for covering food, clothing and medical care, although some foster parents abuse that and pocket the money and use it for their own personal gain. (Gariepy, 2004). This is another way the government fails. They take the child away from their abusive or neglect-prone families only to put them with a stranger who does the same thing. Other forms of neglect in the foster care system can include other forms of abuse, such as sexual assault, physical, or verbal abuse. The government doesn’t ever really hear about these abuse cases because of these confidentiality acts that have been put in place that protects foster parents from getting in trouble for abuse. (Shields & Behrmen). In rare cases, like the story of Logan Marr, the abuse was so bad that the victim died from such neglect. Logan was a 5-year-old who had been taken in by a formal social worker, Sally Schoefield who lives in Maine. Logan and her sister came to Sally when Logan’s mother became unable to care for her and her sister. After a while of being with Sally, Logan started to act out because she was confused …show more content…
Each child has a case worker who knows their case and is responsible for their placement. Sean Ries, A social worker in Mount Vernon, Ohio took the time to be interviewed and explain the foster care system in depth. “They [the case workers] have a once a month requirement to visit the child in their placement homes.” (Sean Ries, Interview). They have to obtain all their immunization records, social security card, and birth certificate. The failure in this is that they, as case workers aren’t required to meet with a child’s counselor or the foster parent to get an update of their actions and behaviors. Mr. Ries also said that they have to establish a case plan of what their treatment is to be. When asked how many child cases one of his colleagues has his response was 16. (Interview). They are only required to have meetings twice a year to review each individual case with the child’s counselor and legal guardian or family that is approved through the court system to care for the child. (Interview). This is a big problem because if they are only meeting twice a year, how are the case workers supposed to make sure everything is going well in one specific child’s life? The answer is they cannot. Case workers are so over loaded with cases because social work is not a high paying career. No person wants to go into social work because of the big pay out. People go into social work for the children, they want to help in any