Running head: ISSUES FOSTER CARE CHILDREN FACE

Issues Foster Care Children Face Julia Campbell Academy for the Arts, Science, and Technology

ISSUES FOSTER CARE CHILDREN FACE

Issues Foster Care Children Face Each year, over five hundred thousand (500,000) children are put into the foster care system. When a child is suspected of being abused or neglected by their primary caregivers, whether it be his/her parent or guardian, the case is reviewed by the State board and, depending on the severity of the case, the child is then released to either his/her family or is placed into the foster care system (Child Welfare Information Gateway [C.W.I.G.], 2013, p. 6). This child, already exposed to traumatic events, is then separated from their parent/guardian and has new experiences, some of which may be bad. He/she is extremely vulnerable to mental health issues, specifically post-traumatic stress disorder. The severity of these issues can be lessened through therapeutic mentoring and preventative trauma exposures. Trauma Exposure Most foster care children are being entered into the system after having been exposed to a traumatic event in their life. This event could be anything from parents/guardians dying, being arrested, or abusing/neglecting the child in any way. A study done by the Foster Family-based Treatment Association in which two hundred and twenty-nine (229) foster youth were examined for trauma exposure prior to being in the foster care system. It was found that foster parents reported high rates of trauma exposure among youth; 93% of youth in the sample were exposed to one or more types of traumatic events, with nearly half exposed to four or more types (Dorsey, S. et al., p816). These events consist of emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and/or witnessing violence. According to the studys findings, the highest rate of exposure was emotional abuse, with eighty-five (85) percent of the foster youth exposed to it (Dorsey, S. et al., 2012). These children are already traumatized by these events and are now

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separated from their families and put into this complex and scary system where they may live with a new family. Although most children in the foster care system live in a family setting, there are still significant amounts that live in group homes. Even though the goal of these group homes is to get the child into an adoptive home as soon as possible, the average time these children wait to be adopted is around two years (23.6 months) (Too many children are trapped in foster care, 2013). While in a group home, a foster care child is most likely to be exposed to many other experiences, some of which can be traumatic for him/her. While a child is in the foster care system, especially a child who is placed in a group home, he/she can be exposed to even more trauma. The types of trauma exposure are the same for the child in the foster care system as it was prior to being input into the system: emotional/physical/sexual abuse and neglect. This mostly is the consequence of not getting proper care, such as sufficient food, proper hygiene, emotional care, or medical treatment the child needs. Effects of Trauma Exposure When a child is exposed to such traumatic events, he/she is going to be affected in one way or more. Most children affected by these events show signs of developmental issues. Among these problems are behavioral and emotional problems, such as trust issues, antisocial behavior, and under stimulation. One huge consequence of these traumatic events is posttraumatic stress disorder, also known as PTSD. Post-traumatic stress disorder is a disorder in which the humans fight-or-flight response is either changed or damaged. This occurs when the victim is either traumatized himself/herself or something traumatizing happened to him/her, such as neglect or abuse foster care children are exposed to. Post-traumatic stress disorder is common in foster care children and foster care alumni.

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A study has shown that post-traumatic stress disorder differs based on the gender and race and race of the victim. For example, the study shows that males in kinship care are more susceptible to post-traumatic stress disorder than males that were never placed in kinship care, whereas with females, the results were reversed. It also showed that whites typically had a higher rate of post-traumatic stress disorder than African Americans, and females had a higher rate than males (Jackson, OBrien, & Pecora, 2011). The latter outcome may be the result of females being more susceptible to sexual and emotional abuse than males. It is not uncommon for children placed in the foster care system to suffer from multiple mental illnesses, however it has been shown that caucasian and female foster care children are more susceptible to abuse and neglect, therefore more likely to suffer from these illnesses than males and/or other races. Long-Term Effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Not only are these foster care children exposed to traumatic events and therefore became susceptible to physiological disorders, these experiences could follow them for most of, is not all of, their life. These childrens backgrounds will never leave them, and can be detrimental to their development and success in life. When foster care children age out of the foster care system, they are vulnerable to homelessness, unemployment, and/or incarceration. A study was done on one hundred and fifty-six (156) homeless youth, forty-four (44) of whom had a history of foster care. This thirty (30) percent with foster care experience tended to be older and have less than high school education compared to the others who were younger and had at least a high school education (Hudson & Nandy, 2012, p. 178). This study also shows that more foster care youth have traded sex for drugs than have traded sex for money (Hudson & Nandy, 2012). This could be due to the fact that once many foster care youth have aged out or dropped out of the system that have been likely to have anxiety, depression, or eating disorders, and when they are

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no longer in the system, it becomes difficult for them to receive the proper health care needed and they turn to self medication with dangerous drugs. One other problem female foster care children/alumni face is teen pregnancy. Some females in the foster care system do not receive proper medical health or proper sex education to prevent teen pregnancy. Although state governments have policies on such issues, they can get lost in the foster care system, which affects the children. For example, according to a study done on female foster care alumni, foster youth experience pregnancy at rates 2.5 times greater than youth not in foster care (Dudley, 2013, p.80). All of these problems foster care alumni face could be lessened, if not abolished, through early trauma prevention and therapeutic mentoring. A study has shown that foster youth exposed to six months of therapeutic mentoring demonstrate an improvement on measures of family and social functioning, school behavior, and school achievement, as well as the reduction of expressed symptoms of traumatic stress (Johnson, Pryce, Marinovich, 2011, p.60). If more time was taken to apply these preventative measures for each foster care children, a lot of the impact of trauma-related effects will be decreased. Summary Each year, new foster care children are being entered into the system and old foster care children are aged out of the system. These new children have to deal with trauma exposure and coping with traumatic stress. These old children have to face the world on their own and become vulnerable to homelessness, unemployment, incarceration, and teen pregnancy. Both of these problems could be alleviated with the implement of early trauma prevention and therapeutic mentoring.

ISSUES FOSTER CARE CHILDREN FACE

References Child Welfare Information Gateway. (n.d.). How the Child Welfare System Works.Child Welfare Information Gateway. Retrieved November 21, 2013, from https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/cpswork.pdf#page=3&view=What Happens When Possible Abuse or Neglect Is Reported Childrens Rights. (2013). Too many children are trapped in foster care. Facts About Foster Care. Retrieved November 21, 2013 from http://www.childrensrights.org/issuesresources/foster-care/facts-about-foster-care/ Dorsey, S., Burns, B., Southerland, D., Cox, J., Wagner, H. H., & Farmer, E. (2012). Prior Trauma Exposure for Youth in Treatment Foster Care. Journal Of Child & Family Studies, 21(5), 816-824. doi:10.1007/s10826-011-9542-4 Dudley, T. I. (2013). Bearing Injustice: Foster Care, Pregnancy Prevention, and the Law. Berkeley Journal Of Gender, Law & Justice, 28(1), 77-115. Hudson, A., & Nandy, K. (2012). Comparisons of substance abuse, high-risk sexual behavior and depressive symptoms among homeless youth with and without a history of foster care placement. Contemporary Nurse: A Journal For The Australian Nursing Profession, 42(2), 178-186. doi:10.5172/conu.2012.42.2.178 Jackson, L. J., O'Brien, K., & Pecora, P. J. (2011). Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Among Foster Care Alumni: The Role of Race, Gender, and Foster Care Context. Child Welfare, 90(5), 71-93. Johnson, S. B., Pryce, J. M., & Martinovich, Z. (2011). The Role of Therapeutic Mentoring in Enhancing Outcomes for Youth in Foster Care. Child Welfare, 90(5), 51-69.