Unable to Find Safety: How the Foster Care System Fails its Children

Imagine that you are seven years old. You’ve just been removed from your home because your father beat you to the point of hospitalization. You’re all alone, with no one to turn to. A strange woman tells you that you are going to stay with another family for the time being. When you enter the house of this other family, the feeling that you will never see your parents again washes over you, leaving you frightened and upset. What lies ahead for you?

Throughout the world, three million children are maltreated yearly (Bartholet, 1999). Of those children, 300,000 are abused and neglected here in the United States. These children are sometimes removed from their homes only to drift from foster home to foster home (Boss, et al., 2004). Many of these children came from abusive and neglectful homes, where parents were known as the enemy and the boss rolled into one. In 1999, there were 568,000 children in the foster care system (Hutchinson & Sudia, 2002).

An increasing number of children are now growing up in foster care (Bartholet, 1999). Between 1980 and 2001, the number of children in the foster care system rose from 302,000 to 542,000 children. Many have been in foster care most or all of their lives. Nine percent of foster care children in 2001 had been in foster care for more than 5 years. Half of all those in foster care are 11 years or older, and a fifth of them are older than 16. Sixty percent of children 14 years or older live in either foster homes, group homes, or residential centers, with poorly paid shift workers (Shirk & Strangler, 2004). The Adoption and Safe Families Act stated the fundamental purpose of child welfare was to protect children from harm. While this is a theory that one would like to believe is true, however, this is not always the case. Foster care is supposed to provide children with a safe haven; however, sometimes those children are maltreated by those who provide care.

Children are now entering the foster care more damaged than in previous years. Roughly one in 24 children is a victim of maltreatment within the United States (Bartholet, 1999). This is causing inadequate staffing in foster homes, mostly due to the amount of youth in the system, and the lack of caregivers available. With the foster care population on a steady incline, foster parents are now being recruited extensively. Due to the lack of reliable foster parents within the system, states are forced into the higher-risk families to find those willing to foster. Many of them come from low socioeconomic status, being impoverished or slightly over the poverty line. They live in violence and drug-infested neighborhoods, and usually go to bad schools. Some even have previous records of abuse or neglect. In Massachusetts in the 1990s, some foster parents were found to have serious records of violence, domestic violence, and child abuse. Seven to ten percent of them were on welfare (Bartholet, 1999). “The Department was desperately trying to find homes for its many eligible kids. ‘We can’t possibly take another one,’ I’d say in a cranky voice. ‘Get someone else to do their part.’” (Savarese, 2007, p. 126).

Some foster parents decide to foster for money. For each child they take, the government gives them a stipend, which is usually higher than what they receive on welfare. In 1996 in California, two children aged eight and 16 would equal to $859 per month for foster care (Bartholet, 1999). Savarese describes a scene in his book about foster care informational sessions. “Before we’d even sat down, one older African-American man said to another, ‘What are you doing here? You already got plenty of money.’ At the time, it was easy, too easy, to racialize the crass intentions of the ‘average prospective foster parent,’…” (Savarese, 2007, p. 77). This equips foster homes with inadequate parents who are incapable of providing a safe home for the child. The foster parents are “in it for the money” and not open to loving a child. Some foster to fulfill their own personal needs and insecurities. The “parent becomes disenchanted with the child”, and abuse and neglect soon follow (Moffatt, 2003, p. 59). Super Bowl Sunday, 1999, two-year-old Miguel Arias-Baca was beaten by his drunken foster father for soiling his diaper. After smearing Miguel’s face in his feces, Miguel was thrown into the ground and left hemorrhaging in his brain. After four hours, Miguel’s foster parents took him to the hospital where he died. Both of Miguel’s foster parents had criminal records, and used caring for foster children as their only source of income (Callahan, 2000).

Some foster parents might even suffer from mental health issues that don’t allow them to provide adequate care. Yvonne Eldridge, in 1987, was accused of killing her foster children. Her first foster child had AIDS and was dead within a few months. Two girls in the care of Eldridge were brought into a hospital due to severe symptoms of their illnesses. Physicians soon believed that Eldridge was suffering from Munchausen’s by Proxy (MSBP), and was in fact inducing the symptoms herself. She was convicted on two counts of child endangerment and served 40 months in prison. People with MSBP are eager to participate in foster care, because they are provided with victims to fuel one’s need for attention (Moffat, 2003). Some people with mental health issues are not capable of providing adequate care for themselves, let alone for a child who desperately needs it.

From 1986 to 1993, the cases of serious maltreatment quadrupled. Children removed from abusive homes are sometimes placed into abusive foster homes. In one foster home, a child was forced to have sex with a dog. A foster father had sex with a foster child in his basement, and a foster mom forced her children to use a bucket as a toilet (Callahan, 2000). The intervention of workers into a neglect or abuse case is very minimal, if it happens at all. Sometimes children are kept in the home of abuse, or removed and then returned. A third of children removed from foster care homes after suspected abuse or neglect are returned (Bartholet, 1999).

Some foster parents abuse their foster children, and can even kill them. Ralph James Savarese’s adopted son, DJ, was abused while in foster care.
"…we received a call from DJ’s caseworker saying that DJ had been badly beaten. His foster mother was under suspicion, his birth mother couldn’t legally see him. DJ was hysterical, an investigation had to commence, an exam had to be conducted, photographs had to be taken… (Savarese, 2007, p. 51)"
Four-year-old Caprice Reid of New York City was tied to a chair by her foster parents. She was refused food and water and beaten with sticks. Four days later, she was dead (Wexler, 2000).

Children in foster care can also suffer from neglect. Little preparation is given to foster children in terms of the future. They are half as likely as others to enroll in prep classes in high school, and many have no money for college. Those that do often lack the emotional and social supports needed to help them through their schooling. Brian Jackson, a 19-year-old foster child in New Jersey was found rummaging through garbage in the streets. He weighed 45 pounds, and was being starved by his foster parents, along with his brothers (Bass, et al., 2004). One-fifth of foster cases stated that their basic needs were unmet. Of these, 22% shared a bed, 22% had inadequate bathroom facilities, and 14% did not receive enough food to eat (Fox & Berrick, 2007).

Every year, 5200 children run away from their foster homes, mostly due to being abused, neglected, or maltreated (Shirk & Strangler, 2004). More than 40% of youth in foster care reported physical punishment that was severe, and 15% replied affirmatively that they were taken advantage of sexually within their foster home (Fox & Berrick, 2007). Sometimes the children can be the abusive ones, which might be another reason why they leave.
"…Kyle had been, up until the very moment of the beating, especially kind to DJ… he’d look out for him amidst the turmoil of a large foster home and a rather emotionless foster mother, and then he’s snapped. He wanted attention, or so the theory went. We didn’t entirely believe this explanation, which the foster mother had too conspicuously cooked up… (Savarese, 2007, p. 53)."
Children in foster care are sometimes abused by the biological children of the foster parent, or other foster siblings. Foster parents fail to assess the risk of their children on the others. Almost half (40%) of foster youth stated that their foster parents differentiated between their biological children and foster youth, and 22% feel that they were treated worse than the biological children by their foster parents (Fox & Berrick, 2007).

Many children with special needs are placed into foster care. Children within foster care are more likely to have behavioral and emotional problems than those in high risk parental care (Bass, et al., 2004). This makes them more susceptible to become maltreated while in care. Some foster parents are poorly educated about the conditions of the children, and that makes it harder on an already strung out foster parent. Children with special needs have a harder time communicating, so this makes the maltreatment to them harder to report, and this in turn damages the credibility of the report. For example, children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing who are victims of sexual abuse may have a hard time verbalizing what has happened to them, due to lack of communication skills in general (Matthews, 2004).

Some children do not come forward about their foster care maltreatment for the fear that they won’t be believed by anyone. They worry about the consequences of telling someone, for fear of being returned to the foster care system, and being removed from a home that they had finally gotten used to (Matthews, 2004). So many abuse cases go unnoticed by CPS because they are not reported. A social worker found a two-year-old with a black eye. The worker removed the child, and returned it shortly after the foster mother claimed that they child had walked into a door knob. No further investigation was brought up (Minty & Bray, 2001).

In 2001, three million referrals were made to child protective services. Of those, 290,000 entered the foster care system. At any one time, there are over 540,000 children within the system (Bass, et al., 2004). Children who are removed from their homes might view this removal as traumatic. They are being taken from a home with their biological family, and placed into a home with strangers. Foster care can also aggravate issues, like mental health, emotional disorders, and brain development (Bass, et al., 2004). Other challenges facing those within the foster care system include coping with the separation from biological families, relating to their foster families and establishing connections with those around them (Mendes & Moslehuddin, 2006).

The real issue with foster care is that it was not created on the intent that it would be used to raise children. Its goal is to provide protection for infants and children in cases of abuse and neglect (Krebs & Pitcoff, 2006). Children who spend most or all of their childhood within the foster system often grow up without the anchor that a stable family life provides. They tend to do well in life less than those who have had a stable family structure. Foster care children tend to be less happy and have fewer relationships than those who were not in foster care (Bartholet, 1999). Those that do manage to obtain a job and home continue on the generational pattern of substance abuse and maltreatment. They abuse their children, being all that they themselves had ever known (Bartholet, 1999).

Many children are now coming out of foster care when they are 18 years old. The process, known as aging out, sometimes inadequately provides teenagers and young adults the support that they need when first going out on their own. Between 18,500 and 25,000 children age out from foster care yearly, some of them never having a permanent family (Shirk & Strangler, 2004; Bartholet, 1999; Mendes & Moslehuddin, 2006). This is roughly 7% of the entire foster care system youth in a given year (Mendes & Moslehuddin, 2006).

Many aging out foster children are not given the resources needed to provide a substantial lifestyle for them. Many go on to lives of homelessness, unemployment, prostitution, and crime (Bartholet, 1999; Mendes & Moslehuddin, 2006). Within a few years of aging out, half the children have not graduated from high school. Twenty-five percent have experienced some sort of homelessness, whether it be bouncing from house to house, or actually living on the streets (Shirk & Strangler, 2004). A 1998 study noted that 41% of homeless youth were once in foster care (Mendes & Moslehuddin, 2006). Two-thirds are either unemployed or unable to maintain a steady job. Less than 1 in 5 are completely self-supporting. As for jail time, 1 of 4 males and 1 of 10 females have been placed in jail, due to thefts and other crimes (Shirk & Strangler, 2004). Alcoholism and drug abuse are common among foster care youth. A study found that 56% of foster care youth used street drugs while in care, and 33% had abuse problems afterward (Mendes & Moslehuddin, 2006).

While there are resources available to those who are in or aging out of foster care, they provide little help to those within the system. The aging-out youth can occasionally have difficulties finding and accessing employment, education, housing, and other intermediary opportunities (Mendes & Moslehuddin, 2006). Sometimes case workers do not offer up available resources, and without being introduced to them, many have not been helped (Shirk & Strangler, 2004). Those leaving care have been known to face health, education, and social shortages. The state fails to provide youth with financial, social, and emotional support that many families of origin offer. A recent study found that most American parents do not expect their children to fully complete the transition to independence until they are 26 years of age (Mendes & Moslehuddin, 2006).

In conclusion, there are far too many children lingering in foster care. They sit in limbo with few efforts being made to reunite them with their families or find them permanent homes (Gelles, 1999). Almost half (42%) of foster youth state that their foster care was a negative experience for them (Fox & Berrick, 2007).

Examinations of foster homes describe inadequate failures, high costs, and behavior and social problems. Poor caregivers and regular changes in placement, schools, and workers are causing more issues than good for youth in the system, posing a threat to their success in independency (Mendes & Moslehuddin, 2006). Constant abuse, neglect, and other maltreatments to the youth “hinders their capacity to make a successful transition towards independence following discharge” (Mendes & Moslehuddin, 2006, p. 112).

Those within foster care that will end up aging out need better preparation if they are to become a successful addition to society. “Care leavers are expected to transition directly from childhood dependence to adult self-sufficiency” (Mendes & Moslehuddin, 2006, p. 112). Youth aging out must have a sort of “safety net” if they are to be successful in society. Leaving care “needs to become a far more gradual and flexible process”, one that focuses on maturity level and skill development rather than on age (Mendes & Moslehuddin, 2006, p. 113).

Children within the foster care system “face multiple threats to their healthy development, including poor physical health, attachment disorders, compromised brain functioning, inadequate social skills, and mental health difficulties” (Harden, 2004, p. 30). Some youth in care will never see a permanent home, and will continue the trend when they have children. If nothing is done, then the wicked cycle of foster care will continue on, uninterrupted.

Works Cited

Bartholet, Elizabeth. (1999). Nobody’s Children. Boston: Beacon Press.

Bass, Sandra, Shields, Margie K., and Behrman, Richard E. (2004). Children, Families, and Foster Care. In Richard E. Behrman (Ed.). The Future of Children: Children, Families, and Foster Care. (5-30). Los Altos, CA: David and Lucille Packard Foundation.

Callahan, Patricia. (2000). Confidentiality Acts to Shield Abuse in Foster Care. Nieman Reports, 54(4). 84-87.

Fox, Adair, and Berrick, Jill Duerr. (2007). A Response to No One Ever Asked Us. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 24(1). 23-51.

Gelles, Richard J. (1999). Policy Issues in Child Neglect. In Howard Dubowitz (ED.). Neglected Children Research, Practice, and Policy. (278-298). CA: Sage Publications.

Harden, Brenda Jones. (2004). Safety and Stability for Foster Children. The Future of Children, 14(1). 30-47.

Hutchinson, Janet R., and Sudia, Cecelia E. (2002). Failed Child Welfare Policy. Oxford: University Press of America.

Krebs, Betsy, and Pitcoff, Paul. (2006). Beyond the Foster Care System. New Jersey: Rutgers University.

Matthews, Dawn D. (Ed.). (2004). Child Abuse Sourcebook. Detroit: Omnigraphics.

Mendes, Philip, and Moslehuddin, Badal. (2006). From Dependence to Interdependence. Child Abuse Review, 15(2). 110-126.

Minty, Brian, and Bray, Sheila. (Sept/Oct 2001). Allegations against Foster Carers. Child Abuse Review, 10(5). 336-350.

Moffatt, Gregory K. (2003). Wounded Innocents and Fallen Angels. Westport, CT: Praeger.

Shirk, Martha, and Strangler, Gary. (2004). On Their Own. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Wexler, Richard. (2000). Caught in a Master Narrative. Nieman Reports, 54(4). 79-82.