9.2.1.3: Infants in Kinship or Foster Care

Other Types of Care

Foster care is a system in which a minor is placed into a group home (residential childcare community, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-certified caregiver (referred to as a foster parent), or with a state-approved family member. The child's placement is usually arranged through the government or a social service agency. The institution, group home, or foster parent is typically compensated for expenses unless the child is placed with a family member.(Wikipedia,202)].[1]

Definition: Foster Care

system in which minors who have been removed from their biological families due to abuse, neglect, or other circumstances are placed in the care of state-certified caregivers or family members

The foster care system has been around for years. According to The National Foster Parent Association, the United States foster care system developed from the English Poor Law of 1562. This law stated that children from poor homes would enter indentured services until they reached an age they could care for themselves. Children in foster care are often abused or neglected somehow, and the risk of repeated abuse is very high. Foster care is considered a short-term intervention and usually the last resort: immediately after removal, reunification is attempted to bring the child back to their family.[2]

Definition: Reunification

goal of returning a child in foster care to their biological family once safety and stability can be ensured

Disruptions in family and school change are factors that affect children in foster care more than their peers (Tordön, et al. 2020). Findings indicate that children exposed to early adverse childhood experiences in general [Minnis , Rabe-Hesketh , and Wolkind, n.d) and, more specifically, children placed in foster care have a heightened risk of attachment difficulties [Minnis , Everett , Pelosi , Dunn, and Knapp, 2006; Boris, Hinshaw-Fuselier, Smyke, Scheeringa, Heller, and Zeanah,2004]. Attachment difficulties have been related to other mental health problems among foster and adopted children [Millward, Kennedy, Towlson, and Minnis, 2006; Kočovská et al., 2012] (Lehmann, Havik, and, Havik, 2013). In one study by Lewis et al. (2007) on adopted children with and without the experience of placement instability, the authors found associations between instability in early placements and adverse effects on social-emotional development (Tordön, et al. 2020)

Children placed in foster care are also exposed to a range of other risk factors [Rutter, 1998]. Adverse childhood experiences, such as psychological and physical abuse and neglect, parental substance abuse, and mental illness, all increase the risk of physical and mental health problems and health risk behaviors [Repetti, Taylor, and Seeman, 2002; Essex, Klein, Miech, and Smider, 2001; Felitti et al., 1998; Gilbert, Widom, Browne, Fergusson, Webb, and Janson,2009; Turner, Finkelhor, and Ormrod, 2006; Flaherty and Sege, 2005].

Definition: Abuse and Neglect

Forms of maltreatment or harm experienced by children in their biological families, which often lead to their placement in foster care.

Older age at placement, frequent placement changes, number of placements, and persistent adverse events after placement pose additional risks for these children [Tarren-Sweeney,2008; Jones et al.,n.d]. However, few studies have examined whether such risk factors show specific associations with certain types of mental disorders [McMahon, Grant, Compas, Thurm, Ey,2003] (Lehmann,Havik, and Havik et al.,2013).

Attributions

• [1] Parenting and Family Diversity Issues by Diana Lang and Marissa L. Diener is licensed under a CC BY-NC-SA
• [2] Gladden, J. (2021). Child Welfare and Foster Care. In Introduction to Social Work. essay, Ferris State University is licensed CC BY