Effects of mistreatment in foster care

There are some people who decide to become a foster family because they want to help children and want to provide a loving and stable home for a child who really needs it. Then there are the other types of people who apply to be a foster family for the wrong reasons. When a child is placed in a loving home, the chances are as an adult the child will be loving and compassionate. 

But if the child is placed in a home that doesn’t really care about them and the family only applied to be a foster family so the state can pay them then chances are the child will end up neglected or maybe even abused. 80% of children that are placed in child foster care are neglected or mistreated. 

That number is unacceptable. Children can suffer emotional as well as physical abuse and those are the children who end up in and out of therapy. If they don’t seek treatment for the abuse then they will become a person just going from one system (foster care) to another ( jail). 

The foster care system has to do more and maybe do more visits when they suspect a child may be abused. Then the child can be removed and into a more loving home and the child can get help earlier in life rather than later. In the long run that it will be better for the child,

Different types of foster care

Once you have decided to become a foster parent there are several different types of foster care programs that you can sign up for. There is adult care; emergency care, long-term care, pre adoption, short term, therapeutic, traditional care and fost adopt care. 

The first type of foster care is adult care, this is care is for the foster care for adult children, any child over the age of thirteen. The care is the same but the child is older and may require more emotional attention. Then there is emergency care; this is for when a child needs to be taken from a home environment in the middle of the night or under some type of emergency care. 

Then you can apply for long-term care or short-term care. The long-term care may go from anywhere from 6 months to a year or more. The short-term care can be anywhere from 6 months to a year. Some of the foster children are being placed for adoption can be temporarily placed in foster care until the adoption is complete. Then there is what they call Therapeutic care, this is for when a child is taken from their home because they are sick and the parents cannot take care of the properly. The child is placed into foster care until they are determined by a doctor to be well. 

There is also something called Fost-Adopt, this is when a child is awarded into the foster care system and they foster care parents have decided that they want to be adopted, then they remain in foster care status until the adoption is complete.

What types of Children get into Foster Care

There are many different situations for why a child may end up in the foster care system. Some reasons are better than others and some are excuses of the parents. But for whatever reason a child is placed into foster care, they need all the love and support that that can get. 

These are some of the types of children that end up in foster care. Babies that are born to crack addicted mothers, Children with mental as well as physical handicaps. Babies that are born with HIV, orphaned children whose parents have died, Afro American, Hispanic, Asian and Indian children. Children with genetic disorders. 

Then there are children who get placed because their parents are abusive, children whose parents are sick and the children need a temporary place to stay. If a parent or parents get arrested and the child doesn’t have any family. There are hundreds of scenarios of why a child ends up in foster care. No matter what the reason a child should always deserve a chance to be in a stable environment. 

Just because a child is placed in foster care doesn’t mean that they don’t still love their parents and it doesn’t mean that these children can’t go back to their homes. Foster care is a temporary place for a child to stay while things in their personal lives get straightened out.

How to become a foster parent

 If you are interested in becoming a foster family contact the Dept of Welfare or the Foster Care Specialist depending on what state you live in. Each department is called something else. There are a few requirements that you have to initially pass before you can actually apply. Each state may vary but these are a general list that most states require. 

You have to be 21 years old and older. You must have a specific amount of room in your home to accommodate a child, such as the child must have their own bedroom aside from yours. They may share with another child but as long as they are not too cramped. The bedroom must have at least one window. 

Your home must pass a safety check that is performed by the social workers. The home must have smoke detectors; a carbon monoxide detector and the home must be clean and not have any wires hanging out or paint chipping. You yourself must be capable of caring for a child physically as well as mentally. You cannot have a history of drug or alcohol abuse. 

There will also be a criminal background check; obviously you cannot have a history of child abuse or child neglect. The last thing the state is looking for is that you can support the child. You must make enough money to provide for the family without the assistance from the state. Even though you do receive the supplemental income. But you have to be able to afford to take care of the child without it. 

Some states require potential foster families to take pre foster care classes; these are designed so people can handle the addition of a new child into their home and how to try to make them feel at home.

How to adopt a foster child

Whether you are already a foster family with a foster child or a family looking to adopt a foster child, it is a great and wonderful thing to want to bring love and normalcy into the life of a foster child. A foster child has been placed within the system because the parents cannot take care of them for whatever reason. No matter what the reasons are any child deserves love and a stable home life. 

The fact that people are willing to adopt a foster child rather than be just that is great because foster children can often be removed and put into a new home thereby bringing more uncertainty into their lives. If you are not sure on how to go about adopting a foster child, the first thing you should do is consult a lawyer, you may think that you can call up the Dept of Welfare and tell them you want to adopt a child, you can do that but they will tell you that you will need a lawyer. 

The adoption just like any is an extensive process. There are forms to be filled out and background checks to be done. The courts want to make sure that the home the child is going to be safe, loving and worthy of getting a child. Be patient and give all the necessary paper work that you can to make the process go a little smoother. In the long run it is worth it.

Foster care rates

There are many families that want to become foster families but they may feel like they can’t take on the financial responsibility of another child. If that is one reason that is stopping you from becoming a foster family, then you will be happy to know that, that excuse or reason doesn’t apply anymore. Most states have an outright payment they sent the foster family a month and other states have a reimbursement rate program 

The Reimbursement rate will pay the hosting family a certain amount of money a month depending on the age of the child to help fray the additional costs. The money will cover diapers, food, clothes, school supplies, and medical costs, transportation costs. Some states ask to see receipts so that they can see the money is going to the child and not to pay for a family vacation. 

The payment rates may also differ, depending on what region of the country you live in. For example, if you live in Florida, where the cost of living is supposed to be cheaper as opposed to New York where the cost of living is through the roof, the people in New York may receive a slightly higher amount because the cost of living is higher. No matter where you live the rates that the state pays will definitely cover the child’s expenses will more than adequately be covered.

Different Race Foster Families

There will be times when a child needs to get away from the environment they are in and move to a more stable and loving environment. This could be any child who suffered abuse or their parents are addicts or the parents can’t take care of them. You as a foster family have agreed to take in a child to help them escape these situations. 

These children may be white, black, Hispanic, Asian or Indian. But as a foster family you have to make sure that child is going to be well taken care whether the race of the child is different than the foster family. If the child is 7 years old and older, then they may have questions about why they are not with the “ same” type of people they are. You have to be able to explain that they are there with you because you love them and you wanted them there and that they are the same as you. 

Try not to make it about a race, if the child understands that someone other than their own family loves them then they will grow up with a sense of worth and not associate people of different backgrounds as being different. There are too many people in this world who are racist and do attach certain things to a color, but if you can avoid that at an early age then you are doing the child a service. Teach them that they are with you because you love them and care about them as if they were your own.