The Effect Of Foster Care Fresno CA On Children

By Arthur Wood


Approximately 800,000 children end up in a foster care (FC) home in America each year. FC is designed to help abandoned, abused and orphaned children find homes, where they are safe and can receive proper care until a more stable home environment, can be found for them. The problem is that the American foster care Fresno CA system is loosely organized and makes living situations hard on the kids involved by not meeting their individual needs fully.

Ideally the child will stay in the same home for the whole time. Unfortunately, many children get moved from one placement to another every few years or even months. Another form of permanency for a needy child is a long-term placement with a foster family because the biological parents are unable to look after their children due to a physical or physiological disability. During this time, the bio parents will continue to be very much a part of the child's life.

How do young children fare in a FC situation? Statistics show that young children placed in FC often have some level of emotional and behavioral problems. They are removed from their homes because of neglect or physical, sexual or verbal abuse. They carry those memories with them for a long time.

The fostering agency the carer's work for also have their procedures for investigating a complaint made against this type of care giver. When a complaint is made, Social Services for children co-ordinate their processes with other professionals to see into the issue. Complaints will eventually involve feedback to the professional who made the complaint.

Children in a FC program do not do as well on average as their counterparts in school. They have lower grades and perform much worse on standardized tests. Some children become bitter and find themselves in trouble a lot of the time, even to the point of expulsion. This is not only hard on the child, but the family providing care for him.

Also, sometimes when a child who comes into adoptive care is older, they will remain quite adamant that they do not want to be adopted. The biological parents are unable to look after their children due to a physical or physiological disability. The children are placed in FC while continuing to have regular visits with their parents.

Statistics show that children who age-out rarely have anyone to turn to for advice or guidance once they reach the maximum FC age of 18. There are mentoring programs available to help, but these children may not know where to find such outreach programs. Many of these teens become parents themselves at an early age, and only about 46 percent of them actually graduate from high school.

Mother and Baby - sometimes if a mother is very young (a teenager) or a mother who has special needs, will be placed with a family who will support them while the mother learns the skills and responsibilities associated with parenting. The time that they stay in the program will depend on the progress the mother makes in learning caring for her child.




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