As you may know, I have a deep interest in exploring the relationships between adults and children. One of the most rocky places for children to survive is within the foster system.
I thought perhaps accounts of children who have been whirled through hundreds of foster homes before reaching the age of five were fiction. But lately I met a woman who told me firsthand it is true and that gave me reason to revisit this post.
My friend was happily adopted but others are not so lucky, and continue to be circulated through foster homes until the age of eighteen, when they are thrown out of the system.
Foster children are twice as likely to develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder then veterans of the war.
Many children before even reaching their teens circulate through dozens of foster families in as little as a month.
Children who circulate through homes so swiftly cannot make bonds, cannot find anyone to trust, and have no one to turn to for help. Many foster children feel is does not matter if they like their new foster parent(s) or not; in a few months or as soon as they push too hard, that foster parent will be gone.
Without ties to someone, foster children wander alone and lost in their darkness without a hand to hold onto and no one to guide them. Tales of abuse and trauma foster children may wish to share instead fester inside them because there is no one to turn to and no one they feel cares enough about them to listen to their stories.
When a foster child finds someone she can open herself to or even feel as if she can love, more likely then not, she will not try because she knows the person will be gone soon.
Foster children typically push as far as they can at new homes with their foster parents to see how far they can go with their behavior before they are either sent back to the agency or punished. For many foster children, they stop caring where they are and who they are with. They figure if they have to leave a new home, they might as well be the ones to decide when.
For other foster children, pushing with bad behavior is a test: You care about me enough to take me in. Will you still care if I do this?
Sadly, the answer to this hopeful question is usually no.
Many foster families may care more for the little money coming with the foster child then the child. Abuse and neglect occur behind the doors of foster homes. And the system is so desperate to find homes for the unwanted and battered children piling into the system, they take whoever they can get.
There are over 400,000 children in the foster care system today.
Part Two: What is the most important thing foster parents can do for the children they take in?
Photo by Aaron Blanco Tejedor on Unsplash
Yes it is very sad that a lot of children go through the adoption or fostering system and they are not supported how they should be. It breaks my heart when you read the statistics of how many children go through the system.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Supported is the key word here! Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
LikeLike
It is hard for foster children when they do not have a consistent or loving home. There are lots of considerations, like why are you fostering a child? To promote their wellbeing or really to accept the money? I hope that as we move on in time, we improve our fostercare system.
Nancy ♥ exquisitely.me
LikeLiked by 1 person
It takes driven people in body to make change. I know I will advocate for improvements; I think so many broken adults could be healed if only they grew up with consistent love.
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts!
LikeLike
So sad about how many children have loving homes. It is so sad! Thank you for using your platform to speak about it! X
LikeLiked by 1 person
One of the best things about blogging is the ability to share. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Definitely!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Moving through so many homes must be a traumatic experience. You can only imagine the behaviour mechanisms that some of the children develop in order to survive. It’s a sad situation. Thank you for an insightful post Jaya.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is a very insightful comment you have written about how behavior can be learned in order to survive! Thank you.
LikeLike
I think fostering is one of the hardest jobs out there. You’re right that foster children are often damaged and unwilling to trust – understandably so. I hadn’t realised that the system was so open to abuse (I don’t know about the UK) though, that’s heartbreaking. Thank you for writing this, I’ll look forward to reading part two in due course. x
LikeLiked by 1 person
I also do not know much about foster care within the UK, but I do know that, for some reason, so many people struggle to just open their hearts up to others.
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts!
LikeLike
This is a very poignant issue. I hope that you touch on why so many children are in foster care, if that is addressed perhaps those numbers will fall. I feel that our foster system is a failure. They have requirements about the housing, but not so much about the foster parent(s) themselves. A criminal background check is done. Should there be a mental assessment as well? Also a minimum income factor should be a requirement as well. 😔
LikeLiked by 1 person
I too feel like the foster system is a failure; so much could be done to improve it! Touching on that will come up in the next two articles. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ll be looking forward to reading them. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve seen on the news terrible stories of children being abused in these homes. As, you said some people just take them in for the money. It’s just horrible that humans can be so cruel to innocents. Actually, I can’t watch a lot of things on the news often. I turn the channel . it’s too upsetting.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is something we have in common with the news, it seems! News can be so upsetting, even more so because the events are happened in OUR world.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
LikeLike
You’re very welcome!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very sad, I heard there’s a lot of abuse within the foster care system.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have heard accounts that are deeply horrific. Those underlying pitfalls of society always sadden me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, they have already experienced trauma then they receive more in the foster system. 😞
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is an unhealthy circle.
LikeLike