Substance abuse is a prevalent issue that carries the massive weight of negative stigmas in the eyes of society. The abusers are seen as social pariahs to the rest of society especially when children are involved. When substance abuse is detected in a home involving children, the first reaction of the public is to remove the child from the home. However, removing a child from their home environment is not always the most logical solution for the health and safety of the child. The Department of Human Services automatically removes children from their parents when drugs are involved in order to correct the parental behavior. The intent of removal is to eradicate the child from a dangerous situation, but sometimes it can create …show more content…
The parents do not always complete the program in a timely manner or they do not complete the program at all inevitably prolonging the child’s exposure to the foster care system (Brook & McDonald, 2009). Children who are left in the foster care system are frequently bounced from home to home and often reside in group homes as well preventing children from the chance to develop new relationships and attachments that are vital for children to continue to blossom into young adults capable of making rational decisions (Doyle, …show more content…
As a result, children encounter stressors that go unnoticed by the caretakers responsible for them (Uliando & Mellor, 2012). Lawrence et al. (2006) postulates that the ability to recognize interruptions in a child’s developmental progress can prove difficult until significant repair is necessary. Additionally, the oversight due to an influx of children prolongs the amount of time that passes and escalates the damage to the child’s development. Substance abuse is an obvious factor in possible developmental delays in children, but placement into foster care significantly enhances the probability that children will falter in their development (Racusin et al.,