"There are over 14,000 children in out-of-home care in Arizona." Of these children I would like to introduce you to my little brother, Kevin. Over nine months ago my parents got a call to foster a very premature baby boy.
Michael was born at twenty-nine weeks old. His mother at the time was/is addicted to meth. She went on meth-binge which caused her to go into preterm labor. The father, at the time, was in the process of going to jail. Once Kevin was settled in our home, a few months went by with no word from the case workers. It seemed as if they forgot about him, at least, until he was three months old. The case workers were now setting up visits with the father, who is now in jail. Now picture a strange person, at least to Kevin, taking …show more content…
They need more stringent time frames for children in foster care that cannot be manipulated by feeble attempts at case plans by the parents. The parents case plan goals should have to be met entirely within a six month time frame or the case should be changed to severance. If the child is not in a foster adopt placement they should be moved to one at that time. If relatives have not stepped up within the first six months they should not get precedence over foster placements when it comes to permanence. Realistically a second cousin once removed who has never met the child should not take precedence over the foster family that raised him. Taking a child from a family he has known all his life only promotes attachment issues. For example, we are having difficulties with Kevin having a stable relationship with our family. He has no concept of “stranger-danger”. He will go to anyone and that scares our family. This adds further injury to the attachment development of these children. Having a secure base (consisting of availability, sensitivity, acceptance, cooperation, and family membership during foster family placement) increases the resilience factors of children and adolescents in foster care (Schofield & Beek, 2009).
Children in foster care face a challenging journey through childhood. In addition to the troubling family circumstances that bring them into state care, they face additional difficulties within the child welfare system that may further compromise their healthy
Michael was born at twenty-nine weeks old. His mother at the time was/is addicted to meth. She went on meth-binge which caused her to go into preterm labor. The father, at the time, was in the process of going to jail. Once Kevin was settled in our home, a few months went by with no word from the case workers. It seemed as if they forgot about him, at least, until he was three months old. The case workers were now setting up visits with the father, who is now in jail. Now picture a strange person, at least to Kevin, taking …show more content…
They need more stringent time frames for children in foster care that cannot be manipulated by feeble attempts at case plans by the parents. The parents case plan goals should have to be met entirely within a six month time frame or the case should be changed to severance. If the child is not in a foster adopt placement they should be moved to one at that time. If relatives have not stepped up within the first six months they should not get precedence over foster placements when it comes to permanence. Realistically a second cousin once removed who has never met the child should not take precedence over the foster family that raised him. Taking a child from a family he has known all his life only promotes attachment issues. For example, we are having difficulties with Kevin having a stable relationship with our family. He has no concept of “stranger-danger”. He will go to anyone and that scares our family. This adds further injury to the attachment development of these children. Having a secure base (consisting of availability, sensitivity, acceptance, cooperation, and family membership during foster family placement) increases the resilience factors of children and adolescents in foster care (Schofield & Beek, 2009).
Children in foster care face a challenging journey through childhood. In addition to the troubling family circumstances that bring them into state care, they face additional difficulties within the child welfare system that may further compromise their healthy