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Allyson Fronczek
English 1201
4/7/20
Final Research Paper

There were about 440,000 children in foster care nationwide in

2019. The picture shown represents how often a child enters foster

care (Hillside Family of Agencies). With this being such a large

number and quickly rising number every couple minutes, I can’t

help but wonder how this statistic has impacted the lives of these

children. How can placement in the foster care system affect a child’s development? What are

the positive and negative effects of the foster care system? As I learned there are many factors

that go into answering these questions and through my research I was able to find answers and

statics that show how foster care affects children and families in America.

For many years’ children have been removed from their unsafe homes and placed with a

loving family either temporarily or permanently, and somewhere along the way the foster care

system was created. This is a field that has tremendously grown over time and is constantly

changing and improving. Now, there are both pros and cons to foster care that go hand in hand

with the ever changing world we live in. Some of the positive aspects of foster care include the

fact that foster parents and their homes go through a very thorough and intensive qualification

process. Also, foster care provides children with safe place to stay and a positive environment

change that could be beneficial for the child mentally, physically and emotionally. Not only can

this time in foster care benefit the child, but it can also benefit the biological family too. Having

a child placed in the foster care system can really put things in perspective for the biological

parents and give them time to get their lives together for themselves and their children.
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Allyson Fronczek
English 1201
4/7/20
With every good thing there are also some not so great things about foster care. Since the

number of youth entering foster care is on the rise, we should also see a rise in social workers,

but sadly we are not. Social workers are being asked to take on way too much and being

overloaded with case after case. This can cause problems when foster parents try to get

appropriate care for their foster children and it can really affect the social workers in a negative

way. Another negative effect of foster care is the use of Medicaid. Each year, fewer and fewer

providers are taking Medicaid, making it hard to find quality care for foster children. A lot of

times children in the system need extensive care because of the trauma they’ve been through.

Children that come into care often have not had the proper medical care they need.

When speaking of a child’s

development, it is important to

understand they key aspects of

a child’s brain. “During the first

3 to 4 years of life, the

anatomic brain structures that

govern personality traits,

learning processes, and coping

with stress and emotions are

established, strengthened, and

made permanent. If unused,

these structures atrophy” (Development Issues for Young Children in Foster Care). The picture

shown is a great visual and it also includes some facts regarding child development (Iowa

Association for the Education of Young Children). The average age of children coming into care
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Allyson Fronczek
English 1201
4/7/20
is 6 ½ years old, and many even younger. This means that a majority of these children coming

have already had a traumatic childhood filled with abuse or neglect. There are more and more

children entering foster care in the first few years of life when growth and development of the

brain are most active. Many of these children do come from stable homes or nurturing

environments. This leaves us with high rates of mental health problems, along with

developmental and physical problems throughout as well. We know through research that

disruptions this early on in childhood have the potential to impair development both emotionally

and cognitively. Consequences of childhood trauma include hyperactivity also known as ADD or

ADHD, anxiety, mood swings, impulsiveness and sleep problems. Some children have a higher

risk of not forming healthy attachments to anyone. Many foster children come with a variety of

behaviors, and they are likely not good ones. Habits that they’ve picked up from living with their

biological family include cursing, lying, stealing, sexualized behavior, and violence. These are

reflections of the trauma they have seen in their short lives. These kind of behaviors can be

dangerous for foster families and other children in the home. Being a foster parent is not an easy

job. This is why the families who desire to foster go through extensive training, so they can be

prepared to take in children with all kinds of trauma related issues. Reading all of this

information about childhood trauma and the foster care system begs a very controversial

question. Should we be fighting so hard to reunite families, or would these children be better off

being adopted by a loving family that has been certified through the state to care for a child?

According to the foster care statistics of 2019, around 30,000 youth aged out of the foster

care between the ages 18-21 years old. Now that we have talked about the childhood trauma and

how it affects early life, let’s move on to how trauma and foster care affect older children and

even into adulthood. When we see older children enter foster care, they are more likely to do
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Allyson Fronczek
English 1201
4/7/20
poorly in school and fall behind academically. A lot of times they are considered “old” for their

grade level due to being held back. Also, many older children enter foster care due to truancy

from school. Children that have been in foster care or that are during their school aged years are

less likely to graduate from high school than other students. They are also less likely to enroll

and/or earn a college degree. The trauma that they have experienced as young children can

follow them to adulthood and affect their education. Another aspect life that can be affected by

childhood trauma and placement into foster care is social status and relationships. Foster children

are more likely to have high numbers of pregnancy during the teenage years and more failed

marriages when they are older. Former foster children also struggle to find a spouse or partner

who can provide the emotional support they require and this can cause social isolation. These

struggles stem from the neglect or abuse they experienced as a young child, as well as being

moved around in the foster care system too many times. This can make it hard for a child to form

the appropriate relationships and attachments.

Being a product of childhood trauma and the system can bring on a life of criminal

behavior. “Arrest rates for male former foster children are between 25% & 35%, but have been

reported to be over 40%” (The Impact of Foster Care). Arrest rates for women seen=m to be

much lower, about 10%. Although these statistics are about former foster children, not all

children end up in loving foster homes. Many older children tend to be placed in group homes

which can be just as traumatizing as living with their biological family. Those who received care

from a foster family engaged in less criminal acts than the those who grew up in a group home or

with a relative.
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Allyson Fronczek
English 1201
4/7/20
Group homes and kinship care are other types of foster homes that are not as well known.

A group home is facility or home that houses about six or more children and kinship is a child

being placed with a relative. Group homes do not have the best reputation, there has been reports

of abuse and neglect coming from these homes. At first group homes did not have much in the

way of regulation or supervision from the state. This opened a doorway for the staff and or older

children in these facilities to abuse or neglect the younger or “weaker” children. Now days, there

have been regulations put in place to prevent that, but it has not stopped completely.

Unfortunately, these group homes are where a lot of teens end up when they enter the foster care

system. Many foster families want younger children that don’t come with as much baggage as

the older ones do. Even though the number of foster families is increasing, we need to see an

increase in the families that can take in older children and teenagers so that we can keep them

from entering group homes where there is little supervision and where they could learn potential

criminal behavior.

Kinship care can be a great thing to keep families together, but it can also become a

failure to help a child in need. The main view point of foster care is to reunify children with their

biological parents or whoever they were removed from. If there is an aunt, grandma, cousin or

even a distant family member that shows interest, they are usually the first option when placing a

child. Many kinship placements work out great and the child/children get the help they need as

well as the biological family they were removed from; others are not so lucky. Some types of

kinship care allow the relative to care for the child without taking custody and the other type of

kinship is where the state or county takes full custody of the child and places them with a

relative. This can be dangerous if a biological parent is not allowed unsupervised contact with

the child and the relative allows the parent to see the child without approval from the case
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Allyson Fronczek
English 1201
4/7/20
worker. A lot of times children are placed with grandparents that may not be able to care for a

child or children due to their age and health conditions. This can be an issue with supervision and

discipline which is needed to keep foster children out of trouble. Other times in kinship care the

family member can subject the child or children to further abuse or neglect making it yet another

unsafe home for children to grow up in. Both group homes and kinship care need stricter

regulations to keep children who have experience trauma safe from further abuse or neglect.

From the research I’ve done, you can see that there are a lot of aspects of the foster care

system that can affect a child and their development. We think the worst when we hear “Foster

Care,” but people tend to overlook the positives. Most people don’t know what is going in the

lives of these children. Either way you look at it there is one thing that is certain, the

development of these children is at great risk if it is not caught in time. The future of their

education, physical/mental health, their relationships, social standing, future finical situation,

possible criminal record and/or future living situation are all affected by their childhood trauma

and the help that they get from our foster care system. This is a topic that is far to under-

recognized and its growing rapidly due to the drug epidemic we have in today’s society. I hope

through my research that I can peak some interest and answer some questions and maybe help

someone make a decision to take action and to help a child or children in their community.

There are many ways to help out such as adopting, fostering, volunteering, sponsoring,

donating and/or educating.

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Allyson Fronczek
English 1201
4/7/20

This picture speaks to people

by showing how the children who have experienced trauma need foster families desperately (The
Oklahoman).
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Allyson Fronczek
English 1201
4/7/20

Works Cited Page

Craft, Carrie. “How Foster Care Affects Children in Your Home.” Very Well Family, Updated on

December 13 2019.

www.verywellfamily.com/how-does-foster-care-affect-children-27357.

Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption and Dependent Care. “Development Issues for Young

Children in Foster Care.” Pediatrics, 106 (5) 1145-50. DOI: doi.org/10. 1542/peds. 106.5.

1145. November 2000.

pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/106/5/1145.

FindLaw’s Team. “Types of Foster Care: Group Homes and Kinship Care.” FindLaw, Last

Updated October 11, 2018.

family.findlaw.com/foster-care/types-of-foster-care-group-homes-and-kinship-care.html.

Foster Care. “Foster Care Statistics 2019.” Ifoster, 2019.

www.ifoster.org/6-quick-statistics-on-the-current-state-of-foster-care.

Hillside. “Foster Care Picture.” Hillside Family of Agencies,”

www.hillside.com/services/foster-care/.

IAAEYC. “Child Development Picture.” Iowa Association for the Education of Young Children,

www.iowaaeyc.org/iowa-core-knowledge-of-child-development.cfm.
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English 1201
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Johnson, Renae. “Foster Care and the Developing Child.” Adoption Council, Posted September

23, 2014.

www.adoptioncouncil.org/blog/2014/09/foster-care-and-the-developing-child.

Positives and Negatives. “Positives and Negatives Within the Foster Care System. Answers.

adoption.org/positives-negatives-within-foster-care-system.

The Impact. “The Impact of Foster Care.” American SPCC.

americanspcc.org/impact-of-foster-care/.

The Oklahoman Editorial Board. "Public’s Help Needed to Meet Oklahoma Foster Care

Demand.” The Oklahoman, Published Sunday January 12, 2020.

oklahoman.com/article/5652000/publics-help-needed-to-meet-oklahoma-foster-care-

demand.