Growing Up In Foster Care Affects Different Domains

The foster system is in place to aid children whose parents or families cannot take care of them, the system creates a nurturing place for children to grow up in temporary placement until they can be reunified with their families or when a permanent home has been found for them. Many children have entered the foster care system due to caregivers being unfit to care due to addictions, abuse, incarceration or death; at such young ages, children do not understand why they have been taken away from the only family they have ever known. The trauma of adjusting to a new home and family impacts a child's life creating a possibility of numerous behavior concerns (Cohen, 2010). The long term consequences of a child's exposure to family trauma experiences can interfere with the development of a secure attachment within the caregiving system (Crook et al., 2017). In a child’s life, their first relationship is with their caregivers; who is commonly their biological family, is the infants first social interaction and introduced them to interpersonal relationships. When the child's caregiver is the source of the trauma, it disrupts their attachment in relationships- 80% of mistreated children develop insecure attachment patterns (Crook et al., 2017 ). Due to this circumstance, it contributed to foster children being insecure in creating new relationships with their foster families. The placement of children in the foster system negatively impacts multiple sectors in one's life. Children who experience advertises at such age encounter more disruptive behavioural concerns that can affect a child’s life and be carried into adulthood. The outcomes on foster children affects their self-esteem, social relationships, and overall academic achievements.

In early ages of life, children are constantly absorbing their environment as a result of their brain growth being most active; rather it is a dependable or an unhealthy situation for their well being. The exposure of early adversities in a young child's life compromises the ability to regulate emotions, behavior and their theory of mind, which can further decline their capacity in academics and in creating relationships with their peers (Lewis-Morrarty et al., 2012). The stressors applied in childhood induces self doubt when children are unsure how to handle hardships, specifically in victims who had experienced prolonged neglect and repeated abuse. With these circumstances, once a child is placed into the foster care system, the care should be made to be a completely positive experience to aid in healing for the child (Miller & et al., 2000). Although in some cases, the foster care system is more damaging to the child development and they anticipate the worst of each placement; becoming a journey of loss and hope. With some foster children having siblings also in the system, many are seperated, although their siblings are the only ones who have been there through the hardships and their sense of hope in their family. Many cases where siblings cannot be allowed to be in contact with their siblings which can further the trauma from separation of the only love they know. Within just 24 months in foster care, the majority of children experience three or more placements (Leather., et al, 2019); placements can be houses with foster parents, group homes or shelters. Numerous movement from placements, schools and towns evokes senses of instability, which is associated with negatively impacting behavioral problems where children became more aggressive, rebellious and introverted (Waid, Kathari, Bank & McBeath,2016). Some foster kids can be welcomed into a home they grow to be fond of but suddenly they are moved within a short period of time where the transitions are most difficult to overcome; therefore creating disruptive behavior to avoid all new communications. Overall the foster case system takes in children who have been through many adversities previously and demand them to constantly trust different environments when all they ever knew is disappointment from the ones who are supposed to nurture and protect.

Foster homes are a type of placement that the foster care system provided to some children, allowing them to gain opportunities to grow up in healthy family-like environments. In foster homes, foster parents are essential for a secure foundation for the children who have been through many adversities (Schofield & Beek, 2005), to heal their agony and have a positive turnaround in their life. Compared to children who are not in the foster care system, the ones who are have different needs as the right to a more stable and secure placement in order for the children to thrive in all aspects of life (Steenbakker, Van Der Steen & Grietans, 2017). Becoming a foster parent can be a gift from above to a child when the caregiver is devoted and has right intentions, despite the challenges they may face with their foster children, for example: all foster children need is someone to be patience with them to allow them in. Some foster parents go into fostering due to the unethical intentions for money; this can result in the traumatic situations that put the child in foster care in the first place to reoccur, including neglect or abuse of any form. Children in the system are already at risk of unhealthy brain function, attaching disorders, deficient social skills and mental health disorders; continuing to mistreat them will further physiological and behavioral issues (Harden, 2004). Most foster kids are in multiple placements over periods of time which is a difficult challenge in itself to keep opening up to new surroundings over and over again, the fortunate ones who stay in placements for longer time spans tend to advance their grades, social skills and opportunities in life. To find a permanent home for the children is an ultimate goal of the foster system. Adoption is a desire many children want as every person wants a family who will love them unconditionally, in many foster kids who age out of the system are left caring for themselves.