Essay On Foster Care

Introduction Across the country, on an annual basis, varied aged youth are disposed into foster care for a variety of reasons such as uncontrolled behaviors, parental/caretaker abuse, neglect and/or substance dependence of a parent/caretaker. Intended to be impermanent, arrangements [foster care placement] are with an understanding of the primary goal being that of reunification with the parent/caretaker in the majority cases.
Contrariwise, an ever-increasing percentage of youth entering the foster care system are unable to succeed in reunifying with their parent/caretaker. Due to the inability to reunify, the youth’s reside within the foster care system until age eighteen at which point they [the youth] “age out” of the foster care system. Upon discharge, the youth are typically unprepared to navigate through their lives successfully. Most lack education, housing, medical insurance, and are deficient in adaptive skills (self-direction), functional academics for everyday life, social skills, persistent mental illness, substance abuse disorders and an extensive involvement in the criminal justice system translating into, among other issues, unemployment/underemployment, unstable housing, imprisonment, and various
Organizational studies on the foster care system and relationships between foster care services and other systems involved as it relates to improving transitional outcomes for the youth. Examination and study of the decision making process and reoccurring organizational issues within the foster care systems. Exploration of race and ethnicity as a determinate on outcomes of care for the transitioned