Essay On Foster Child Abuse
In today’s society violence and abuse have become a huge problem. It can be mental or physical abuse. Abuse can happen in any kind of relationship: boyfriend/girlfriend, parent/child, or employer/employee. The one area of abuse caught my eye is foster parents abusing foster children. This past year I know of some personal cases where the foster parents abused the foster children and have even killed one. In the journal “Confidentiality Act to Shield Abuse in Foster Care” it states, “As Miguel’s brain swelled with blood, his foster parents waited more than four hours before they took him to the hospital. The child, whose body was covered in bruises, never regained consciousness. He died in the hospital before his biological family could be located” (Callahan). People like this is what is hurting the foster care system the most. A problem which is becoming very serious is foster parents abusing the foster children while they are in there care. This can happen because of many different factors: foster parents being stressed, children being unruly, even just not knowing how to properly take care of the children, for some it’s just they are repeating actions over and over again. In a newspaper article titled “Foster
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Dad Pleads Guilty to Sexual Abuse Charges”, it state, “police were again alerted when the youth who is now 17 told a social worker about sex abuse that allegedly occurred during his time in Larson’s care, according to a criminal complaint filed against Larson” (Chanen). This shows how easily it is to be able to commit the same crime and go undetected and hurt more children. In a newspaper article “Foster Parents Accused of Starving, Physically abusing Children” it states, “Jonathan Earl Savage, 29, and Brandi Michele Savage, 29, of Batchelor Road in Richlands were arrested on Oct. 17 by the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office on multiple charges of abuse, according to warrants” (Huber). With this evidence it goes to show the police are taking the abuse of foster children by foster parents very serious.
One possible way to help reduce the abuse in the foster care system is by finding more foster parents or more group homes.
If they could find more homes or group homes it would relieve the stress the foster parents are feeling. In the book Shattered Bonds: Color of Child Welfare, it had some disturbing news, “Disturbing headlines reveal a system that is too overwhelmed to care properly for the children it takes from their parents” (Roberts 221). So if they could train more people how to properly care for the children this would not be a problem. This will not only help with the overpopulations of children in the homes but it will also help with relieve some of the stress of the foster parents and it will bring down the abuse rates in the foster care
system.
Another way to reduce the abuse of foster children would be to do random checks on the families houses. This would help because not only would the foster parents not be able to have a heads up to have everything in order, but they also will not have time to tell the children what to say. This will also help in making sure the house is in proper order and has all the health and safety things they need in the house. They would also not be able to try to cover up injuries either. If social workers would perform random checks on the foster parent’s house, it would also show the foster parents how serious they are about stopping abuse in the system.
One way to fix abuse in the foster home would be to do better background checks on the foster parents. The way this could would be beneficial to the foster care system is so they could eliminate the ones with a criminal records. In the article “Confidentiality Acts to Shield Abuse in Foster Care” it states, “When I looked into the case for The Denver Post, records revealed even more disturbing details about Miguel’s foster parents, Ricky and E’von Haney: They both had criminal arrest records” (Callahan 84). With this information it goes to show well-done background checks would help ensure children are not being put in harms way. Background checks are not only systematic in their destruction of child abuse, but also one the few true ways to eliminate this smut from this world.
The best way to help reduce abuse in the foster care system would be to do better background checks on the foster parents this include private and state agencies. This will help by making sure no criminal can get close enough to harm an innocent child. Doing random checks on the house would also help, but it might seem like you are over stepping some personal boundaries. Some people may view this random check as an invasion of domestic privacy and it could be a potential catalyst to mistrust. It might also become expensive since the foster parents might not be home at the time you decide to go check. Finding more foster parents or group homes opened would relieve a lot of the stress off of the foster parents, but it will be difficult to find foster parents and group homes open because of the training and regulations. Abuse has become a serious problem in today’s society but it does not have to be; if you have better background checks, find more foster parents, or even do random checkups it would cut out a lot of the abuse. With the tools and finding more foster homes or group home it would help ensure the safety of the foster children by making their living situations better. The children that do have to go through the abuse in foster care will most likely become dropouts, in jail, or even in jail. Foster homes are suppose to be a safe place for children not a harmful environment.
Dad Pleads Guilty to Sexual Abuse Charges”, it state, “police were again alerted when the youth who is now 17 told a social worker about sex abuse that allegedly occurred during his time in Larson’s care, according to a criminal complaint filed against Larson” (Chanen). This shows how easily it is to be able to commit the same crime and go undetected and hurt more children. In a newspaper article “Foster Parents Accused of Starving, Physically abusing Children” it states, “Jonathan Earl Savage, 29, and Brandi Michele Savage, 29, of Batchelor Road in Richlands were arrested on Oct. 17 by the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office on multiple charges of abuse, according to warrants” (Huber). With this evidence it goes to show the police are taking the abuse of foster children by foster parents very serious.
One possible way to help reduce the abuse in the foster care system is by finding more foster parents or more group homes.
If they could find more homes or group homes it would relieve the stress the foster parents are feeling. In the book Shattered Bonds: Color of Child Welfare, it had some disturbing news, “Disturbing headlines reveal a system that is too overwhelmed to care properly for the children it takes from their parents” (Roberts 221). So if they could train more people how to properly care for the children this would not be a problem. This will not only help with the overpopulations of children in the homes but it will also help with relieve some of the stress of the foster parents and it will bring down the abuse rates in the foster care
system.
Another way to reduce the abuse of foster children would be to do random checks on the families houses. This would help because not only would the foster parents not be able to have a heads up to have everything in order, but they also will not have time to tell the children what to say. This will also help in making sure the house is in proper order and has all the health and safety things they need in the house. They would also not be able to try to cover up injuries either. If social workers would perform random checks on the foster parent’s house, it would also show the foster parents how serious they are about stopping abuse in the system.
One way to fix abuse in the foster home would be to do better background checks on the foster parents. The way this could would be beneficial to the foster care system is so they could eliminate the ones with a criminal records. In the article “Confidentiality Acts to Shield Abuse in Foster Care” it states, “When I looked into the case for The Denver Post, records revealed even more disturbing details about Miguel’s foster parents, Ricky and E’von Haney: They both had criminal arrest records” (Callahan 84). With this information it goes to show well-done background checks would help ensure children are not being put in harms way. Background checks are not only systematic in their destruction of child abuse, but also one the few true ways to eliminate this smut from this world.
The best way to help reduce abuse in the foster care system would be to do better background checks on the foster parents this include private and state agencies. This will help by making sure no criminal can get close enough to harm an innocent child. Doing random checks on the house would also help, but it might seem like you are over stepping some personal boundaries. Some people may view this random check as an invasion of domestic privacy and it could be a potential catalyst to mistrust. It might also become expensive since the foster parents might not be home at the time you decide to go check. Finding more foster parents or group homes opened would relieve a lot of the stress off of the foster parents, but it will be difficult to find foster parents and group homes open because of the training and regulations. Abuse has become a serious problem in today’s society but it does not have to be; if you have better background checks, find more foster parents, or even do random checkups it would cut out a lot of the abuse. With the tools and finding more foster homes or group home it would help ensure the safety of the foster children by making their living situations better. The children that do have to go through the abuse in foster care will most likely become dropouts, in jail, or even in jail. Foster homes are suppose to be a safe place for children not a harmful environment.