Foster Child Adoption Analysis

The negative effects of the system on foster children prove how the system fails to improve the lives of the kids it pledges to help and how critical it is that the government make an effort to improve foster agencies. No one would argue against how much kids need responsible adults in their lives. Most children, especially foster children many of whom have suffered abuse and neglect, need someone to keep them responsible and in line until they are old enough to mature and develop their own moral code. Several studies found that foster children are at a higher risk of becoming high school dropouts, homeless, incarcerated, or addicted to drugs. In addition, reports link foster children with having 15% lower standardized test scores and
The government must focus more on revising this in order to increase the number of adopted children. Typically, prospective parents unable to have biological children are the main people who turn to adoption. Studies found, however, that only 10-25% of all infertile couples actually pursue adoption (Newman). This means that the greater majority choose between seeking expensive infertility treatments and remaining childless. All facts point to the adoption process itself being the reason behind these low numbers. As the years passed and more protocols were installed, adoption agencies became more and more selective on who can adopt. It did this in order to ensure that children would get placed in a suitable home with caring and loving parents, especially since many of these kids already experienced severe abuse from their biological parents. All of these restrictions, however, also cause many to give up partway through the process because they feel both mentally and financially drained and typically still have many years to go before they can bring home their new child. Don Simkovich, the director of church relations at The Child Share Program, Inc., referred to the procedure as “a roller coaster of emotions, paperwork, and love that takes an adventurous spirit to navigate” (qtd. in Newman). Unfortunately,
These arguments, however, can all be disputed. Many parents feel an immediate connection to their adopted children and those that have both biological and adopted children vouch that they feel the same level of affection towards all of their kids. John E. B. Myers, a professor of law with a focus on child abuse explains the issue, “We should socialize parents to open their minds to the idea of parenting children born to other parents and racial groups.” (qtd. in Bartholet 186). Instead, society avoids all responsibility and continues to ignore the needs of foster children. The United States’ indifference to adoption and view of the practice as not as rewarding as having biological children hurt foster children’s chances of finding a new home where they can prosper, thus placing these already vulnerable children as lower-class