Foster Care

Growing up in the Foster Care System in America

Jasmine Flournoy

Liberty University

Abstract

In America many children our placed into the foster care system being bounced around from one placement to another. In all these children are just looking for a place to call home and a loving accepting family to be apart of. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the different parts of the foster care system in America. This research paper will discuss the history of foster care, becoming a foster parent and training, services provided to foster parent and child, being raised in the system, different causes for needing foster care, positive and negative effects of being in the system, and the possible outcomes for a foster child. Foster youth face overwhelming odds that could be avoided with the right services in place.

History of Foster Care

Foster Care in America traces back to the early 1900s. According to Martin (2011), the child welfare policy shifted in the mid 1800s with the Civil War leaving thousands of children orphaned living on the streets. Also smallpox, scarlet fever, and other disease epidemics left many children orphaned. Nevertheless, Orphanages did not become the primary means of care for children in need until the later part of the 1800s. The children in these orphanages faced harsh treatment and abuse making this an unsafe environment. In time, institutions were created for orphaned and abused children in the late 19th century by Settlement house workers and charity organizations.

The Orphan train movement founded by Rev. Charles Loring Brace played a big role in the history of foster care. This movement wanted to use in home placement rather than institutional placement. This movement took many children off the street and placed them into homes. The orphan train loaded up thousands of children and they were taken west and picked by different families. I can understand why these children would say they felt like cattle due to how...