Introduction
Foster care is becoming increasingly prevalent in the United States. Various circumstances, including high mortality and other crimes, mainly cause the growth. Foster care is sometimes viewed as a temporary home for children, especially those with no one to look after them. Children can also enter foster care if their biological parents cannot provide them with the necessary resources. The sort of attachment a child has at an early age often affects their social development and behavior. An attachment is an emotionally healthy bond between a child and a specific individual. (Feldman, 2018, p. 186). Foster care is frequently used for children who lose their parental bond at birth or when they are very young. These youngsters often struggle to form healthy bonds because of the lack of consistency and stability brought on by this dislocation.
Understanding placement instability in a foster facility may provide a partial record of the relationship between teenagers’ psychological well-being problems and their abuse. In contrast to raising a child in an unsafe environment, foster care can be a good solution. In addition, the development of children’s social/emotional, speech-language, and cognitive skills is negatively impacted by foster care. However, placing a child in foster care might negatively influence that child’s social and behavioral evolution. In addition, the eventual reunion of the children with their biological parents is typically one of the long-term objectives of foster care. Because of this, foster care is usually permanent but is intended to be transitory in specific situations. This article will discuss the influence of foster care and how it affects youngsters’ development.
Foster Care- Diversity & Trauma
Understanding how foster care impacts a child’s development requires understanding the events that led to the kid being taken from their family and placed in care. Furthermore, this group of children is heterogeneous because of their increased propensity for behavioral issues and mental diseases. In the United States, 427,910 children were in foster care as of September 2015 (Farnfield 79). For various reasons, including abuse or neglect, these children in foster care are taken away from their homes. Between 20 and 60 percent of these kids in foster care struggle with behavioral problems. (Feldman 520). Every child in foster care goes through the instability of being taken away from their homes and families, regardless of the reason for removal.
A foster child’s background directly influences their conduct and commonly results in behavioral issues with internalizing and externalizing behavior patterns. It is critical to realize that although foster care intervention may result in a child being taken out of harm’s way and placed in a safer setting, this does not always mean they are shielded from the early traumas in their lives. These memories frequently have a clear connection to crisis and trauma circumstances. In the child’s past, the cause of removal and the frequency of placement interruptions are two elements that point to behavioral issues (Lavi Wilson et al. 4). It was shown that removing a child from a household due to abuse increased the likelihood that the child will develop externalizing behavior problems, even if there were no behavioral distinctions between the different types of abuse and trauma. It could be because various forms of abuse equally impact a child’s behavioral issues.
When considering children who have been moved, it is also essential to consider how kinship and foster care differ. Kinship care is when kids are placed in relatives’ homes (Feldman 149). It was demonstrated that displaced children in kinship care had fewer prosocial behavioral disorders than those in non-relative foster care regarding their exacerbating and assimilating behaviors (Feldman 724). Again, it is attributable to the depth of the connections and attachments formed when a grandmother, aunt, or uncle raises a child.
It is vital to remember that children in kinship care also benefit from fewer placement disruptions and can maintain more stable families. The lack of access to the same background knowledge about the child as kinship care parents has been proven to make non-relative foster parents more stressed out. Due to their actions, children with externalizing behavioral issues are less likely to be adopted by a family and are instead put in non-relative care. Parental stress levels may increase due to these externalizing actions, exacerbating behavioral problems (Lind et al.). The outcomes were favorable when the child and the foster parent were of the same ethnicity. Higher levels of honest relationships and behaviors were reportedly seen when both partners belonged to the same race. The overarching subject is the bonding and development of strong bonds between the foster parent and the foster child.
Foster Care and the Developing Brain- Attachment
It is crucial to first and foremost consider the idea of attachment when addressing the needs of children in foster care. According to Precious, the link between children and adults is critical (Feldman 186.) A child’s attachment acts as their “home base,” where their needs for security and protection may be met under Bowlby’s Theory of Attachment. As children grow, developing stable bonds depends on having that particular caregiver who will meet those demands (Feldman 190). Early in a child’s existence, attachment begins to form. Research on the necessity for supportive bonding or attachment therapy for foster parents and children was validated by the Tung et al. study on the effects of early placement treatment on foster children. Infants usually start forming bonds between the ages of 7-9 months. After that, the youngsters have sufficient cognitive, emotional, and physical abilities to seek a caregiver and oppose their disengagement.
It has been demonstrated that children who establish these bonds before 7-9 months have less trouble building connections and attachments. As a result, kids who are adopted or put in a loving foster home before this age frequently do not struggle as much as kids who did not build those early attachments. However, youngsters who have yet to establish a solid bond by the time they are 7-9 months old typically struggle to do so (Villagrana et al.). These children usually have histories of failed relationships or attachments and numerous placement changes or relationship disruptions. In light of how children’s brains grow, fostering connection as soon as feasible is crucial.
To address the attachment requirements of foster children, Farnfield looked at the results of three distinct types of therapy. He found that the Circle of Security (COS), Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC), and Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) intervention programs were all effective in helping adoptive and foster parents establish long-lasting bonds with their children. Youngsters under five who have experienced early adversity such as trauma, failed attachment, displacement, and other hardships are the target audience for all three programs. Even while a connection is more complicated as a child ages, it is still possible with the proper support (Villagrana et al., 32). According to Tung et al. (152), 20% of one to three-year-old children in America are in foster care. Unfortunately, many toddlers are susceptible to developmental delays at this crucial developmental turning point because of their early move. The early phases of a child’s social and emotional development are also when they are making relationships with their caregivers and learning to use them to control their emotions and develop coping strategies.
Executive functioning skills (EF), also known as self-regulation abilities, develop throughout birth and adolescence; however, most of this development occurs in the toddler era. As children’s neurocognitive processes create, these EF skills are a crucial predictor of their future performance in behavior and social interactions (Navarro-Soria et al. 25). Numerous therapies have been developed to promote children’s development. Few, however, specifically address the unique developmental requirements of toddlers. In this program, parents receive counseling on providing their children with better care and instruction on interpreting their child’s indications to prevent miscues. As a result, foster children showed improvement in several areas, including fewer attention issues, higher cognitive versatility, increased EF capabilities, and the advancement of better regulation of mental processes when foster parents received sensitive parenting training.
Two research needs to be considered when assessing how relocation and foster care affect children’s cognitive and social development. The first is the Lind research on foster care intervention and institutionalized children’s social behavior. Children living in group homes lacked confidence in initiating conversation and had weaker linguistic and communication abilities. According to Lind et al., foster children who were taken from their families were less speech-restraint-restricted and somewhat more socially competent than their institutionalized counterparts. Nevertheless, both groups significantly lagged behind their non-removed counterparts regarding speech and language. This was attributed to the different kinds of socialization and relationships that each group of children got. Analyzing data on foster children’s cognitive development is essential as well. Unfortunately, there was insufficient evidence to draw meaningful conclusions on the effects of Head Start programs on foster children, necessitating more study.
Feldman, however, was able to gather information about the effects of foster care on a child’s academic performance. Feldman claims that compared to children who have not been put in out-of-home care, foster children are five times more likely to require special education assistance and three times more likely to face disciplinary action at school. (p. 130).It demonstrates a link between a child’s cognitive development and social/emotional behavioral demands. As was previously said, when facing the early challenges characteristic of their circumstances, children in the foster care system frequently face tremendous trauma and stress. These children’s brain development is significantly impacted by the stress they experience.
The stress-response hormone cortisol controls how the brain responds to difficulty. Stress in a child’s brain disrupts the generation and control of cortisol. A loss in EF abilities, self-regulation, and dysregulation of emotions and behaviors may result from this (Lavi Wilson et al.). Therefore, ABC therapies were once more advised in this research. The ABC intervention is long-term support provided throughout ten sessions with the child and caregiver. It was discovered that this intervention contributed to the development of a more sympathetic and supportive caregiver who could better encourage the development of good self-regulation abilities and assist in reversing the adverse effects of stress on the brain’s cortisol levels.
Fostering a Resilient Child through Intervention: Foster Care
Numerous detrimental components of the foster care system affect a child’s growth. The institutionalization of displaced children in group homes or orphanages is a negative option, as has been demonstrated by several investigations. Foster children must feel good about their bond with their foster parents to feel comfortable in their placement. For foster children to form solid friendships and attachments with exceptional persons, more deliberate chances are needed. Imrisek et al. researches indicate that when foster kid views their relationship with their foster parent as solid and secure, there are high rates of implied constructive internalizing behavior patterns. The kid did not just report these behaviors; the foster parent also shared them along with the conduct they observed in their child. Another element influencing these strong connection feelings is the lack of placement disruptions. Children’s internalizing behaviors become more apparent when they do not feel loved and cared for in healthy relationships, which can cause issues that can result in removal from a placement.
However, parents are less likely to have their children removed from their homes when there is a close bond between them and the child. Foster parents are better equipped to encourage resilience and constructive internalizing habits in their charges when they are perceivably empathetic and compassionate. A child’s internalizing behaviors are more seriously affected when they have casual encounters with their foster parent. There is no guarantee that a kid adopted from the foster care system will build bonds and behave differently right away (Tung et al. 180). Pre-adoption traits and biobehavioral traits will continue to have an impact on that child. Five years following adoption, Tung et al. study found that foster children who had been adopted showed externalizing behavioral difficulties. (p.157). It was shown that these children, who were raised in loving, nurturing adoptive homes, initially had fewer behavioral issues, such as externalizing, following their adoption. Tung explained the variables and factors considered when a youngster is adopted from foster care. It enables the readers to understand how important it is to take a child’s foster care experiences into account before they are adopted into a home.
Conclusion
To build and encourage resilience in this diverse group of children, they must comprehend how important responsive environments and proper instruction are when deciding where to place a kid. According to studies, the foster care system must be used as an intervention in a deliberate approach that meets the children’s attachment requirements to be effective. In addition, data analysis and research indicate that rather than foster care, the substantial effects on children appear to be related to the conditions that initiated a youngster’s placement in foster care in the first place.
The results of this research indicate the necessity of screening and intervention for every child in the foster care system in the United States. There is a wide variety of suitable and successful foster care interventions. The effectiveness demonstrated within the programs would expand to include more families and children if all foster parents were required to use them. Although the foster care system does not always help displaced children, as indicated by the many studies examined, it may be a helpful intervention and tool.
Works Cited
Farnfield, Steve. “Attachment and the Loss of Fertility: The Attachment Strategies of Prospective Adoptive Parents.” Journal of Children’s Services, vol. 14, no. 2, 2019, pp. 78–96, Web.
Feldman, Robert S. Development across the Life Span. 9th ed., Pearson, 2019, p. 724.
Imrisek, Steven D., et al. “Developing Self-Regulation in a Dysregulating World: Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up for a Toddler in Foster Care.” Journal of Clinical Psychology, vol. 74, no. 8, May 2018, pp. 1308–18, Web.
Lavi Wilson, Shanika, et al. “The Effectiveness of Group Therapy in Supporting Adoptive Families.” Psychology and Mental Health Care, vol. 5, no. 2, 2021, pp. 1–6, Web.
Lind, Teresa, et al. “Enhancing Executive Functioning among Toddlers in Foster Care with an Attachment-Based Intervention.” Development and Psychopathology, vol. 29, no. 2, 2017, pp. 575–86, Web.
Navarro-Soria, Ignasi, et al. “Association of Foster Care and Its Duration with Clinical Symptoms and Impairment: Foster Care versus Non-Foster Care Comparisons with Spanish Children.” Journal of Child and Family Studies, vol. 32, no. 3, Sept. 2019, pp. 23–45, Web.
Tung, Irene, et al. “Temperamental Sensitivity to Early Maltreatment and Later Family Cohesion for Externalizing Behaviors in Youth Adopted from Foster Care.” Child Abuse & Neglect, vol. 76, no. 3, Feb. 2018, pp. 149–59, Web.
Villagrana, Margarita, et al. “Perceived Self-Stigma in the Utilization of Mental Health Services in Foster Care and Post Foster Care among Foster Care Alumni.” Children and Youth Services Review, vol. 85, no. 4, 2018, pp. 26–34, Web.