The family dynamic and structure has drastically changed over the last fifty years. Society has accepted various family structures as opposed to the traditional and standard nuclear and extended families. Learning and understanding family structures and dynamics is essential as it reveals the weaknesses and strengths of one’s family and how they affect their lives. This paper examines the foster care family dynamic. The term foster means to care and to help one grow and develop. Therefore, Foster families take a child and welcome them into their home, as they take care of them and help them grow. About 250,000 children join foster homes annually in the United States.
Foster care involves placing minors under the supervision of other adults that are not their parents. Foster parents may or may not be relatives to the child. There are multiple grounds that law enforcement agencies, such as courts, demand children placed in foster families. The court or social service representatives make decisions based on the best interest of the child. Child protection agencies can put a child in foster care due to physical abuse by the family members. Physical abuse covers a range of bodily harm, including battering, corporal punishments, and child labor.
Another ground for foster care is sexual abuse. Sexual abuse equally includes a range of activities such as forced viewing of pornographic material, fondling, penetration, rape, and a continuum of other sexual activities. Parents’ neglecting their child’s needs (food, clean environment, medical attention, and emotional well-being) can also result from fostering care placement. Social service representatives can also place a child in foster care if the parents face incarceration, mental health issues, death, or if they abandon the child.
The eventual goal of foster care is to look after the minor until they reunite with their birth families. Foster parents, therefore, take up all the roles and the responsibilities of an actual parent. The leading roles include providing a safe home for the child, providing love and support, and providing basic needs such as food, clothes, and shelter. Foster parents also attend to the child’s educational needs by ensuring that they have enrolled and attend school. Foster parents also attend to the child’s health and medical needs by providing them access to medical care. Foster families manage a child’s behavior as they help them heal from the traumatic events and experiences that led them to foster placement.
People opt to become foster parents for different reasons. Some prospective adoptive parents do not have children of their own. For those who do, their children are grown up and progressing their lives in other parts of the world. Other’s foster children to give back to society by helping a needy child. Finally, other foster children because there are not enough children homes that can accommodate older children and siblings. Therefore, instead of breaking up the family, adoptive parents take in all the children.
Although foster care is a noble act, not everyone can partake in the kind service. There are various qualifications for foster parents and foster families. The primary criterion is that the foster care family should meet the child’s developmental, physical, and emotional needs. However, foster care agencies evaluate other capabilities. Foster care families should provide a safe home free of hazards such as a fire. They should also be flexible and offer an all-round the clock child supervision daily. Foster families such as be open-minded and patient with the child. Foster families should complete a criminal service background and should have no criminal records. Most states and regions accept foster care from single, dual, and same-sex partners.
The United States federation must license and approve one’s request for foster care to become a foster parent. The licensing process differs in various states, but there are mandatory steps that everyone must follow. Foster families begin by making a call to foster care agencies such as The Child Welfare Information Gateway and Adopt Us Kids. Once the prospective foster parents identify an agency and make the call, the agency schedules a meeting. During the session, the prospective parents and the agents explore the interests and capabilities of the prospective parents. During exploration, the family determines whether they are ready to foster, and the agency determines whether the parents meet the requirements for licensure. The next step is the family assessment by the agent. The agency gathers information about each member of the prospective family to examine the parents’ ability to take care of children, and the children’s willingness to accommodate another child. Most agencies incorporate orientation and training on foster care during the family assessment stage.
The agency then conducts a home safety check to assure that the house is safe for children. Some agencies visit homes in a period of over ten to twelve weeks. During the period, the agent gathers paperwork as they fully expound on the responsibilities of foster parenting. The agent also helps to match the family with the most compatible child. The agencies also conduct background checks to ensure that the prospective family members have a clean criminal and child protection record. If the prospective parents have a clear history and meet all the agency requirements, the licensing worker writes a report with recommendations about the child that is more suitable for the family.
Several foster care agencies objectively work towards providing safe homes for children. Allies for Every Child is a child-centered organization in LA that connects children to foster families. The organization has a team of experts that help families’ adopting for foster care. The experts teach their foster families how to be the family that every child needs instead of seeking a child that fits explicitly into their family dynamics. Trinity Youth Service is a foster care agency in Southern California and Houston. The organization is nationally credited to provide foster care services for traumatized, abused, abandoned, and neglected children. Serenity Inc. Foster Care and Adoption is a non-profit organization that provides healing to children who have attachment and bonding issues, emotional scarring, and developmental delay. The incorporation temporarily connects children to nurturing families with the ultimate goal of reunifying them with their biological families.
Foster families play a significant role in society. By taking in children from abusive families, foster parents reduce the number of homeless and street children. Foster families provide education to children who later become experts in different fields that help society. By taking in the children, foster families reduce the number of children who end up in gangs that threaten the peace of the community through robbery, rape, violence, murder, and other juvenile offenses. Foster families also reduce the number of children who are likely to fall under the influence of drug and substance abuse due to lack of parental responsibilities. Society equally has a significant role in foster families. Friends and family of foster parents support the families by recommending good schools for the children to join. The society can also serve as good role models for the children. Finally, friends and family of the foster parents can financially, emotionally, and mentally support them for the good of their development.