Families+With+Foster+Children


 * Families With Foster Children **

**Explained...** The word "foster" means to help someone (or something) grow and develop. It also means to take care of someone's needs. Foster parents, then, are people — other than a kid's parents — who provide a safe place for kids to be cared for. They take kids into their homes and let them stay for a while.

**Statistics**
 * 463,000 children live in foster care in the US (Source: AFCARS Report 2009)
 * 18.8% of children enter foster care due physical abuse
 * 7.9% of children enter foster care due to emotional abuse
 * 6.2 of children enter foster care due to sexual abuse
 * 3.9% of children enter foster care to care take inability
 * Less than 3% of foster care children - who age out of system - go to college (51% end up unemployed)
 * 30% of children in foster care have severe emotional, behavioral, and developmental problems.

**Common Problems** ** __Attachment Disorder__ ** According to a report by the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, disruptions in attachment relationships caused by foster care can lead to a condition known as reactive attachment disorder, or RAD. RAD can manifest in a variety of behaviors in relation to caregivers, including being withdrawn; appearing sad and listless; failing to smile; failing to reach out when picked up; and showing lack of interest in interactive games or toys. ** __Defying Authority__ ** After being removed from their home and placed with strangers, foster care children often have increased levels of stress and insecurity. According to the American Academy of Adolescent and Child Psychiatry, most children in foster care feel insecure and uncertain about their future. According to a report by the Washington State University Cooperative Extension, feeling insecure frequently leads to children defying authority.This could include refusal to listen to authority figures or intentionally doing the opposite of what is asked. ** __Sibling Aggression__ ** According to the New York University Child Study Center, foster children are at high risk for perpetrating sibling aggression and violence. This could mean participating in physical fights with natural or foster care siblings. This behavior could result from family separation or adversity between siblings in the child's biological family. ** __Crying__ ** Constant crying and clinging behaviors are also sometimes observed in foster care children who have endured constant changes in caregivers. Visits with biological parents during foster care can further confuse children and lead to excessive crying, especially in younger children. **__Foster Children Often Struggle With the Following Issues:__**
 * blaming themselves and feeling guilty about removal from their birth parents
 * wishing to return to birth parents even if they were abused by them
 * feeling unwanted if awaiting adoption for a long time
 * feeling helpless about multiple changes in foster parents over time
 * having mixed emotions about attaching to foster parents
 * feeling insecure and uncertain about their future
 * reluctantly acknowledging positive feelings for foster parents

=Helpful Links For Students=

[|http://www.adoptivefamilies.com/foster/\]

[|http://kidshealth.org/kid/feeling/home_family/foster_families.html#]

=Helpful Links For Parents=

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=Helpful Links For Teachers:=

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[|http://www.livestrong.com/article/217421-common-behavioral-problems-of-children-placed-in-foster-care/#ixzz1YGm82SA]

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=**__Resources__**=

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