Youth in Foster Care

The Shortcomings of Child Protection Services

Bonita Evans

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN:
  9780815330202
• eBook ISBN:
  9781317776864
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Sociology
• Index: Social Sciences

First published in 1998. Part of the Children of Poverty series which includes studies on the effects of single parenthood, the feminization of poverty and homelessness, this volume looks at the shortcomings of the child protection services in relation to young people in foster care. The purpose of the study was to determine the impact of systemic shortcomings on the domestic and educational conditions of youth in the foster care system. In addition to studying the impact of systemic failures on foster care arrangements, the study also examined the impact of the protection services' failure to work more closely with youth, and with teachers on student educational outcomes.

I

Introduction

 

A society's civilization is measured, humanity tested and future shaped by how it protects and cares for its children. (Christian Children's Fund, 1994).

Over the past two decades those youths whose lifestyles are either consciously, or involuntarily affected by the threat of violence, or the prospect of negative outcome, have been defined as being “at risk.” Being at risk may take the form of a dysfunctional family, coercion through peer group pressure, inferior education, poor housing, or physical health, due to malnutrition. Malnutrition often expresses itself in a failure to learn and in some cases, is misdiagnosed. The student is then categorized as having a learning disability. Students suffering from malnutrition are often unable to retain information in their short-term memory, and exhibit symptoms similar to those who have intellectual problems.

At risk, as it pertains to behavior, covers a wide spectrum of activity, including drug peddling, gang membership, unprotected sex, thrill seeking, and psychological states which have been categorized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV (DSM) as psychopathy.

This study examined several factors, which exacerbate the potential for increased violence and psychopathy in young people who become wards of the state, using both observation and the researcher's experiences as a teacher working with youths (aged 6–21) in emotional support classes. Additionally, the researcher was able to work for a while as a counselor in a group home environment.

The two case studies cited in this work are taken from the researcher's written accounts of group home residents. Two reflective cases have also been taken from the Baby Neal Civil Action, conducted by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation (ACLUF), and are included, as support for the researcher's contention that the child protective services system is failing. The repercussions of this failure can be identified in the classroom and the foster care environment, regardless of where in the United States youth are being fostered.

THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The Purpose of the study was to determine the impact of systemic shortcomings on the domestic and educational conditions of youth in the foster care system. In addition to studying the impact of systemic failures on foster care arrangements, the study also examined the impact of the protection services' failure to work more closely with youth, and with teachers on student educational outcomes. The researcher sought to discover data which would provide answers to the following questions:

1. How do present foster care arrangements contribute to social disaffection in minority children in care?

2. What role does contextual environment play in shaping the realities of minority adolescents?

3. How does the lack of agency/foster parent liaison portend negative outcomes for youth in care.

It is hoped that this review of the shortcomings of the foster care system and their impact on both the social and educational environments of youth in care will become a catalyst for a more in-depth study in both areas. In approaching the task, the goal was to become more conversant with the physical and mental conditions of minority inner-city youths being fostered in rural areas.

DESIGN OF THE STUDY

The study was a causal research study which employed observation, case studies, interviews, questionnaires, and resource materials (annual reports, journals, agency newsletters and broadcast interviews) to determine conditions which affect both the efficient functioning of the child protective services and the welfare of youth in its care. Two subjects were observed, a female and a male. Data pertaining to the female was drawn from the researcher's written accounts of the girl's experiences in the group home. As regards the male, he was known to the researcher for a period of not less than six months, both as a student and as a group home resident.

The researcher also had an opportunity to talk with the male subject about his concerns in connection with the living arrangements at both his foster home and the group home. Prior to his arrival at the group home, the researcher spoke with his special education teacher and also his foster parents in casual conversation, which revealed some of the facts cited in the case study. However, the majority of the information compiled in respect of this case was the result of the researcher's observations and interactions with him at school, as his teacher, and on various occasions.

INSTRUMENTATION AND PROCEDURE

The researcher employed both observation and conversation in compiling information on the two youths examined in her personal case studies. Observations were carried out on a weekly and sometimes daily basis, as in the case of Marlene, the female subject. The detailed observations of this particular case were incorporated into the study with a view to providing the reader with a psychological profile of a client who experienced gradual mental deterioration over the period of her stay in care.

With a view to supporting the researcher's contention that the conditions experienced by the two youths were not isolated incidents in terms of out-of-home care, the researcher selected two reflective case studies under investigation by the ACLUF. The first case was that of a young female, Sherry G. It provided information regarding events which eventually led to the psychological deterioration of the client, and revealed that the agency took little care in effecting any form of program to prevent this condition. The second was that of John B., a 14-year-old, whom the agency left to his own devices on a number of occasions. The two reflective cases have been incorporated into the study with a view to illustrating agency negligence with respect to adolescent clients, regardless of whether the client is in care or truant.

Through the exploration of the four cases, the reader is given some insight into many organizational factors which affect the provision of effective and efficient service to youth in care. Additional to the incorporation of the two reflective studies, the researcher also employed three methods of data collection, professional journals and field-related studies, observation, interviews, and questionnaires.

Data was derived from observations made over a two-year period, in combination with practical experience in the special education classrooms and in group homes. This was carried out by the researcher with a view to determining the impact of the systemic shortcomings in organizational policy and practice on clients in group home care and in the classroom.

The area investigated was one which is closed, so it was necessary to hire a college senior in social sciences from the local college as a research assistant to present the questionnaires. This was necessary because teachers/educators would only respond to questionnaires presented by members of the local population. The researcher instructed the research assistant as to the information she was to obtain and the manner in which the questionnaire was to be presented. This was done to protect the identities of the teachers so that they would not receive negative feedback from the agency or the school administration.

The questionnaires were responded to anonymously and did not require that the teachers' names, or any information which would identify them, be provided. Teachers from elementary, middle, and high school were provided with the questionnaire. The researcher received nine responses from the number selected, using a survey population of approximately 12–18 teachers selected from different schools. The responses comprised three teachers working at 1st–3rd grade level, three at 5th–8th, and three at 9th–12th.

The researcher decided that it would also be informative to circulate the same questionnaire to mainstream teachers, as there is a new policy that some special education students should be mainstreamed, if possible, behavior and academic performance, permitting. (See questionnaire at Annex D)

DATA COLLECTION AND OTHER PROCEDURES

1. Through the use of secondary sources, the researcher determined the number of children in out-of-home care on a nationwide basis.

2. Employing journals, magazines, news items, educational television programs, personal observations, questionnaires, and annual reports, the researcher determined the systemic problems associated with the foster care system.

3. Professional journals, studies, public broadcasts, interviews, and questionnaires were used to determine existing problems, and how they impact youth in care.

4. The information received from secondary sources was compared with the researcher's experiences and observations in both the classroom and in the group home environments.

5. By employing the interview method with accompanying questionnaire as a control measure, the researcher discovered what problems foster parents encounter when they agree to take foster children, which are due to systemic problems related to information, follow-up service, and finance.

6. The researcher collected annual reports and other information circulated for public information and to potential foster parents.

7. The researcher conducted a random survey of special education teachers at elementary, middle and high school level, using questionnaires to determine any systemic problems of the child protective services which negatively impact on their efforts to educate foster/group home students in the classroom.

SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS

The research for this project was designed to focus mainly on the rural area of northeastern Pennsylvania. Due to the paucity of foster parents, the study was limited in the number of foster parents who were interviewed. There were only 7 minority foster parents on the roles of the Department of Children and Youth. Of these, the researcher selected three (representing nearly 50% of the available African-American foster parents. The number of African-American families available for interview, in itself, indicates systemic biases in the system, and is discussed in more detail later.

Fortunately, each of the foster families interviewed had worked with at least three agencies. The youths taken into their care ranged in age from 0–17 years. This wide range of experience proved extremely helpful in obtaining information both as to the difficulties posed by the paucity of agency/client relations and the lack of historical resources available to each client on the child in care. Most parents worked with the same agencies, but at different periods. They also fostered youths who had various problems. This provided an opportunity for the researcher to see how the same and different agencies reacted to foster parents in varying circumstances.

With respect to the survey of special and mainstream teachers taken during the course of the research, the researcher was not content that the findings would prove the pervasiveness of systemic shortcomings and their impact on foster youth in classrooms. The questionnaire was circulated at a teachers' conference held in Florida by a doctoral student, who assisted the researcher by selecting 20 additional teachers from different states in the categories previously mentioned. The researcher then compared these responses to those of the Pennsylvania teachers. The questionnaire was then circulated to several New Jersey teachers and teachers in New York. The responses to the questions provided in the questionnaire were practically identical.

II

The Problem

A major factor contributing to the troubling environment which foster youths create when they are removed to new areas, is the frequency with which these changes occur, and often, the rapidity. In many cases, foster children find that just when they are settling in and beginning to trust and develop a relationship with the foster family, they are moved. The most common reason for the change is the behavior of the ward, but in some cases it is the health of the foster parent, which prompts the change. In many instances, no record is kept of the number of reassignments made by the child. A paucity of familial history on the child in combination with multiple placements, makes it difficult for potential foster parents to discern the adaptability and psychological stability of the child.

The child protective services systems have failed to meet the needs of youth in care, due to ineffective methods of storing data related to placement outcome. The paucity of foster and adoptive homes, in combination with the lack of staff, and the selection of poorly qualified staff, or staff whose attitudes are not appropriate to the task have also taken a toll on agency effectiveness. The consequent condition is lack of follow up on the outcomes of youth in care. Youth with serious emotional and health problems are left untreated, or receive treatment which is fragmented due to; (a) the reluctance of practitioners to service patients on Medicaid, and (b) the number of placements each youth has before leaving care. Multiple placements result in breaks in the continuity of health care by the physicians and psychologists.

In group homes and in special education classes, psychologically stable youths often reside, or study with youths who are unstable, thus creating a potentially dangerous and violent environment for both types of youth. As well, students are often misdiagnosed because of their behavior. The behavior perceived as maladaptive, might, over a longer period of time, be found to have its basis in a transient state of instability and diagnosed as a manifestation of the confusion the youth feels about events which have affected his/her life prior to arriving at the new location. In some cases the behavior is a reaction to a sense of alienation which is felt by adolescents at being suddenly imposed upon a different environment and having it imposed upon them. Often the living skills which helped these young people survive in the former environment, are inappropriate for the new. Behavior defined and regarded as “inappropriate,” could also be a major factor contributing to alienation in student/teacher and client/therapist relationships. It is certainly an area which deserves further study.

With regard to the classroom environment, Healy's (1990) study of the children with learning disabilities—a significant factor contributing to inappropriate behavior—reveals that between 1976 and 1985, there was a 135% inc...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Children of Poverty
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Tables
• Figures
• Acknowledgments
• List of Abbreviations
• Chapter I: Introduction
• Chapter II: The Problem
• Chapter III: Literature Review
• Chapter IV: Presentation and Analysis of the Data
• Chapter V: Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations
• Appendices
• Definition of Terms
• Bibliography
• Index