Foster care

Foster care is a system by which adults care for minor children who are not able to live with their biological parents. In the United States, many states have provisions for voluntary or involuntary foster care. Voluntary foster care may be in circumstances where a parent is unable or unwilling to care for a child. For instance, a child may have behavioral problems requiring specialized treatment or the parent might have a problem. Involuntary foster care may be implemented when a child is removed from the normal caregiver for his/her own safety.

Requirements to be a foster parent vary by jurisdiction, as do monetary reimbursement and other benefits which they receive. In some states, foster parents may be single or a couple, younger or older adults, with or without biological children in their home. Often, "empty nesters" whose children have grown up and left the home may choose to take in foster children.

Foster care is intended to be a temporary living situation for children. The goal of foster care is to reunify with their parent or guardian or find another suitable permanent living arrangement. This may include an adoptive home, guardianship, or placement with a relative. At times, the bond that develops during foster care will lead to the foster parents adopting the child. In some instances, children may be placed in a long-term foster placement. For older adolescents, a foster care program may offer education and resources to prepare for a transition to independent living.

Foster care
In the United States, foster home licensing requirements vary from state to state but are generally overseen by the state's Department of "Social Services" or "Human Services".

Children, unable to function in a foster home, usually due to behavioral problems stemming from child abuse and neglect, may placed in Residential Treatment Facilities (RTFs) or other such group homes meant to treat children with similar backgrounds. The focus of treatment in such facilities is to prepare the child for a return to a foster home, to an adoptive home, or to the biological parents when applicable. However, adoption of children who are considered a special need in foster care is an ongoing social problem.

In Canada a child may become a Crown Ward and placed under the care of the provincial government, usually through a local or regional Children's Aide Society agency. If the crown does not terminate the parent's rights, then the child will remain a "permanent crown ward" until eighteen years of age. Many children remain permanent crown wards because unlike the U.S. there is no legislation mandating permanency within a specific time periiod Adoption and Safe Families Act.

"Aging-Out" of Foster Care
Nearly 20,000 foster care teens "age-out" of the foster care system each year. Many of these young adults lack the support and life skills necessary to live on their own. Foster care studies have shown that in just four years after leaving foster care, 25 percent of "aged-out" youth have been homeless, 42 percent have become parents themselves, fewer than 20 percent are able to support themselves, and only 46 percent have graduated from high school. “Aged-out” foster care youth are at high risk for substance abuse, domestic violence and poverty.

Recent United States Foster Care Legislation
On November 19, 1997, President Bill Clinton signed a new foster care law (The Adoption and Safe Families Act 1997, ) which dramatically reduced the time children are allowed to remain in foster care before being available for adoption. The new law requires state child welfare agencies to identify cases where "aggravated circumstances" make permanent separation of child from biological family the best option for the safety and well-being of the child. One of the main components of The Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) is the imposition of time limits on reunification efforts. In the past, it was common for children to languish in care for years with no permanent living situation identified. They often were moved from placement to placement with no real plan for a permanent home. ASFA requires that state identify a permanent plan for children who enter foster care.

Effects of chronic maltreatment & children in foster care
The National Adoption Center found that 52% of adoptable children (meaning those children in U.S. foster care freed for adoption) had symptoms of attachment disorder. A study by Dante Cicchetti found that 80% of abused and maltread infants exhibited attachment disorder symtoms (disorganized subtype).

Children with histories of maltreatment, such as physical and psychological neglect, physical abuse, and sexual abuse, are at risk of developing severe psychiatric problems. These children are likely to develop Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD). These children may be described as experiencing trauma-attachment problems. The trauma experienced is the result of abuse or neglect, inflicted by a primary caregiver, which disrupts the normal development of secure attachment. Such children are at risk of developing a disorganized attachment. Disorganized attachment is associated with a number of developmental problems, including dissociative symptoms, as well as depressive, anxiety, and acting-out symptoms.

The effects of early chronic maltreatment are seen in varioius domains and the result is Complex post-traumatic stress disorder, which requires a multi-modal approach that directly addresses the underlying causative trauma and which seeks to build healthy and secure relationships with permanent caregivers.