Foster Care

The Purpose of Foster Care

In many states the foster care system makes provisions for both voluntary and involuntary foster care. Voluntary foster care involves circumstances stemming from parental problems that render parents unable to care for their children (e.g., illness, substance abuse, AIDS, incarceration, or death) or from situations when a child's behavioral or physical problems require specialized treatment and parents are unwilling to care for their children.

Involuntary foster care requires the removal of children from their parents to ensure the children's safety. The children are usually victims of abuse or neglect whom the court removes from their homes and places in the state's custody. Young children tend to be placed in homes with foster families, while teens tend to be placed into residential facilities or group homes.

Children in Foster Care

Removal from their homes and placement into a foster care setting is both difficult and stressful for children. Although they come into foster care because of their exposure to serious abuse and maltreatment, family problems, and any number of risk factors, many children struggle with feelings of guilt and blame for being removed from their homes.

Many children also experience a sense of confusion, anxiety, stress, and loss. In addition, they may feel unwanted and helpless about their placement in a foster care setting; they may have difficulty attaching themselves to the many different foster parents they encounter as they move from one placement to another; and they may be insecure about their future. Prolonged and multiple foster care placements can contribute to negative outcomes for some of these children. For example, children—especially adolescents—who have been in foster care for an extended time have difficulty developing self-sufficiency and independence in adulthood.

Children need consistency, connectedness, and a sense of belonging to have a successful, healthy development. Providing a safe, stable, nurturing environment can bolster resilience and the short- and long-term adjustment of children.

Permanency Planning

The foster care system provides only a temporary living arrangement for vulnerable children to ensure their safety and well-being. Children remain in foster care placements until the problems that caused their removal are solved. Decisions made about the future for foster care children are called “permanency planning.”

A successful resolution enables children to return home. However, if no successful resolution to the problem occurs, the court may terminate parental rights and free the children for adoption, or else provide long-term care with foster parents or relatives. Fortunately, more than half of children in the foster care system get reunited with their birth parents or primary caregivers. In addition, more than 2 million children live with grandparents or other relatives because they were not able to return to live with their parents.

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