02/21/2020
When a child is with foster parents, they don't like it. Most lawmakers seem to think it's equal. You may even think it is rude and ungrateful not to thank these patriots for their service, sacrifice, and good intentions. Those of you have no doubt of a foster parent's good intentions. Not like the parents who were held to the strictest possible standards of "maybe they did it". Children usually see right through it. (I can't remember where I read) A social worker said, "Kids always bitch about their foster homes."
Abuse within foster homes is much more difficult to detect. Firstly, these children have all been deprived of their natural parents. They all appear to be suffering trauma because they are. Parents are a child's whole world. And children get removed while investigation is still being done and while a trial if any is still ahead. Many children are returned. While parents are taught to clean their house, their children are being gifted by the system with separation anxiety. Instability. When they go back, they don't know if they will be taken again. Imagine how the children feel when the caseworker comes back for check ups. (Let alone how the parents feel.) And this is the best case scenario with child removal.
When foster parent's or other children in the home are abusive, how can I child get help? When they "bitch" to their caseworker, they are dismissed. This is normal. Foster parents are more likely to abuse and less likely to be reported, even less to be prosecuted. The actual instance of children dying through neglect or being directly killed in a foster home is higher than commonly reported. What is to keep a foster parent from reporting a dead child as a runaway? On the investigative end, does CPS want a bunch of dead kids in their foster stats?
What about other types of abuse? I find through my research that CPS is much less hard on itself than on its own system. While they are quick to call abuse on a real parent, they are quick to spin reports of abuse in their own care. Buried in the CPS self reporting is this:
https://library.childwelfare.gov/cwig/ws/library/docs/gateway/Record?rpp=10&upp=0&m=1&w=+NATIVE%28%27recno%3D79375%27%29&r=1
..while the stuff they want you to be able to find and read:
http://fosteringperspectives.org/fpv18n2/runaways.htm
..describes children's complaints this way: "because they disliked their placement," "conflict with caregivers," "feeling unsafe in their placement," and (from that same link) the children's complaints are spun thusly.
"Youth in the study suggested ways to improve their experiences in care. In general, they want more opportunities to see their families and stay connected to their neighborhoods and friends. They want to talk to someone who will listen to them, get to know them, and help them work through difficulties. Although this need could be met by a foster parent, many of these teens felt they couldn't talk to their foster parents.
Teens who ran also wanted more support from caseworkers, including more frequent visits where caseworkers spend time listening to youth to hear how they are really doing. Those who were unhappy with their placements felt a move would have helped."
What do you think they actually said?
What kind of terrible abuse (frying pan) did they escape from to be put into "great" foster care (fire)? Approximately 3% sexual abuse/molestation, 4% severe physical abuse, 93% other.
Yours in Christ, Jenn McKnight
CD-47654d Prevalence of Maltreatment Among Youths in Public Sectors of Care. Miller, Elizabeth A. Green, Amy E. Fettes, Danielle L. Aarons, Gregory A. Journal Article CopyrightPublished: August 2011 Child Maltreatment Vol. 16, No. 3 , p. 196-204 Sage Publications 2455 Teller Road Thousand Oaks, C...