Do Foster Care Children Need

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Do Foster Care Children Need Mental Health Services

Introduction

The issue of mental health among children and youth in foster care is troubling, to say the least. Compared to their counterparts who are not placed under foster care, studies reveal that children that grow up in foster homes suffer higher rates of mental issues and require assistance. In America, more than 400, 000 children are placed in foster care and 80% of them suffer from mental health issues (Vasileva, and Franz 89). Notably, this accounts for about five times the incidence rates recorded among the general population. Children that grow up in foster or group homes display a range of mental health issues including major depression, panic and anxiety disorders, drug and substance abuse, and post-traumatic stress disorder. While it may occur that these issues present as the children age and encounter puberty, it might come as a complete shock about how they come about, and how the prevalence among the younger populations that are below six years. Worth noting, mental health assistance is a service that has been made available to people of all populations including adults. Although children and youth who are not under foster care also require mental health services, their counterparts who have been to foster homes need these services more because of the trauma they may have been subjected to. This helps address the underlying issue before the problem becomes escalates and impacts the child’s early childhood. This essay assesses the population that needs access to mental health issues more between children who have been to foster care and their counterparts who have not been subjected to foster care. The text builds upon various arguments that support and oppose the notion. My standpoint is that foster care children are in dire need and should have access to mental health assistance both inside and outside the foster homes.

Background Information

Child maltreatment is a term used to refer to any type of neglect, sexual abuse, physical abuse, and emotional abuse however the United States Department of Human Services and Health only reports on physical, sexual, and neglect. In the United States, most foster care matters relate to maltreatment (75%), with physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological maltreatment, and medical neglect accounting for 17%, 8.3%, 6%, and 2.2% respectively (Okpych, and Mark, 269). Although the response to reports of maltreatment differs by state, the preliminary screening process is similar. If the screening turns out positive, Protective Services Officers must carry out investigations to determine if maltreatment is existent or come up with an alternative response pointing to the need of the family and child. There is a high prevalence of mental and medical health problems among foster care children. A recent study shows that 50% of children between 2 and 14 years present with major clinical mental health. A similar study conducted among teenagers showed that one-fifth presented with 3 disorders, one-third presented with 2 disorders while 42% had a minimum of one mental disorder (Lohr, and Faye, 342). The presence of mental health presents a challenge of increased disruptions in foster care placements and poor continuity of both mental and general which further exacerbates the trauma and loss.

Supporting Arguments

Mental Health is Tool for Healing for Juvenile Offenders

Foster care children need mental health assistance as it helps them heal and make peace with the circumstances that led them to be put in foster care. There are multiple reasons why young children are separated from their parents and removed from their home and taken to a foster o group home. All cases are rather unique and may include legal factors where the courts are directly involved in deciding the fate of the children. In other scenarios, the decisions by social services take center stage. The decisions are made in line with the best interest of the child in what the child was involved in. In spite of the circumstances that led to the child to enter the foster care system, mental health assistance, particularly counseling helps the children cope with their predicaments better. For instance, some children often end up in foster homes as a result of juvenile offenses. In some cases, their home environment may have contributed to the ongoing problem that led them to commit an offense. In the event that parents are not capable of managing the child’s behavior, the child is taken to a foster home for correction. Worth noting, although the child is an offender, they can still reform. Separating them from the only environment they know and mishandling them does not help the situation in any way. In fact, treating them harshly without providing the necessary support may only exacerbate the situation hence there is a need to take them through counseling, and mentorship programs as a way to help them reform.

Separation is Traumatizing

Separating children from their parents at a young age leads to long-term trauma if it is not promptly and properly dealt with. Analysis shows that in many states, in the case of emergency thousands of children are often taken out of their homes and placed in foster care even without court approvals. If children officers find review and find evidence of maltreatment, they are mandated by the law to put the best interest of the child first. However, it happens that the children end up being returned home eventually after investigations are done and there is no reasonable cause of alarm. These are referred to as short stays. In 2018, Bernalillo County recorded the highest short-term removals than any other state with other counties such as Akron, New Orleans, and Santa Fe also recording high rates of removal (Turney and Christopher, 134). In states such as New Mexico, there is a 48-hour hold policy that allows police officers to unilaterally allows children to be placed in foster care for 2 days and as a result, 40% of children taken under foster care return home in a matter of days or weeks. Despite the period of separation of a child and their parents, it has devastating effects on the child.

Mental health Assistance is Necessary for Children that Have been Subjected to Sexual and Physical Abuse.

Foster children that have been through sexual and physical abuse which is a grave violation not only need physical support but also psychosocial support. These violations are serious and may lead to negative implications such as depression, and suicide. Statistics from New Mexico show that 18% of the short stays of children in foster care are a result of physical or sexual abuse. Physical abuse in children is often documented with evidence of injury or bruising in a child. In most cases, the injuries occur when parents attempt to discipline the children and it can also entail restraining a child in closed or other spaces. Sexual violations on the other hand not only entail penetration but also other sexual acts of fondling and viewing pornographic materials in the presence of children. In most cases, children are violated by the people closest to them which makes them feel unsafe. Children that have been sexually abused are likely to experience hypervigilance, nightmares, and multiple symptoms of PTSD. Such individuals need to go through specialized treatment for PTSD to treat the anxiety as well as cognitive-behavioral therapy. Compared to children who have not been through such traumatic events in their lifetime, foster children need more mental assistance and support.

The Emphasis on Reuniting Birth Families

Worth noting, another reason why foster children should be provided as much mental health assistance as possible is that a lot of emphasis is placed on the re-unification of families rather than the safety of the child. It happens that the officials mandated with deciding the cases do not want to break up families. As a result, they decide to let the child go back to the same home where they were neglected or mistreated because they want to keep birth families together. As a result, people end up hurting the children more instead of helping them. This presents the dire need for psychosocial support for these children, after their reintegration into the family. However, it is not easy for the children to access the services as easily as they would if they were still staying in the foster homes. This situation exposes the children to further danger because they end up not being stuck with their oppressors at home. This places them at risk of domestic violence from their parents and they end up with severe mental health issues. Child officers should do their best to ensure that they protect the best interests of the child at whatever cost.

Parental Drug Use

Foster children the ones that have to deal with parents who neglect their duties and subject them to mistreatment particularly if the guardians have a drug problem. In most cases, the parents are often battling generational cycles of joblessness or being laid off. They tend to turn to drugs and alcohol as a means of coping with the situation. In the process, they end up neglecting their duties to take care of their children. Some parents also have parenting habits that are unhealthy. You would expect that all parents would love their children desperately and do everything they possibly can to be a good parent and to provide for them. However, drug use makes parents become irresponsible parents to the extent of causing them harm by assaulting them and abusing them emotionally. If these children continue goring up in such an environment they may suffer prolonged life consequences such as anxiety. As such, there is a need for the government through the local, county, and federal governments to be vigilant in protecting young children as well as teenagers from abusive parents with drug issues.

Counterarguments

All Children, in General, Are in Need of Mental Assistance.

As mentioned earlier, it goes without saying that mental health assistance is needed and should be made accessible to all people who might need it children included. Children and youths that are not in foster homes go through various issues that need attention and counseling from a qualified mental health professional. Children moreso teenagers that are going through puberty often have a lot of questions regarding the change going on in their bodies, and a medical practitioner may be of help. Furthermore, children also have challenges in their day-to-day lives and may not feel comfortable talking to their parents, guardians, and teachers about them because they fear that the parents will not understand them. Teenagers that are encountering a problem will be more conformable talking to a stranger about their problems and this way they can get help. However much children that have not been in foster homes are also in need of these services, it is evident that foster care children need them more by virtue of the traumatic experiences they have gone through. This does not mean that their problems are not worthy of the attention of a mental health practitioner just that they are not as dire as the needs of a child in foster care.

Mental Health Assistance in Children that are Not in Foster Care Eliminates Future and More Serious Problems

All children, whether they have been in foster care or not need access to mental health because it helps deal with mental concerns from the onset which reduces chances of the problem advancing to a point where damage is done. If a child has unresolved mental health issues, and they are not treated they tend to have grave consequences such as suicide. Hence it is important to address them early. As children grow, they tend to pick up a lot of things from their environment which can impact them negatively or positively. Children may have a hard time performing well in school, may face rejection from their peers, and may not be confident enough. Further, they may be dealing with perceived incompetence, depression, and even a traumatic or embarrassing occurrence. Some children may also be having a weight disorder which makes them subject to ridicule. It is therefore important to ensure they have access to a specialist with whom can talk about these issues which if not addressed can cause self-harm.

Conclusion

Matters of mental health are rather important and should be made available to all people including adults and children. Although all children are entitled to mental health assistance, some children need them more than others. The arguments highlighted above point to one claim; foster care children are in dire need of these services more than other children who have not encountered neglect and abuse from the people that are meant to protect them. Children that grow up in foster or group homes display a range of mental health issues including major depression, panic and anxiety disorders, drug and substance abuse, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Some of the reasons why foster care children need mental assistance more is that separation is traumatizing, their perpetrators are their parents dealing with drug abuse, and that it helps with healing particularly among juvenile offenders. Further, most emphasis is on reuniting birth families at the expense of children’s safety, and they have to deal with physical and sexual abuse.

Works Cited

Lohr, W. David, and Faye V.Jones. “Mental health issues in foster care.” Pediatric annals 45.10 (2016): e342-e348.

Okpych, Nathanael J., and Mark E. Courtney. “Characteristics of foster care history as risk factors for psychiatric disorders among youth in care.” American journal of orthopsychiatry 88.3 (2018): 269.

Turney, Kristin, and Christopher Wildeman. “Mental and physical health of children in foster care.” Pediatrics 138.5 (2016).

Vasileva, Mira, and Franz Petermann. “Attachment, development, and mental health in abused and neglected preschool children in foster care: A meta-analysis.” Trauma, Violence, & Abuse 19.4 (2018): 443-458.