Stress in the Foster Home

Abuse in Foster Care

Abuse in Foster Care

There were several studies conducted in the early 1980s that indicated that child abuseoccured at a higher rate in foster homes than in the general population. Although those studies may not be valid today or give an accurate impression of foster care in general, it is a fact... child abuse does occur in foster homes.

Most foster parents are good people who become involved in the program because of a genuine desire to help children. Most have had homestudies done to see if they "have what it takes". This information has been reviewed at least by the person doing the study, but often several people have participated in that final approval decision. And lastly, most have received at least a basic level of training to help prepare them for what is to come. So, you have to wonder, how could this ever happen?

Evaluating Applicants

One obvious conclusion is that sometimes the process just doesn't do a good job of evaluating applicants and people who shouldn't become foster parents are licensed.

As one who evaluates those applicants, I know it can happen for different reasons and most of the time, there is no one to blame. I have often said to my colleagues that after the evaluation is done, I wish I could look the applicants in the eyes and know for sure that this is a potential abuser ormolester. If I could do that, I would be outta' here in a minute and would be making millions of dollars a year... because everyone would want to hire me as a consultant. Unfortunately, for me and the children of the world, I don't have that skill.

Next page > Causes of Stress > Page 1, 2, 3


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Emil Baldwin, Jr. is a retired social worker in West Virginia. He was a foster care/adoption homefinder for 19 years. His articles and fictional stories on the subject have been published on the Web, in print, and used as training material. He has a Web site at http://go.to/emilville and publishes a humorous email newsletter on a weekly basis.

© Emil Baldwin, Jr., LSW

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