Introduction
Foster care is a service administered by the Georgia Department of Human Resources Division of Family and Children Services that intends to provide temporary parents to children who were unable to receive good enough nurturance from their own families. According to the national data for child well-being ranking, the State of Georgia is in 39th place out of 50 states. There were about 3,642 foster homes as of July 2003. Foster parents can only give the children temporary care, but when the child becomes available to adopt, foster parents often use this opportunity. More than 80 percent of adoptions in Georgia are performed through foster parenting. Georgia is in great need of foster parents, just like any other state. People that desire to become foster parents for a child needs to be well prepared and trained, as the candidate children were probably already neglected, mistreated, or abused. They must also be willing to take good care of these needy children with an as little negative impact on their own family as possible. In the State of Georgia, possible foster parents must go through special training and different checks such as physical exams, drug tests, checking of the criminal record. The homes of prospective foster parents are also inspected to meet all safety requirements. After fostering a child for a year, all parents must go through a re-evaluation process. In Georgia, up to six children can be placed in one foster home. There is certain reimbursement for the foster parents. It varies according to the child’s age. For example, from birth to 5 years old the foster parents are being paid $12.75 per day, from 6-12 years of age — $13.50, — 13 and higher — $14.25 (Monroe, Stith & Popcak, 2006). The reimbursement rate also differs depending on the child’s need for a higher supervision level or possibly required medical care. The agency pays for any type of medical treatment and covers clothing costs.
Issues of foster families
Reports of children being mistreated by foster homes are very common at this time in Georgia. These reports are often misleading and groundless. Sometimes the foster family can be treated harmfully by a child welfare agency. Foster families have a higher risk of being reported for maltreatment, compared to the general population, however, the rate of substantiating these reports is lower. The families and welfare agencies are in great need of a resolution that would solve this problem. However, every foster family should be aware of the fact that most unsubstantiated reports can be prevented. Every foster family should be prepared in case it gets reported for child mistreatment, and if it does, the complaint must be taken seriously, disregarding the family’s relations with the foster care agency. To effectively deal with a maltreatment report, the foster parents must know the significance of child protection laws concerning their situation. They have to also be aware of specific agency’s policy and the procedures it implements to ensure child protection. Another important factor, when a foster home is reported for abuse or neglect is to know what to expect from a certain agency or child protective services, as well as from the local law enforcement personnel. If an investigation is being carried out and the family can give specific input, it should use this possibility without fail. If there is a chance that the foster child will be removed from its home, the foster parents need to be aware under which circumstances the child protection agency will be able to do so. If an abuse report is filed, the family should surely keep track of its status: whether it is substantiated, unable to determine, or not substantiated. Such a report may affect the possibility of adoption that may be pending.
In this case, the foster parents must know exactly how the complaint will influence this process. There is also a likelihood of the child abuse agency nullifying the foster home license or reject renewing it. Foster parents should know in advance on what basis the agency will be entitled to do so, as well as the appeal procedures that are available at the level of the agency, and the State of Georgia. There are also resources available for families that have been reported for foster child maltreatment. These include agency guidebooks and for some cases legal advice and representation. Every foster family must know its strong and weak aspects which are seen by the agency. If a family does get reported, it requires immediate support through the whole process of maltreatment report, abuse/neglect investigation, and further actions of the agency. This support is crucial in terms of being considered poor quality foster home for a child by other foster parents, as well as being stereotyped by the community as mean worthless foster parents. This stereotyping is a huge obstacle and a great deal of discouragement that tend to weaken the possible good attitude of foster care families. Therefore, it is very important to follow the guidance notes above, as well as seek efficient support immediately.
What action can foster parents take
If a foster home gets reported for neglect/abuse there are several actions the foster parents could take. The first step would be to request education, specifically on the child protection laws. This education should also include the aspect of foster parents compared to natural parent’s different legal status, as well as explain the difference between substantiated and not substantiated abuse, and how these definitions differ from guilty and innocent. The second step includes requesting information from the foster care agency or the public agency that deals with an investigation on what to expect once the fact of maltreatment is reported. Furthermore, a currently written evaluation regarding the foster home should be requested from the agency. This evaluation must be in written form. However, having requested such evaluation the family has to prepare itself for accepting negative remarks and be ready to make the needed changes immediately. Once the issues are managed the family must write to demonstrate the results. The concerns of the agency might be without basis as well. In this case, a letter should be written to invite further discussion.
However, if the child does get mistreated, it will impact its life in the most negative way possible. It is known, that in all of the states, including Georgia the maltreated children are much more inclined towards showing offending or criminal patterns of behavior. According to recent studies, the children from families that were under investigation do better in life if they don’t go to a foster home, but stay with their natural parents. This raises an essential question, whether the children are better off away from their families or with them. There were much fewer juvenile offenders and teenage mothers among kinds who did not go to a foster home but stayed with their families. This study also shows that those individuals who had abuse investigation within their families and did not go into foster homes were more likely to remain on their job had become young adults (Whittaker, Kinney, Tracy, & Booth, 2005).
Conclusion
In Georgia, fostering a child that has experienced abuse or neglect in their biological family is a common occurrence. The foster parents must begin the process of caring for the child by ensuring that the child gets some satisfaction out of life. They need help in different aspects of development that might have been missed, for example, toilet training, or learning literacy. The parents should avoid criticizing, teasing the child for his behavior, attitude, and appearance. Reasonable rules should be set for the child to follow. There must also be fair consequences if the child does not obey. If the child obeys the rules, he should be given credit. Success may come in small steps with such a child. Small successes need to be watched for and the child praised as often as possible (Blatt, 2000). There should also be the encouragement of the child towards asking many questions, having their own opinions, and try to comprehend things. The opinions of such a child must be respected. By watching the foster family interacting, the child can learn a lot. Hugging and touching have to be avoided. It is usually acceptable to hug preschoolers, but with older children, it should be evaded, as there are other ways of expressing parental warmth. This could be a smile, a laugh, or a touch on the shoulder.
Foster families in Georgia, just as anywhere else need to plan the lives of their children, making sure they get all the education available, as it has a mysterious effect of making young individuals grow up. Furthermore, the children should spend less time watching television and more time reading, getting some physical activity.
References
Blatt, S. M. (2000). A Guidebook for Raising Foster Children. Westport, CT: Bergin and Garvey.
Monroe, M., Stith, R., & Popcak, G. K. (2006). Fostering Care. First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life 2+.
Whittaker, J. K., Kinney, J., Tracy, E. M., & Booth, C. (Eds.). (2005). Reaching High-Risk Families: Intensive Family Preservation in Human Services. New York: Aldine De Gruyter.