Poverty ESSAY

Is the state to blame for former foster children ending up in poverty?

Introduction

In this essay, we will be discussing how former foster children often end up in poverty in the US and are the state to blame for this issue. Many TV shows and documentaries have addressed the foster care issue and the importance of improving the situation. This inspired me to research further and to have a better understanding of this issue.

Context

The Foster Care System is a system for children under 18 to be transferred into a temporary home. Children go into the foster care for many reasons. Some of them had parents who were unable to raise a child, abandoned at birth, or they had too many troubles at their original home. They are put into group homes or private homes with a guardian who is referred to as a foster parent. Aging out of the foster care system is when a foster child turns 18 and is removed from their foster home. This is because they are expected to live independently and build a life for themselves. However, after they "aged out" many former foster children aren't able to earn enough money to afford the necessities therefore end up in jail or in poverty. Poverty is a state when you don't have enough money or resources to support a basic lifestyle. They didn't receive much education because they constantly move from one foster home to another, which means changing schools. Most foster children change homes frequently; some have been to 20 different foster homes within 10 years (AdoptUsKids documentary). When their allowances are cut many of them can't get a decent job and don't have enough money to continue education. Leaving them in a very insecure situation, which can result in them becoming homeless and living in poverty.

Some foster children also get abused in their foster homes and often get blamed for being troublesome which also causes them to not focus on getting a better education. A lot of the young people have mixed feelings about aging out because they are often vulnerable in the outside world but they are also eager to live by their own rules. The average age for young adults to leave home is age 24, compared to the foster children leaving home at 18; it makes it difficult to be successful. Statistics also show that 3/10 of homeless people in the US were former foster children. A California study stated that 35% of foster children were arrested. In 2011, 25-55% of the former foster children were unemployed and even the employed ones had low wages that were under the poverty line (Children's Rights). Research done by the Annie E Casey Foundation says that only 20% of the former foster children that have aged out for 4 years have become successful.

The foster children that have aged out also are at "high risk for mental and physical health problems" (Casey Family Services). Studies have shown that throughout 4 states, 30% of the former foster children suffered from mental health problems, such as depression, drug abuse and anxiety. This is the case because most of foster children that have aged out do not get health care after they have aged out. Without any treatment, those foster children will not be able to work very efficiently which will directly influence their chances of ending up in poverty. Many of the foster children that have aged out turn to crime to earn money because they have lost faith in getting a legitimate job. (The Fosters TV show)

Global

Almost every country in the world has a foster care system or some other form of it. In the UK, the scheme called The Staying Put was established in 2008, it is a scheme to help foster young adults to have better relationships with their foster parents and let them stay in the foster care system till they turn 21 (Tickle). They provide a more stable education and training for the foster children that way they can start being more independent and are able to go out in the world and support themselves. With the extra years, the foster children can start to move towards independence, which will ensure that they are able to live independently. The benefit of this scheme is the training will not only help them when living on their own, it will also help with adapting to an independent life. In Canada, this issue is also a huge problem and is being dealt with. The organisation called Ontario's Child and Youth Advocate is currently dealing with this issue. Crown wards are the equivalent to foster homes in Ontario, Canada. The minister of the advocate, Eric Hoskins said that "We've made important changes to help crown wards find permanent homes; we ensure that crown wards have access to financial and emotional support until they're 21; we make post secondary education more accessible to crown wards through tuition grants and assistance with their application.” According to the statement above, the Ontario province have put in effort to help with this issue (The Current). They’ve decided to help by getting the foster children access to better education, which is the best approach to improving this issue. The Ontario Child Benefit Equivalent, who works with the advocate, provides the young people access to social opportunities, educating them on how to build a life without the support of foster care (Ministry of Children and Youth Services).

National (USA and HK)

Hong Kong's foster care system also only keeps the foster children that are under 18 years of age. Mother's Choice is one of the well-known organisations that offer foster care. Many foster children in Hong Kong believe that the foster care system is only a temporary arrangement. However most of them are "stuck" in the system for over 4 years until they turn 18 with no support they age out. Hong Kong and USA's situation is similar in the way that there is hardly any support for the former foster children after aging out. Mother's Choice provides counseling, recreational activities, referrals to professional services for the foster children. The advantages of these services are that the foster children will feel safe because they can always have someone to talk to such as counselors.

In the US, since there are more people it is easier to get foster parents but the number of children in foster care is definitely higher in the US.

The US government spends 23.3 million USD on child welfare annually (Casey Family Programs), however it’s not improving the wellbeing of the children effectively. The Casey Family Programs is a NGO that is aiming to improve the wellbeing of the foster children and the foster care system in the US. They have consulted the nationwide foster care agencies to provide methods. They’ve proposed that the federal policies should provide programs that help find permanent homes for the foster children. That way they can have a permanent family who can support financially to a successful life. Another suggestion they've made is that organisations that can provide healthcare, housing, education, employment for young people should be working with foster care agencies to open a path for the aging out young adults. The Workforce Investment Act (WIA), US Department of Housing are both programs that can coordinate with foster care agencies to help the young people successfully transit into adulthood (Casey Family Programs). More connections to turn to for support is a good way to prevent them ending in poverty.

There is also a scheme based the US called Jim Casey Initiative's Success Beyond 18 Campaigns. They invest time into helping young people through the transition from foster homes to independence. Their aim is for every former foster child to make a successful transition into adulthood and independence. They are there to bridge the gap between aging foster children and permanent stability. Through the scheme, the young people can secure connections to better education, health care and housing, which is a huge advantage for them to successfully transit into adulthood (Gary Stangler). Furthermore, foster children have an option to request more support from the government after they turn 18 in order to help them lead a more successful life. "Fostering Connections" is a service can be offered to young adults that are aging out. This provides the young adults a qualification for completing high school, enrolment into training, employment for 80 hours a month and many more. Despite this, the extended care is only temporary until the young adult can find a permanent home (Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children). The advantage of this solution is that there are more guarantees that the young adult will get access to the services because this program has to be elected by the state hence making it more reliable.

Personal

My opinion is that the US government should really put more effort into establishing services that provide support for the former foster children because most of them already have a tough time in the different foster homes, they don't need another letdown when they are cut from the foster care system. Appointing a government official to give the child welfare system the attention that it needs to make improvements. The situation now is that the US government actually spends a lot on child welfare, however the children's wellbeing in the US is one of the worst in the world. The government has the responsibility to support the foster care system and to strengthen it. The children should be able to live successful lives after being in foster care. They are to blame for the former foster care young adults ending up in poverty because their actions are still not enough to support the aged out young people. Even though this issue doesn't directly influence my life, helping raise awareness of this issue will help the people affected immensely. After learning about the conditions that people in poverty have to go through, helping raise awareness of this issue should be encouraged. In addition, in future years our generation are going to become adults, they should also think twice before deciding to have children because the child should be brought up well and not as a one-night mistake. If more people make better decisions beforehand then fewer children will end up in foster care.

Future Scenarios

If the US government put effort into improving the situation, it will raise awareness about this issue. Therefore, it will inspire more organisations to help with this issue, which will help so many more young adults break the cycle of poverty and have a better standard of living. The earlier the foster children get the opportunity to work with programs that can help them successfully go into adulthood, the chance of them ending up in poverty will lessen greatly. The solutions to this problem will be effective if the government and the foster care agencies put in enough effort. This might affect the employment rate for young people who are not part of the foster care system because they get fewer opportunities, due to the foster children being prioritized. Despite this minor disadvantage, the other young people already have luxuries and most of them have a higher standard of life compared to the foster children, thus concludes that the solutions mentioned above are practical and reduces the number of people ending up in poverty due to aging out. If the parents of this generation don't change the way they take care of their children, it is said by the Casey Family Programs that from now till 2020, 9000000 more children will experience foster care. Only 300000 of the young adults nationwide are able to successfully age out and transit into adulthood, which means the issue will worsen.

Conclusion

In Conclusion, the issue raised here can definitely be improved further through time and effort and should be provided by the US government. They are to blame for the young adults suffering in poverty and they have the responsibility to make it right. Offering better education, providing more time to adapt, more connections with services that can support them financially and getting permanent families are all effective methods to reducing the number of foster children ending up in poverty.