Saving the Mental Health of Children in Foster Care

In a perfect world, one would assume placing a child into a new foster home after facing a violent home life would be a perfect scenario, however that is sadly not always the case. As many children brought up in the foster care system have battles with abuse and neglect, the future of their mental health could be ruined leading to a more difficult life. Without support from a young age, the trust issues that have arisen could be detrimental to achieving overall success in life in relation to a good career and life plan.

“According to Children's Rights, there are more than 400,000 children in foster care on any given day in the U.S'' (Bracken Becky). This massive number comes to show how prevalent this issue is in the United States and the dire need for families willing to foster children who have been pulled out of their homes. More shocking statistics regarding the physical and mental state of children in foster care stem from a study where In the journal Child Abuse and Neglect, where healthcare professionals published a study to combat the debate of how to provide good care for children placed away from home. The results proved this realization to be extremely accurate: “Out of 158 children, 42 were physically abused, 76 were sexually abused, 1 died, 8 were left with burns, and various children had genital and anal injuries. Prior to entering foster care, 80% of these children had already been abused in their previous homes (Hobbs 1239). It's imperative to realize that just as children are coming into the system being physically unwell, their new foster home could unfortunately be just as bad.

In order to save the mental health of children in foster care, the public eye needs to be aware and educated on what it is really like to go through the system at such a young age. A change in public perception of foster care is imperative if reformation is ever to occur. Change comes if groups of people are willing to make an effort, however without the release and publicity surrounding real stories of children who had terrible experiences in foster care, how will anyone ever know that this issue is even that prevalent? It's important to get involved in local organizations to assist children going in and out of the system, such as Court Appointed Special Advocates, where any donation for children in need would be greatly appreciated.

The effects of being physically abused, neglected, and hated while growing up as a foster child are powerful enough to haunt a person forever. This mental blockage will make it difficult to achieve success, and without support and years of working to trust again, a child in foster care will forever feel weak and challenged. It’s time to put a halt to innocent children facing a life of reliving trauma and hardship, when with large numbers, it is in fact possible to save the mental health of children in foster care.