Shattered Trust: Exploring Abuse and Neglect in Foster Care
by: Rachel Washington
What is Abuse and Neglect in the Foster Care System?
In the United States, the foster care system is a temporary or permanent placement for minors by caregivers to provide care and shelter when the biological parent(s) cannot care for them. I found that there is not just one way of being abused, nor is there a certain age that it happened at.
Data found from Casa of Travis County “About 1 in 6 (16%) of these children were physically abused, 10% were sexually abused, 6% were emotionally abused and 2% experienced medical neglect.” This demonstrates that approximately 585,000 kids in the United States during 2021 experienced one of these kinds of abuse but, “...three in four experienced neglect, consistently the most common type of maltreatment.” These statistics show the bigger picture of how abuse does not just stop at being physically abused, but also there are other forms of maltreatment in the foster care system. Some acts and laws can provide a safe and protected way of living for children in the system, but the injustice goes beyond this to create a stable system that children can have access to and not age out of the system being in prison, mentally unstable, or homeless. The efforts succeed during the moment, but there is still more work that needs to be done.
Mission of the project
To bring awareness to the underlying abuse and neglect that happens within the foster care system.