The Struggles of the Foster System
It was determined that there are 443,000 children in foster care at any given moment in the United States. From 25 percent to as high as 40 percent of former foster children report to having been abused or neglected in care. Former foster child, Kyle French gives us insight on what the foster system was like for him.
He states, “I was 11 when me and my brothers were removed from our home. I was an older brother of two at the time, which made me behave even more carefully than I would have if I was alone. I knew I could protect myself but I couldn’t always protect my younger brothers. So I would do more than I had to. I would wash dishes, sweep, and mop without having to be asked. I remember the only time we ever got separated. There was a girl that lived in the house, she was my age, [and] she tried to come on to me, but I really wasn’t interested. I spent all my time focused on trying to get into another home with my siblings. The girl told the foster parents I tried to touch her private areas and her father punched me and abused me for days and they didn’t feed me for 3 days. I was in that house for another 24 days before my foster agent came for another visit and removed me. She was supposed to come once a week.”
Out of the 674,000 children that were determined to be victims of maltreatment, 74.9 percent of victims were neglected, 18.3 percent were physically abused and 8.6 percent were sexually abused. The number of children in foster care increased by 2.3% in 2018, and has risen every year since 2012. Of the children who entered foster care this year, just under 47% were Caucasian, 21% were African American, and 20% were Hispanic. The number of Caucasian children entering care rose by 4% since 2015 (2016 was the fiscal year for Foster Care information), while the number of African American children entering care fell by 4%. The median age of children entering care is 6.3 years old.
Between 2015 and 2016, there was approximately a seven percent increase in fatalities tied to child maltreatment, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Service. There was an estimate of 1,750 maltreatment deaths in 2016, which reflects the highest number recorded in a single year since the report began in 1992. The report also outlines the types of maltreatment faced by victims, with almost three-fourths (74.8%) of victims facing neglect, and around 12% of victims facing neglect AND other forms of maltreatment. Children in foster care around the United States are abused physically, mentally, and emotionally without anyone to comfort them. In result, they often turn to the usage of drugs or they, unfortunately, commit suicide.
Lets return to Kyle's situation. Lets fast forward to 30 years later, Kyle is 15 years clean from a drug addiction and fighting to continue on. All of the things that he experienced both in and out of the foster system actually led him to a drug addiction. Kyle’s youngest sibling and his only sister, Shantel French, is a foster parent. Shantel is one of the few foster parents that actually wants what’s best for the child. She receives children with all types of psychological challenges, most are a result of abuse. These challenges cause the children to rebel, to be mischievous, or in other cases, to cling. She states “The challenges these children face vary. Most of them have attachment issues, which could go one of two ways. Either they don’t want to receive any form of affection, they don’t want you to do anything for them, they want to do their own thing, or the other option is that they attach very fast. They don’t want you to leave their sight, and they want to be under you at all times.” These parents don’t even realize how bad they’re messing these children up. It's the parent's job to look out for the child, so when they fail or make the wrong decision as a parent... Who's looking out for the child then?