Topic > The History and Progression of the Foster Care System

This document will contain research into foster care, including a brief history and progress to the system today. This research interested me because it is a professional career option after graduation. I have found both positives and negatives in the foster care system that foster children and parents go through on a daily basis. As the paper progresses, I will explain these positives and negatives in more detail. Throughout the article I will refer to several academic sources that explain foster care in different ways. Overall, this article will show several aspects that the general public may never know about foster care. A foster parent, as defined by the Second Edition of the Health Reference Series, is an individual authorized to provide a home for an orphaned, abused, or neglected child. , delinquent or disabled child (Matthews, 2004). A permanent placement is one that is intended, but not guaranteed, to last forever (Barth & Berry 1988). Foster care is not for criminals but is a place where children go when their parents can no longer care for them. In the first Christian churches there has always existed a form of foster care in which "worthy widows" hosted needy children and were paid from church collections. Fostering began in 1562 during the time of the English Poor Laws, which stipulated that poor children could be placed in legal services until they reached the age of majority (nfpaonline.org). In the 1970s, foster care became increasingly popular, but foster parents were deemed unfit to adopt children permanently (Barth & Berry, 1988). In 1980, the Adoption Assistance of Child Welfare Act (Public Law 96-272) made it clear that the most desirable permanent placement for children is with their own family. The law... middle of paper... with a foster child. This document gave me the opportunity to learn the positives and negatives, as well as more details about the little parts of the foster care system that I didn't know existed. Even though my goal is to help the child and think of his or her best interest, this article showed me that parents, both biological and foster, are another important factor that helps children. It made me realize that I will need to meet with parents and work with them to come up with a plan that works for their lives. I will have to figure out what problems they think are important to solve and how to get to those solutions. Foster care is a complex system that will test me every day if I enter this specific field, but even if I work with children in a different environment I have to be aware that children come from different backgrounds.