Foster Care versus Institutionalization

Does Foster Care Have an Effect in Children Physically, Mentally, Emotionally and Socially?
Today, there are almost 438,000 children placed in foster care in the United States and more than 687,000 children were assigned to foster care during 2016 (Foster care, 2016). The research to date also indicates that children in the United States remain in foster care on average almost 2 years and at least 6% have been in foster care for 5 years or more (Foster care, 2018). Although there is a near consensus that foster care provides a superior environment for young people compared to institutionalization, a growing body of scholarship cites the adverse effect that the experience can have on children’s physical, mental, emotional and social growth. The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the relevant literature concerning these issues, followed by what can be done to help these young people avoid these suboptimal outcomes. Finally, a summary of the research and key findings concerning the effects of foster care on children are presented in the conclusion.
Why is this topic important?
The early childhood through adolescent years are a critical formative period in young people’s lives, and they can experience a wide range of negative events and episodes even under the most nurturing environment with their biological parents. It is not surprising, then, that young people who have been placed in foster care settings can suffer from a wide array of physical, mental, emotional and social problems that may have lifelong implications. This topic is important because there is a consensus among social science researchers that additional studies in this area are needed, but what is known for certain at present is that young people who transition into adulthood from foster care are at increased risk of suboptimal outcomes and self-harming behaviors during their young adulthood (Foster care, 2018).
Furthermore, notwithstanding the prevailing belief that most foster care children are very young and therefore unable to appreciate or fully understand their circumstances, the average age of children entering the foster care system is 7 years (Foster care, 2018), meaning they have developed the cognitive abilities to recognize their extraordinary situations. Moreover, minority children account for more than half of the children entering the foster care system in the United States, placing these already marginalized young people at even greater risk of experiencing poor outcomes during their young adulthood (Foster care, 2018). Taken together, it is clear that children placed in foster care have a fundamentally different childhood experience compared to their peers who live with their biological parents in so-called “forever homes,” and these issues are discussed further below.
Summary of research literature
The persistently high level of children being placed in foster care has resulted in increased attention by social scientists and helping professionals concerning the effects such placements have on children’s short- and long-term development. The research to date makes it clear that foster care children are in need of inordinately frequent and intense mental health support for a variety of disorders and developmental problems that negatively affect their social interactions with others (Stott, 2012). In this regard, Classen, Landeverk, Ganger et al. (1998) emphasize that, “Several studies, using clinical assessments and standardized measures have demonstrated that children entering foster care exhibit a significant number of behavior problems and adaptive functioning deficits, far in excess of that expected in the general population” (p. 283).
It is especially noteworthy that the degree to which young people succumb to such behavior and adaptive functioning deficits may be a function of how long they have been in the foster care system (Almas, Degnan, Walker et al., 2015). . For example, a study by Windsor, Benigno, Wing et al. (2011) found that children who had been placed in institutional care for fewer than 6 months exhibited minimal negative language effects at 6 and 11 years of age; however, young people who have been placed in institutional care for periods longer than 6 months were found to suffer from diminished mental and emotional abilities, including their language skills. Based on their findings, Windsor and her associates (2011) conclude that, “While outcomes after poor institutional care appear to be probabilistic, results suggest that it is the early presence rather than length of impoverished input that matters more” (p. 1040). These findings suggest that resilience levels among young people tend to strengthen as they grow older, making them especially vulnerable to the adverse developmental effects of foster care while they are very young (Windsor et al., 2011)
Other researchers have also examined the effects of foster care placement on children with respect to their emotional and social development (. For instance, a study by Stott (2012) assessed the impact of foster care placement on the prevalence of risky sexual and substance abusing behaviors among a popular of 114 young people who transitioned out of foster care through age emancipation. According to Stott (2012), the results of this analysis showed that, “When controlling for variables commonly associated with these behaviors, a history of foster care placement instability increased the young adults’ likelihood to use substances” (p. 61). Risky sexual behaviors, of course, involve potentially severe outcomes for both males and females, including the acquisition of sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies, among others.
Likewise, substance abusing behaviors have the potential to involve young people with the criminal justice system and adversely affect their health in ways that can have serious implications for their later lives (Stott, 2012). Here again, though, Stott (2012) and like-minded social science researchers stress the need for additional research in this area to help identify the unique factors that increase the vulnerability of foster care children to these types of outcomes during their transition into young adulthood.
What needs to be done next?
In a perfect world, every child born would have two natural, loving parents who possessed the skills set needed to provide the nurturing environment that children need to survive and thrive. Unfortunately, the research showed that increasing numbers of young people lose their biological parents to the court system or through natural causes, and there are few viable alternatives available in these circumstances. While institutionalization is universally regarded as being superior to simply allowing these young people to live on the streets and fend for themselves as is the case in some developing countries, the foster care system may only be minimally better unless rigorous oversight is in place and the well-being of these young people is routinely monitored and evaluated by social welfare authorities.
Properly implemented and administered, though, foster care has been shown to provide young people with better outcomes in terms of their social, emotional and mental development compared to institutionalization (Stott, 2012). In this regard, a study by Ghera, Marshall, Fox et al. (2009) found that children who received foster care exhibited higher levels of attention and positive affect compared to their counterparts who remained institutionalized. Based on their findings, these researchers conclude that, “The rapid nature of the change in positive affect expression is encouraging and demonstrates the responsiveness of emotion behavior systems to intervention, even following significant early social deprivation” (Ghera et al., 2012, p. 246).
Conclusion
There are currently hundreds of thousands of children placed in foster care homes in the United States, and many of these young people enjoy the loving environments they need to grow and develop their full potential for adulthood. In far too many cases, however, the research showed that some foster care children suffer from a wide array of emotional, social, physical and mental deficits in greater numbers compared to the general population. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that while foster care can be regarded as being superior to institutionalization, young people can be fragile and are vulnerable to experiencing severe adverse outcomes even under the best of circumstances.





:



References
Almas, A. N., Degnan, K. A., Walker, O. G. et al. (2015, May). The effects of early institutionalization and foster care intervention on children’s social behaviors at the age of eight. Social Development, 24(2), 225–239.
Clausen, J. M., Landeverk, J., Ganger, W. et al. (1998). Mental health problems of foster children. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 7(3), 283-329.
Foster care. (2018). Children’s Rights. Retrieved from http://www.childrensrights.org/news room/fact-sheets/foster-care/
Ghera, M. M., Marshall, P. J., Fox, N. A. et al. (2009). The effects of foster care intervention on socially deprived institutionalized children’s attention and positive affect: results from the BEIP study. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 50(3), 246-253.
Stott, T. (2012). Placement instability and risky behaviors of youth: Aging out of foster care. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 29, 61–83.
Windsor, J., Benigno, J. P., Wing, C. A. et al. (2011, July/August). Effect of foster care on young children’s language learning. Child Development, 82(4), 1040–1046.