Effects of Foster Care on Children's Development

Introduction

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 for an average of nearly two years, and at least 6% have been in foster care for five years or more (Foster care, 2018). Although there is near consensus that foster care provides a superior environment for young people compared to institutionalization, a growing body of scholarship cites the adverse effects that the experience can have on children's physical, mental, emotional, and social growth. The purpose of this paper is to review the relevant literature concerning these issues, followed by a discussion of what can be done to help young people avoid these suboptimal outcomes. A summary of the research and key findings is then presented in the conclusion.

Why This Topic Matters

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 even under the most nurturing environment with their biological parents. It is not surprising, then, that young people placed in foster care settings can suffer from a wide array of physical, mental, emotional, and social problems that may carry lifelong implications. This topic is important because there is a consensus among social science researchers that additional studies in this area are needed. What is known with certainty 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 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 seven years (Foster care, 2018). This means they have already developed the cognitive abilities to recognize their extraordinary situations. Moreover, minority children account for more than half of all children entering the foster care system in the United States, placing these already marginalized young people at even greater risk of poor outcomes during young adulthood (Foster care, 2018). Taken together, it is clear that children placed in foster care have a fundamentally different childhood experience compared to peers who live with their biological parents, and these issues are discussed further below.

Review of the Research Literature

The persistently high number of children being placed in foster care has resulted in increased attention from social scientists and helping professionals regarding the effects such placements have on children's short- and long-term development. The research to date makes clear that foster care children require inordinately frequent and intensive 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 six months exhibited minimal negative language effects at ages six and eleven. However, young people who had been placed in institutional care for periods longer than six months were found to suffer from diminished mental and emotional abilities, including impaired language skills. Based on their findings, Windsor and colleagues (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 when they are very young (Windsor et al., 2011).

Other researchers have also examined the effects of foster care placement on children's 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 sample of 114 young people who transitioned out of foster care through age emancipation. According to Stott (2012), the results 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 consequences 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 draw young people into the criminal justice system and adversely affect their health in ways that can have serious implications for their later lives (Stott, 2012). Here again, 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.

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 shows that foster care children suffer from a wide array of emotional, social, physical, and mental deficits at higher rates compared to the general population. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that while foster care can be regarded as superior to institutionalization, young people are inherently vulnerable and may experience severe adverse outcomes even under the best of circumstances. Continued research, robust oversight, and targeted interventions are essential to improving outcomes for this population.

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/newsroom/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.