Bonita Evans - Youth in Foster Care: The Shortcomings of Child Protection Services

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CHILDREN OF
POVERTY

STUDIES ON THE EFFECTS
OF SINGLE PARENTHOOD,
THE FEMINIZATION OF POVERTY,
AND HOMELESSNESS

edited by

STUART BRUCHEY
UNIVERSITY OF MAINE

A ROUTLEDGE SERIES

YOUTH IN
FOSTER CARE

THE SHORTCOMINGS OF
CHILD PROTECTION SERVICES

________________

BONITA EVANS

First published by Garland Publishing, Inc

This edition published 2011 by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN

Copyright 1997 Bonita Evans
All rights reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Evans, Bonita, 1940
Youth in foster care : the shortcomings of child protection services / Bonita Evans.
p. cm. (Children of poverty)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8153-3020-0 (alk. paper)
1. Foster childrenUnited States. 2. City childrenUnited States. 3. MinoritiesUnited States. 4. Foster home careUnited States. 5. NeighborhoodUnited States. 6. Assimilation (Sociology) I. Title. II. Series.

HV881.E9 1997 362.7330973dc21

97-36983

Publisher's Note
The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the onginal may be apparent.

In Loving Memory of
Verna Ashton Evans, a mother for whom
No sacrifice was too great.

Contents

In Appreciation of

Professors A.L. Giusti, G.A. Gustafson, and B. Persky,
without whom this task would have been impossible to accomplish.

ACLUF. American Civil Liberties Union Foundation.

AFCARS. Adoption and Foster Care Analysis Reporting System.

APD. Antisocial Personality Disorder. A serious mental disorder experienced by individuals over the age of 18, which is traceable to the earlier condition, conduct disorder. The individual lacks affection, respect for others, and society in general; is egocentric, manipulative, can be homicidal and cannot be trusted. (See American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV under same heading [1994]).

CD. Conduct Disorder. A predecessor to the more serious mental condition of antisocial personality disorder. Is most often seen in younger people who have a potential for it to stabilize into APD in adulthood. (See American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV under same heading [1994]).

CDR. Children's Defense Fund.

C & Y (Department of Children & Youth). Local child welfare department reporting to the DHS and DPS.

DHS. Department of Human Services.

DPW. Department of Public Welfare.

FCDA. Foster Care Data Archive.

GED. General Equivalency Diploma. Granted on satisfactory completion of an examination of subjects at 12th grade level and is the equivalent of a high school diploma.

IEP. Individualized Educational Planning.

MP. Multiple Personalities. A mental disorder in which the individual actually lives out and experiences his/herself as other people.

Youth in Foster Care

A society's civilization is measured, humanity tested and future shaped by how it protects and cares for its children. (Christian Children's Fund, 1994).

Over the past two decades those youths whose lifestyles are either consciously, or involuntarily affected by the threat of violence, or the prospect of negative outcome, have been defined as being at risk. Being at risk may take the form of a dysfunctional family, coercion through peer group pressure, inferior education, poor housing, or physical health, due to malnutrition. Malnutrition often expresses itself in a failure to learn and in some cases, is misdiagnosed. The student is then categorized as having a learning disability. Students suffering from malnutrition are often unable to retain information in their short-term memory, and exhibit symptoms similar to those who have intellectual problems.

At risk, as it pertains to behavior, covers a wide spectrum of activity, including drug peddling, gang membership, unprotected sex, thrill seeking, and psychological states which have been categorized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV (DSM) as psychopathy.

This study examined several factors, which exacerbate the potential for increased violence and psychopathy in young people who become wards of the state, using both observation and the researcher's experiences as a teacher working with youths (aged 621) in emotional support classes. Additionally, the researcher was able to work for a while as a counselor in a group home environment.

The two case studies cited in this work are taken from the researcher's written accounts of group home residents. Two reflective cases have also been taken from the Baby Neal Civil Action, conducted by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation (ACLUF), and are included, as support for the researcher's contention that the child protective services system is failing. The repercussions of this failure can be identified in the classroom and the foster care environment, regardless of where in the United States youth are being fostered.

THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The Purpose of the study was to determine the impact of systemic shortcomings on the domestic and educational conditions of youth in the foster care system. In addition to studying the impact of systemic failures on foster care arrangements, the study also examined the impact of the protection services' failure to work more closely with youth, and with teachers on student educational outcomes. The researcher sought to discover data which would provide answers to the following questions:

How do present foster care arrangements contribute to social disaffection in minority children in care?

What role does contextual environment play in shaping the realities of minority adolescents?

How does the lack of agency/foster parent liaison portend negative outcomes for youth in care.

It is hoped that this review of the shortcomings of the foster care system and their impact on both the social and educational environments of youth in care will become a catalyst for a more in-depth study in both areas. In approaching the task, the goal was to become more conversant with the physical and mental conditions of minority inner-city youths being fostered in rural areas.

DESIGN OF THE STUDY

The study was a causal research study which employed observation, case studies, interviews, questionnaires, and resource materials (annual reports, journals, agency newsletters and broadcast interviews) to determine conditions which affect both the efficient functioning of the child protective services and the welfare of youth in its care. Two subjects were observed, a female and a male. Data pertaining to the female was drawn from the researcher's written accounts of the girl's experiences in the group home. As regards the male, he was known to the researcher for a period of not less than six months, both as a student and as a group home resident.

The researcher also had an opportunity to talk with the male subject about his concerns in connection with the living arrangements at both his foster home and the group home. Prior to his arrival at the group home, the researcher spoke with his special education teacher and also his foster parents in casual conversation, which revealed some of the facts cited in the case study. However, the majority of the information compiled in respect of this case was the result of the researcher's observations and interactions with him at school, as his teacher, and on various occasions.

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