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9 ADOLESCENTS IN THE CHILD WELFARE SYSTEM
Pages 175-192

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From page 175...
... Demographic trends le.g., the "baby bust"J and the efforts at deinstitutionaTization in the 1970s and at community-based service alternatives in the early 1980s temporarily reduced the number of adolescents in the child welfare system, but by the mid-1980s the trend was reversed. It is not clear whether factors outside the service system le.g., increased poverty and broken families J overwhelmed efforts to develop community service alternatives; it is clear that troubled and troublesome adolescents pose problems that, to date, have not been solved.
From page 176...
... As increasing numbers of children came to be reared in substitute care, concern arose that federal funds were being spent to separate children and parents, rather than in preserving families [Maas and Engler, 1959~. Permanency planning- the provision of a stable family living arrangement with nurturing parents or caretakers and the opportunity to establish lifetime relationshipsevolved out of this concern about "drift" in foster care iMaluccio and Fein, 1983 J
From page 177...
... Adolescents were covered by this legisTation, but they were affected differently than younger children because many were in different circumstances than younger children. Since aclolescents have less chance of either reunification or adoption than younger children, long-term placement in foster care, while not a preferred outcome was inclucled as a satisfactory outcome for aclolescents.
From page 178...
... Substantial increases in the number of infants being placed in foster care, and resulting declines in the percentage of adolescents in the system, have also occurred in California, Michigan, and New York ;Goerge and WuIczyn, 19901. Several studies examined the duration of child welfare placement and reentry into the system for statewide populations of foster children of all children.
From page 179...
... This difference suggests that even relatives find it difficult to care for adolescents separated from their parents iGoerge, 19901. Unfortunately, research also shows that between 20 and 30 percent of children discharged from foster care will eventually reenter foster care fRzepnicki, 19871.
From page 180...
... Thus, aclolescents who are at risk of unsatisfactory development may receive services at home, in foster care, in institutional or residential homes, in custody of the justice systems, or on the street. At Home A large number of adolescents come into contact with the child welfare system while still living in the homes of their parents.
From page 181...
... In comparison with other pregnant teenagers and young parents, those who are in the child welfare system have fewer financial, social, and personal resources with which to approach the difficult task of learning how to be a parent. Youths with handicaps, including those with developmental disabilities, serious emotional disturbances, or medically complex conditions, are often placed in specialized child welfare settings, such as residential treatment centers, group homes, and specialized foster care.
From page 182...
... People who work with street youths say that most of those who were never in foster care could have been reported to the child welfare system for acute or chronic abuse [particularly sexual abuse) and neglect.
From page 183...
... The bureaucratic rationale for including age as a criterion rests on two principles that are applied to each substantiation decision: {1~ the need for parents to provide basic necessities {protection, supervision, food, shelter, clothing, education, and a sanitary environment~ lessens with age and maturity; and ~2) the risk to the child decreases as the child's own ability to protect himself, comprehend danger, or provide basic necessities increases {Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, 19911.
From page 184...
... The study also found that high school completion prior to discharge led to better outcomes, regardless of skills training, but that skills training while in foster care {including money management, credit, consumer education, and employment skills) also led to better outcomes {Shyne and Schroeder, 19781.
From page 185...
... Children in foster care are at increased risk of suffering from emotional disturbance, although these findings may be the result of increased attention paid to children who are removed from their homes {Institute of Medicine, 19891. Discontinuous relationships Multiple placements)
From page 186...
... However, adoption specialists have discovered that a sizable proportion of the children in foster care have other problems that limit their chances for adoption. Consequently, foster families and relatives have been urged to adopt children, some of whom have needs that might require ongoing investment in special services and supports.
From page 187...
... Programs that prepare older youth for independence face challenges that are often overwhelming in light of scarce resources. For example, many youths have come to independent living programs with histories of unmet health needs, impoverished life experiences, inadequate social and academic skills, and poor selfregulatory mechanisms that conspire to defeat the best-organized efforts to prepare them for independent living.
From page 188...
... Children who enter the child welfare care system are most often the victims of severe abuse or neglect, which places them at risk of negative developmental outcomes. However, many victims of abuse or neglect are not placed in foster care and do not even receive an immediate response by a child welfare agency {Stagner, 1992J.
From page 189...
... There is no evidence to support the claim that children in foster care would be better off at home. On the contrary, the limited evidence from methodologically sound studies on the effects of foster care suggests that many children show improvement while in foster care on several developmental measures, and that foster care compares favorably to leaving children at home ~Fanshe!
From page 190...
... Osuch 1992 Older Youths in Foster Care: Transition into Adulthood: A Report to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. Chapin Hall Center for Children, University of Chicago.
From page 191...
... Voss 1990 Foster Care Placement: The Child's Perspective. Hall Center for Children, University of Chicago.
From page 192...
... 1991 Caseload dynamics and foster care reentry. Social Service Review65~1~:133156.


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