Biological parents are given every benefit of the doubt and repeated chances to get their lives together--to the detriment of their children's wellbeing. There are resources, supports, financial assistance programs, and many foster parents and caseworkers serve as cheerleaders for parents to be reunified with their kids.
Children need permanency, thus the Adoption and Safe Families Act. Despite the 15/22 months rule even, many cases extend out by YEARS, leaving children in foster homes instead of seeking permanency for them. Children in high risk homes are OFTEN in and out of foster care throughout childhood, and each traumatic move from one home to another inflicts about a six month development delay in some area (physical, emotional, academic).
There are thousands of foster children currently waiting to be adopted post TPR, and all that's needed is a willing adoptive family. There are thousands more who are separated from their siblings because there is no family willing to take all of them. There are yet thousands more who are in need of better foster parents while they deal with the trauma going on in their bio family.
Foster parents aren't making bank by housing children. It's a 24/7 gig requiring them to be an advocate for a child who has more appointments, meetings, and therapy sessions than most of us have ever experienced as adults. The per diem granted is often nowhere close to covering the actual physical goods needed to bring an extra kid into the home.
While your idea of paying bio parents to do well sounds lovely, it would actually cause children even more trauma when their parents figure out they can game the system by "relapsing" every few years to get paid by the foster care system again.
Are there abuses of the system everywhere? Absolutely. We fix the system as Christians who foster and/or adopt children. AMA.
Biological parents are given every benefit of the doubt and repeated chances to get their lives together--to the detriment of their children's wellbeing. There are resources, supports, financial assistance programs, and many foster parents and caseworkers serve as cheerleaders for parents to be reunified with their kids.
Children need permanency, thus the Adoption and Safe Families Act. Despite the 15/22 months rule even, many cases extend out by YEARS, leaving children in foster homes instead of seeking permanency for them. Children in high risk homes are OFTEN in and out of foster care throughout childhood, and each traumatic move from one home to another inflicts about a six month development delay in some area (physical, emotional, academic).
There are thousands of foster children currently waiting to be adopted post TPR, and all that's needed is a willing adoptive family. There are thousands more who are separated from their siblings because there is no family willing to take all of them. There are yet thousands more who are in need of better foster parents while they deal with the trauma going on in their bio family.
Foster parents aren't making bank by housing children. It's a 24/7 gig requiring them to be an advocate for a child who has more appointments, meetings, and therapy sessions than most of us have ever experienced as adults. The per diem granted is often nowhere close to covering the actual physical goods needed to bring an extra kid into the home.
While your idea of paying bio parents to do well sounds lovely, it would actually cause children even more trauma when their parents figure out they can game the system by "relapsing" every few years to get paid by the foster care system again.
Are there abuses of the system everywhere? Absolutely. We fix the system as Christians who foster and/or adopt children. AMA.
^x 10.